“its funny yo”

my friend replied, when i asked him about some of the differences between the burgh (he’s a grad student at the university of pittsburgh) and philly (his hometown)

“i never was really around this many white people before, and it took me a while to get used to em…especially the women”

when i asked him to expound, he remarked,

“when i first got here, i assumed every white chick i met was trying to f*ck me. thing is, i just wasn’t used to chicks being happy and smiling all the time. usually, when a sista is nice to you or smiling, it means she’s digging you. with white women, it seems like thats just the way they are”

the topic of the angry/melancholy/choleric/easily annoyed/indignant black woman is one as synonymous to american culture as jazz, apple pie, baseball, and drunk snizzles…an ambivalence breeding topic that cultivates tons of questions.

is it a destructive stereotype or slightly exaggerated truth? a dangerous myth or a legitimate fact? hyperbole or honesty? are women of other races given the benefit of the doubt? if a black women shows the same traits as an “assertive“, “pensive“, or “focused” white, latina, or asian woman, is she labeled “bitter“, “mysterious“, or “aloof“?

if true, if most black women do carry shaq sized boulders on their shoulders, are there legitmate reasons for this? when considering the many uphill battles they face, do black women have to stay, to quote one of my cousins “aggresively guarded to stay sane”?

also, since men are typically attracted to “soft”, pleasant, compassionate, and affectionate women, how much does the angry black chick dynamic impact the dating scene?

for those with angry black chick discussion fatigue…sorry. (God-willing) in a couple months, one of the inhibitants of the white house will be a (then) 45 year old black woman who has already had the entire perfunctory “how to label a black woman” kit thrown at her by many detractors, with “unpatroitic” and “elitist” added for good measure…so those tired of this discussion better find they asses a second wind.

damn. i asked a ton of questions. people of vsb…what are your answers?

—the champ