When I decided to come to the University of Wyoming, my parents joked about the lack of black people in Laramie. Little did I know, I would have stories for every family get-together for the next four years. If I’m being completely honest, I could write for days about being black in Laramie, and most of it would be funny. Fortunately for you, I picked the encounters I usually laugh about with my friends and family.
“So, you’re on the basketball team?”/“What sport do you play?”
Questions like this are part of just another day for me in Laramie. It’s nice when people think I look athletic enough to play Division I sports (especially since our women’s basketball team is on point). On the other hand, people never assume I’m in college because of my academics or by my own merit.
Before coming to UW, nobody had ever assumed that I could play basketball or run track. In all honesty, people believing that I played soccer took some convincing. Then I moved to Laramie, and routinely people asked me about being on a team. I’ve taken to telling people I’m the kicker for the football team. Pretty unbelievable lie, right? Wrong, people have believed me because of black stereotypes. Next year, I think I’ll tell people I’m part of the golf team because they get to travel to warm places for competitions.
“Is that a weave or your real hair?”
My advice on this one, just don’t ask. Ever. This is like asking if someone is wearing concealer, foundation, blush and three other types of makeup. At the time you ask it may seem like a good question to ask, but you’ll regret your mistake for a very long time.
“Your hair looks so much better straight.”
This is a backhanded compliment. I don’t actually care what ethnicity the person with curly hair has. None of us like this comment. This is a curly-hair struggle in general.
“Do you like (insert rap/hip-hop artist)’s new song?”
Well since I don’t know who that person is, I’m going to have to say no. Ask me about the New Politics album, and I’ll actually know what you’re talking about. Assuming all black people like rap music is like assuming all white people like country music. And you know what happens when you assume…
Being black in Laramie isn’t bad. I don’t want this article to make you think Laramie is this awful place. Challenging moments arise at times, but that happens anywhere. When I lived in Germany, people came up to me just to tell me how much Americans suck. Never in the U.S. have I experienced someone verbally attacking me for being black. Off-putting comments have been made about the black community as a whole to me, but I typically have a snarky response to ignorant comments. We live in a time where discrimination based on skin color should not even be a thing. I should not be getting on my soapbox about issues that have to do with skin color, sexual orientation, or gender.