Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it

    So I'm a black woman (surprise!) and all my life I had to fight I've had to manage other people's generalized stereotypes of being black and being a black girl/woman.    When I was in grade school in MS, I was constantly told that "I spoke well" or that I "looked so clean" by my white teachers.  I was often made to sit by myself to take, and retake, tests because the teacher didn't believe I could score "this high" on a test while her white students didn't do nearly as well.   Even as an adult working in corporate American in a professional capacity I can't even tell you how many times I've been mistaken for the administrative assistant and asked to fetch coffee.  Of course there is nothing wrong with being an assistant but to automatically assume I'm one because I am the ONLY brown lady in the room used to be off putting. I couldn't possibly be one of your colleagues right?   I'm not a welfare queen, a baby momma, a drug addict or uneducated. Nor do I use the N-word, speak slang that much or speak ugly to my children or whatever stereotype YOU have about black women. I'm just a regular woman, with dreams and hopes who's full of life, has a great family and mostly a great life.   I'm not necessarily trying to overcome this "lot in life" because one I don't feel like my color or gender burdens me so much as it seems to burden simple people. Secondly, I can't control what other people assume about me based on their narrow view about black people and/or women.  All black people are not the same just like all white/Asian/Mexican/other are not the same.  If you don't take the opportunity to get to know me for ME, sadly that is your loss!