#26. Being the "Token Black"

It has been established that Black people fear three things most in life: ghosts, dogs and registered mail. However, Black people have long feared being deemed two incredibly embarrassing things: one of those is our entry now, the other will be discussed tomorrow.

Black people have longed for peace and serenity, as a place to raise thriving families away from the ubiquitous crime of the inner cities and to be kept off the local nightly newscasts has prompted many upper and middle - class Black families to seek refuge in many of the cities listed in US News and World Reports best places to live.

This has created one of the most unpleasant situations that can befall young Black children, as being one of the only Black people in a lily-white suburb brings about one of the more feared categories that Black people can be placed into, being The Token Black.

At scores of suburban schools across the nation, the lonely Black student is removed from the camaraderie of his peers and forced to be secluded in the dreaded, numbing whiteness of life among white people. A good definition of the Token Black, is as follows:

"The african american youth in teen films who merely smiles,stays out of the conversation and says things like "Damn!","Shit!",and "That is WHACK!"

However, the Token Black is no longer relegated to just films and television shows, as many Black parents have departed life in all -Black areas to find themselves living among only white people, which puts the kids into the dreaded situation of growing up around an alien people.

The Token Black has been wonderful lampooned in the comedy South Park, as a character - aptly named Token - portrays the only Black youth in South Park, Colorado. A more in-depth definition of Tokenism is:

"refers to the policy or practice of limited inclusion of minority group, usually creating a false appearance of inclusive practices, intentional or not. Typical examples in real life and fiction include purposely including a member of a minority race (such as a black character in a mainly white cast, a woman in a traditionally male universe) into a group."

Stuff Black People Don't Like will always include being the Token Black, which equates to being one of the two things that Black people fear being labeled the most. For being the Token Black means that the Black person in question is surrounded by only white people, which means that by osmosis, the fear of "acting white" can't be too far from coming to fruition.