Ain't I still a Negro? My birth certificate is the same as it was the week I was born

National News
Article 2, Volume 2                            January 15, 2012

                                                 Ain't I Still a Negro?                                                      

Just who am I? I mean, I know I am a child of God, but they keep changing or crossing me up about what I should be called.  Tell me, just who am I?

I was born a Negro. That is what they put on my birth certificate. I can show it to you. When I started elementary school. I was informed that Negro is a slave name, therefore, I should refer to myself as Colored. I told the teacher that everybody was colored. She told me I was being smart, so just shut up Colored boy and have a seat.

My first year in high school the teacher informed me that I was now Black and I should not use the words Colored or Negro because they were demeaning. She said I should use the word black, with a capital B. I told her that last year I was suspended 2 days because I called a boy Black, after he called me red. The teacher said that was last year, and now this is this year.

My freshman year in college they told me I was out of touch. I should use Afro/American for race. I told them I have never been to Africa so how can I be Afro/American?  My White friend from Africa can be Afro/American but not me.

But wait. If I am Afro/American, is the White man classified as European/American or the Asian as Asian/American? Oh, no, they say, just call them Americans or Asians.

Through all of the changes with my classification, America has been steadfast with the overall classification for white folks for hundreds of years. Just write White, and that is all right.  However, for us Black folks, there has been a constant change.  Tell me, how come?

I asked a lady from South America what classification did she use for her family. She said that her family use the category, Other.

Other is interesting. That means that you are other than all the others. In a sense, all of us are Other.

Somebody tell me the truth, ain't I still a Negro? Because through all the changes, my birth certificate, in block eight, still list me as a Negro.

So, just call me a Negro.  I won't complain, because all them other names are just nicknames, subject to change.

Copyright 2012 Grady E. Bryant  All Rights Reserved