It’s a beautiful thing being black. The shared jokes, cultural references and overall sense of pride I feel being a black woman is something I truly treasure. But that being said there are certain references, jokes and shared experiences that just weren’t a part of my life as a black person. Which is why blackness varies from person to person. Here are a few things that tend to raise eyebrows and cause confusion…
1- Rice with Sugar on it
It blew my mind when I learned that people–specifically black people–put sugar on top of their rice. Now I had been known to put a little butter on top of my own, but sugar?!? Rice pudding is supposed to be sweet, not just plain white rice.
2- Hot Sauce
For some reason, my mom was certain that eating hot sauce would completely destroy the lining of my stomach. Even though my parents had been known to dabble with a little hot sauce, it was off limits until they were certain that we wouldn’t completely deteriorate our intestines. When I finally did start putting hot sauce on my food I realized it was good, definitely, but something I could live without. It wouldn’t be taking the place of ketchup in my life any time soon.
3- Menace II Society
I have a deep sense of admiration for Larenz Tate. Whenever I have a conversation about him I start listing the films I loved him in, Love Jones, Why Do Fools Fall in Love … then I have to get quiet. Waiting for the inevitable. Undoubtedly someone will mention Menance II Society and I’ll be out the game. I’ve never seen the movie but it’s on my list.
4- Good Times
The other day my co-workers were vehemently singing the theme song to “Good Times”. I just looked on in confusion and slight disgust. By the time the sing-a-long had I ended I proclaimed, “I can’t stand Good Times.” Then I thought wait, I’ve never even seen a full episode of “Good Times”! Why such disdain? Then I remembered. It wasn’t that I didn’t like “Good Times” it was the fact that my father loathed the show. He said it was buffoonery that went from bad to worse when James Evans died. Amazing how your parent’s opinions can become your own.
5- Kool-Aid
Unlike the inspiration for a Dave Chappelle skit, I knew nothing about “drank” growing up. I rocked with and continue to mess with real juice. Call me saddity if you want to but drinking cup after cup, glass after glass of sugar water is not where it’s at for me. Now I have tasted some delicious Kool-Aid in my life, but not good enough to purchase it for my own home.
6- Chasing after the Ice Cream Truck
Another moment influenced by my father. My father’s sense of pride is a force to be reckoned with. His mottoo was “Don’t embarrass the family.” And in his mind, running after the ice cream truck was tacky, trifilin’ even. He told us if the ice cream truck came by and we couldn’t catch it, because we couldn’t run, he’d buy us some later. To this day I’ve only ever bought ice cream from a truck that was already parked.
7- Chitlins
Most black people have reformed and will no longer touch chitlins. But I’ve never in life ever even tasted a chitlin’. Partially because I don’t eat pork, but I have feeling even if I had grown up eating pork, I still wouldn’t have been messing with anybody’s pig intestine.
8- Never seen “The Wire”
Of everything on this list, this is the only one I actually feel shame and regret about not having experienced. I just missed out. HBO wasn’t in the budget at the time and therefore…no “The Wire” for me. It’s amazing how often people–black people– reference this show. It always manages to make me feel like a social outcast. *Ordering Season 1 now.*
