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I have been thinking hard about how assimilationist college life (and the meaning of success) in America is.
I’m speaking as a very assimilated person. It’s powerful how you aren’t *really* black in a way, if you fit certain criteria.
And speak without a stereotypically black accent. The advantages this confers. The unconsciousness of privileging this.
Like the Black individuals at my college who choose to be themselves have such fortitude. The sheer willpower it takes to not code-switch in the face of pressures to conform.
No one wants to be seen as dumb or less talented. But if you are black, that is what you are, until you prove otherwise
The quizzical look that white people give me trying to decide if I really attend UMD. Then they hear my voice, and smile. “Yes, he DOES go to UMD” they say in their minds. “He talks properly”.
Idk
AND there’s the added benefit of being African, and not African-American.
My pursuit of “upward mobility” will likely involve a whole lot of assimilation, unless I consciously fight against that instinct.
