As Minorities in America, We Need To Appreciate Ourselves First Before Others Will

[Yads_Is_Back]

I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet. The main message: So many people who are of a minority group want others in the majorities to appreciate them, yet they show little or no appreciation for themselves. Don't you think if we show more appreciation for ourselves that others will too?

Example #1: Very very few African-American women cherish their natural hair.

Beyonce does her hair like a white woman.

If we keep demanding freedom and rights but yet don't even show what we are fighting for and all we show is wanting to fit in, how can we expect them not to laugh at us?

WE ARE NOT MEANT TO FIT IN, but we are supposed to stand for who we are.

A better question: How can we expect the majorities in America to respect us and our cultures and values when we don't even show or respect them ourselves? If we are always trying to fit in (and won't because we aren't meant to) we are doomed for failure (as society has shown).

Example 2: Many Hispanic-Americans are leaving the language and culture behind. (I know this first-hand because I myself am Hispanic and live in the states.)
How many Mexican-Americans do you know who celebrate Cinco de Mayo or Día de los Muertos? How many Hispanic-Americans do you know who have kids in America and teach those kids Spanish over all generations after that? How many Puerto Ricans in America do you know who don't throw our culture away just to be part of America?

THIS is the beauty of loving who you are!

How often do you see these women cherishing who they are?

Jada Pinkett Smith does too.

[JDavid25]

I agree with the natural hair thing, although it can be some real trouble to deal with, and very time consumin.. So I understand why a lot of women with kinky hair just wanna make they day less of a hassle.. As for appreciation.. America is one of the few countries that give so many opportunities to different people.. I don't see many other countries lettin people bring cultures from their country and plantin it in the country they decide to live.. I honestly think America has given plenty of appreciation to minorities we have Spanish classes, and Cinco De Mayo is actually a US originated holiday.. I think that honestly a lot of minorities don't appreciate the United States and the freedom it gave us.. We take so much advantage of it and just look at what we don't have, instead of appreciatin what we do have and the type of life we get to live..

[Yads_Is_Back]

Wow. This was touching 🙏🏼

[JDavid25]

Haha thank you.. 😊..

[hellionthesagereborn]

You have no idea how happy I am to hear this. This is exactly why america is so great for all of the things you have said and why it is painful to hear people try to claim otherwise, its like they refuse to see the beauty in this country despite it staring them in the face.

I also agree with the hair comment, I love curly hair on women but I have heard its a monumental pain in the ass so I can understand why so many women try to straighten it (though I do wish more women would embrace it more).

[JDavid25]

@hellionthesagereborn Of course Exaclty.. 😊America is a great country and if we lose what America truly stands for then people will miss the great country it was built to be.. People just don't understand that bein in a country with such a high middle class, havin all types of ways to live a decently comfortable life is a blessin.. But yeah you are right.. It's like staring at a beautiful woman and seein some tiny flaws and basically concluding that because of those flaws she is ugly and needs surgery..

And of course curly hair is the bomb.. But yeah it ain't no joke to deal with.. The kinkier it is the worse it is many times.. So yeah that's true..

[hellionthesagereborn]

Agreed and agreed. As both a guy and having straight hair I can empathize with women not wanting to deal with the issues of curly hair but that will not stop me from wanting to see it and run my hands through it!

But again, I do appreciate what you said because more people need to see america for what it is, the beauty isn't that we are perfect, no one or thing is, but that we are by design able to become better and we have (thats the irony, people point to our past to show how evil and bad america is when in reality it shows how great our nation is because it continued to overcome those problems and did so because our founding principles couldn't accept those evils in our world).

[JDavid25]

@hellionthesagereborn Haha of course that's true.. It's a good thing plenrt of women is just lettin it flow like they did back in the 70s.. I love all types of hair, but curly was one of my favorites..

And yeah of course most definitely.. I recently learned about the true history of before America and slavery and all that good stuff.. I realized how Grey history really is and although Amerixa was involved in some things it mostly tried to correct them and do right by those it did evil against.. It's not perfect like you said, but at least it tries.. This really is a great country.. It was an experiment and it passed the test..

[blondfrog]

That's very true. There are bad apples everywhere so we also shouldn't let others shame our group. We came into this country and we are all successful in our careers. Especially my middle brother he is a lead researcher. The best you can do to prove people wrong is by showing them how successful you are. Don't be a stereotype be a monotype.

[Yads_Is_Back]

good words :)

[blondfrog]

Thanks not to be brag but I used to write poetry and I think that helped me with my wise words :).

[blondfrog]

Wow thanks for mho. Was not expecting that.

