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No Stamp of Approval Needed

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Valdosta chapter.

Can we stop picking and choosing what we want various races to look, sound, act, dress like, and like? It is long over do. People are not meant to fit in boxes so why does our world insist on doing that? These are questions that need answers so that people can move forward and be individuals, rather than concerning themselves with fitting a mold. The very things that set us apart, are the things that have the potential to take away from how everyone else sees us.

Humans have the rare skill to pull a “you can’t sit with us” while also saying “you can’t sit with them either.”

When someone feels isolated or uncomfortable, shouldn’t they be able to seek refuge in people and experiences that will make them feel happy and safe? When a black person likes listening to country music or climbing mountains, there’s a bit of an uproar. Who are we to decide on genre preferences, favorite pastimes, appearances, beliefs, or customs? Just because there’s often a pattern, or maybe even a trend, doesn’t mean that it has to be the standard for every person that falls under that race or ethnicity? Not all Muslims have to wear hijabs and make themselves known. Stereotyping is a real thing that people only seem to pay attention to when it’s widely agreed on as being offensive. But is it not offensive to take away someone’s confidence in themselves because you don’t find them black, white, Asian or Hispanic enough?

Ask yourself these tough questions so that one day we may be able to accept that trends don’t have to stay trends among a specific group of people. There are too many beautiful beings out there for the world to get to make any kinds of call in regards to who can be what. If you don’t want to act like your culture in the traditional sense, then don’t. As long as you are prideful and embrace your heritage, then forget about what anyone has to say about how you aren’t ______ enough.

You are who you are and contrary to popular belief, no one can determine whether you are what’s in your bloodline except for your DNA. Race/ethnicity is not a card that can be taken away for you breaking a mold that shouldn’t have existed to begin with.

-HCxo!

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Nia Lewis

Valdosta

My name is Nia which means purpose in Swahili and I am currently finding it and trying to live up to it. I'm a senior at Valdosta State University, my major is Communication Disorders--translation: I am an aspiring Speech-Language Pathologist. Nothing makes me happier than the people I love, affection, a good book, a blank journal, and the beach. I'm sure I left a few things off of the list, but you get the point.
Her Campus at Valdosta State.