A teen having trouble having others accept her race takes place in the article “aMErican Me” by Imani M. She gives insight of how she is a “Blaxican” and how others do not accept her as part African-American. Imani even tells of how at her old church, a guest speaker commented on how she was adopted when she pointed to her mother. This raises up a question of acceptance among others, and why we are so inclined about someone’s race.



Imani wanted people to know that she is black, and know her heritage as well as her pride for it. Nobody ended up believing her--because of “…[her] skin, [her] hair, [and her] dialect.” Imani was frustrated that no one could accept her for who she is--so she started to act “black” based on stereotypes (even though she did not appreciate stereotypes, and the uniform structure and negativity they may have on certain races). Still, people knew that, “...black people scare [them]. [Imani is] so white, it didn’t even matter.” Imani tried many other things, such as hanging out with “black girls” with the hypothesis being that, if Imani surrounded herself with black people, she would be considered as black. She found that, “...[among the unspoken rules of] black girls,” you had to fit in or you didn’t. For example, you had to have the latest technology, and your personality had to be loud, hip, and stylish--next to other stereotypical labels that were the rules of “black girls.”


However, Imani now tries less to be accepted as black. She even says, “America is supposed to be a place for ethnicities to mix and form new cultures.” Due to the skeptical attitude placed towards Imani when she told others she was black, she feels that America should not be prejudiced and just accept people’s ethnicities, like her. She says and is “100 percent ‘me,’” and could not put it more of a better way than that. Just like Amani and everyone out there as well, we all are “aMErican.”