[treselle]

In general, our hair in its natural state is typically considered unacceptable, “ghetto”, and “unkempt”. But multiply this perception by hundreds of years. It’s already ingrained in our thinking and will take VERY long to unlearn, so simply saying “love your hair that everyone has considered ugly for hundreds of years” is MUCH easier said than done.


I model for a living. If I wear my hair in its natural state (afro), I may book 3 jobs in a month. If I wear it in a European look (long, straight, weave), I can book 15 jobs. So the thought of “simply love yourself” is cute, it ignores the fact that in order to be socially accepted by society en large, I do much better fitting in (European look) than standing out (African look).

[beatcoock]

Hey there

[Yads_Is_Back]

Fitting in is what we should be avoiding if we want people to accept us for our differences. Caring so much about what society thinks just maintains their control over us.

[Guanfei]

"WE ARE NOT MEANT TO FIT IN, but we are supposed to stand for who we are."

Wrong. Integrating and blending in makes you a part of the country you live in. Trying to be different will make people treat you differently. The more you'll act as a "minority" apart from the majority, the more you'll be treated as such.
No one has to accept whatever you want them to accept. Your example 2 is in fact a good example, but of what you should do. You live in a country who already has a culture, a language, a history. You can't just claim that nothing of that matters and that you'll now keep a culture from another country where most minorities aren't even born.
If you're a first hand immigrant, that you keep a bit of your culture because you were born in it, that's understandable. But if you're born in a country and refuse to blend in and integrate, then you're the problem.
That's as simple as that.

[Yads_Is_Back]

That is nowhere near accurate. I think you have a bad - or assumed I have a bad - definition of "blending in" and "standing out." I agree with everything you said. I think you misinterpreted what I was saying.

[Guanfei]

That might be the case x)
It's late and my brain my not work as I'd want it too, especially in a foreign language.

[Yads_Is_Back]

To clarify,
"No one has to accept what you want them to accept." - Obviously true. Nobody said otherwise. I simply gave the fact that you can't be uncomfortable with yourself and expect other people to accept it.
"Integrating and blending in makes you a part of the country you live in." - Depends on what things you're referring to by "blending in" because obviously we aren't talking about the same things here. I think you took that the common-sense-dumb way lol For example, if America is doing something wrong then that does not mean I have to be a part of it. No sir, it does not.
And finally the BIG one: "But if you're born in a country and refuse to blend in and integrate, then you're the problem." - I laughed at this LOL simply because America has waaaaayyyy many more problems besides immigrants, especially when they could just shut the immigrants out and stop them from coming in. If they can't then that's AMERICA'S problem. Not to mention that I'm not an immigrant lol

[Yads_Is_Back]

It is also better to be unappreciated by the majority and hold to your values than to sink in with the crowd and give up who you are. I'm surprised you're more for just impressing other people. That's sad.

[Yads_Is_Back]

@Guanfei It's okay lol, misunderstandings happen. No worries

[BlueEyedBirdWatcher]

I can't agree. People should be respected and appreciated as humans regardless of how they fit into cultures.

For example it would be wrong to only appreciate Mexicans because you enjoy their food music and celebrations. And Mexicans should not have to champion their culture to have respect either as individuals or as an ethnicity.

[Yads_Is_Back]

True. But you have to appreciate your culture before others will.
Nobody said everybody shouldn’t be respected.

[nerdybutlazy]

I think the thing about natural hair is it's not accepted by society at large not to mention a lot of black women don't know how to care for our hair. I mean I've been natural for 3 years and I'm still learning, but I do agree it's something black women should learn to love

[Anonymous]

I have to disagree. The Dia de los Muertos thing is true, some don't even know what it is, but Cinco de Mayo isn't even a Mexican thing. It's a Chicano thing. It's not even celebrated in Mexico except in one village in Puebla.

And I've yet to meet a Mexican who didn't speak Spanish, and most Mexicans are more loyal to Mexico then they are to the States! And people always saying they're not American enough, so I don't know where you're getting this.

If anything it's the WHITES that hate themselves!

Though your statement may be true about blacks. Normal blacks hate ghetto blacks.

[DreamCatchcer]

I understand your point. You are what you are.

But we are all individuals. We think differently.

I am a white guy. I always question why some white girls have the need to have plastic surgery or use too much make up.

I think that is the same point you are making.

[Jack9949]

I’m fine with people being themselves. I won’t get offended by it. But black women in particular shouldn’t complain about my lack of interest if I don’t find their natural hair attractive. I don’t mean any offense to anyone but we all have our preferences.

[nodnol32]

I think the same concept applies in every nation for minorities. Its not even about appreciation. I'm more concerned about equal rights for all.

[Yads_Is_Back]

That was addressed. Demand for equal rights only comes with appreciation.

[nodnol32]

I know it was addressed. I can actually relate to this since I'm amongst the minorities in the UK.

[Gravit1]

Liking your genetic makeup is cool, everyone has different positive qualities, but using the term "minorities" is kind of useless. Do you really feel minor? What's the deal on counting people based on skin color or genetic background. The grouping/treating people on appearance is racist and or sexist. How is that a good thing? Why count at all?

[Yads_Is_Back]

They count:l; we don’t. We are treated unequally because there are less of us and it’s easy. No offense but that was kind of a stupid question lol

[Gravit1]

However, it only gets reported that way. Do we count the number of blond haired individuals? How about green eyed individuals? Skin color is just as arbitrary. It really doesn't make any difference. However, people get numbered off it and grouped off it. What difference does it make the number of people with _____ colored skin?

[Yads_Is_Back]

Yeah, I agree, but again, it’s on them not us.
You’re not telling me anything a fourth grader wouldn’t know lol

[Gravit1]

Ouch!, reality yes. However, the US school system pushes this Garbage. They're more concerned with physical appearance then diversity of thoughts or minds.

[Anonymous]

Nice take. I agree 100%. I'll take it a step further and say that minorities in America, especially blacks, need to address the problems within their own culture that are the by far the biggest challenges they face. They need to stop blaming others and start focusing on fixing the problems only they can fix.

[Anonymous]

The only thing I’ll say if that we should be fighting for being ability to do that, which includes the choice of choosing not to partake in those things. People that are close to me think it’s a bad thing I don’t really care about our culture or history.

[ronaldo75]

Blacks and Latinos treat each other like shit. Plain and simple. Until that stops, we won't have any real power.

[The_Sal]

We all treat each other like shit, every color , every creed, every religion.
It's a human problem

[ronaldo75]

@The_Sal Whites are 7% of the human population but control the planet. Clearly they are more united.

[The_Sal]

White is not a race its a skin color.
How do they control the planet?
Answer me that

[ronaldo75]

@The_Sal I'm not playing that game with you. Whites run the WORLD. Plain and simple. Every SINGLE 1st world nation is run by White Europeans or White European descendants.

[The_Sal]

You sound racist to the core.
Like you hate everything and everyone.
You'll always be miserable with that mentality and this is coming from a mexican

[Yads_Is_Back]

If my two cents is worth anything, you can’t start controlling a nation - much less the whole world - unless either you earn that control or people give you that control.

[The_Sal]

Like my man president trump. He has been earning the respect of the American people day by day. Everyone is taking the red pill, trump has been exposing the corruption that is he left me their racist ideology. Trump is a man of the people.

[ronaldo75]

@The_Sal I'm a Latino who's worked in Mexico and Mexico is one of the most racist and white-worshipping countries on earth. I'm not miserable. I'm just a realist.

[ronaldo75]

Whites never earned shit. What they did do was conquer most of the planet and meddle in foreign governments until they gained control and influence over everything.

[The_Sal]

That doesn't make it "white supremacy" they just happen to know what they're doing. Sure there are some whites out there that worship their skin color and think there is no other race better then them but the majority of white people at great to other races.

[Yads_Is_Back]

If they conquered most of the planet... I mean, that speaks for itself.

[The_Sal]

It just makes them great colonizers. What's so bad about that? Also there are light skins everywhere that aren't American born it's just a skin color.
If you're black would you compare yourself to a dark skin brazilian? No.
You're just black American.
Swedish people are just swedes they have nothing to do with America or white supremacy. It's all in the mind

[Yads_Is_Back]

@the_sal Yep

[The_Sal]

So in your mind they're racist because they are probably the most civilized people on the planet and know how to prosper in business etc and have the drive to further the longevity of humanity?
That makes them racist bigots sexist?
We might as well all go back to the stone age and start over.
This is coming from a mexican

[ronaldo75]

@The_Sal I'm really tall dude. It's going to be hard for you to reach up and put all those words in my mouth.

[The_Sal]

Not really I could just trip you and shove them in your mouth when you're on the ground

[KittyMilk]

Yes the minorities in America need to appreciate themselves just like everyone else does within their culture, but if they continue to be blind they will never understand power it possess. divide and conquer then steal and prosper

[The_Sal]

We're not minorities anymore the country is more diverse then it's ever been

[Iron_Man]

I appreciate you Latins all of you have come a long way on this earth

[alance99]

I totally agree with your points we should confident about ourselves only then we can expect others to consider as equals 🙂🙂

[newfreshstart]

you having any kind of troblem?

[Yads_Is_Back]

No, not individually. I'm referring to society as a whole in general. But thanks for checking up on me lol

[Shezadi]

I think you are talking about inferiority complex.

[Jjpayne]

Interesting viewpoint 🤔

[Sevenpointfive]

i haven't seen an afro in years