Local View: My race is not a lifestyle

As an African-American walking and driving the streets of Duluth, I have received my fair share of racism, whether it be on a hockey rink, at a gas station, in a movie theater or even while being pulled over by police.
But I have no hatred toward police officers or toward anyone who utters a derogatory term against me. I have been in fights and arguments over racism since the day I stepped into my kindergarten classroom. At first glance, I could come across as a street thug or as another African-American in American society who’s up to no good. You could get the wrong idea about me. That is, until you look at my shirt and see some sort of hockey team logo instead of a gang symbol. Or until you look at my feet and see a pair of bright, shiny pink crocs and not a fresh pair of Jordans. Or until you search my car to find nothing but a few pictures of friends, a can of Febreze, a phone charger, a big hockey bag, a pair of sticks in the trunk and, on occasion, a golf bag. Or until you ask me to turn on my radio and you hear country music blaring from the speakers.I am cut from a different mold. I am an African-American through and through. I have no reason to hate police officers, doctors, lawyers or any business executive because they may have something to say about the color of my skin. Almost all of my friends, teammates and former and present classmates are Caucasian, but they treat me the same as any other person. Just because I don’t listen to the newest hip hop music, play basketball, do drugs or maybe even have a baby I only see on occasion, it doesn’t mean I’m not an African-American teenager trying to survive in today’s American society.We are labeled as killers, drug dealers and insubordinate members of society. I am here to tell you that is not true. There are plenty of other people from different walks of life doing the same things. Race is not a lifestyle. In America you have the opportunity to choose your own path. I did not choose to be African-American but am unapologetically African-American and wouldn’t want it any other way.I did, in fact, choose hockey, pink crocs and country music.What’s your path? Jonah C. Williams lives in Hermantown. He wrote this for the News Tribune.As an African-American walking and driving the streets of Duluth, I have received my fair share of racism, whether it be on a hockey rink, at a gas station, in a movie theater or even while being pulled over by police.
But I have no hatred toward police officers or toward anyone who utters a derogatory term against me. I have been in fights and arguments over racism since the day I stepped into my kindergarten classroom. At first glance, I could come across as a street thug or as another African-American in American society who’s up to no good. You could get the wrong idea about me. That is, until you look at my shirt and see some sort of hockey team logo instead of a gang symbol. Or until you look at my feet and see a pair of bright, shiny pink crocs and not a fresh pair of Jordans. Or until you search my car to find nothing but a few pictures of friends, a can of Febreze, a phone charger, a big hockey bag, a pair of sticks in the trunk and, on occasion, a golf bag. Or until you ask me to turn on my radio and you hear country music blaring from the speakers.I am cut from a different mold. I am an African-American through and through. I have no reason to hate police officers, doctors, lawyers or any business executive because they may have something to say about the color of my skin. Almost all of my friends, teammates and former and present classmates are Caucasian, but they treat me the same as any other person. Just because I don’t listen to the newest hip hop music, play basketball, do drugs or maybe even have a baby I only see on occasion, it doesn’t mean I’m not an African-American teenager trying to survive in today’s American society.We are labeled as killers, drug dealers and insubordinate members of society. I am here to tell you that is not true. There are plenty of other people from different walks of life doing the same things. Race is not a lifestyle. In America you have the opportunity to choose your own path. I did not choose to be African-American but am unapologetically African-American and wouldn’t want it any other way.I did, in fact, choose hockey, pink crocs and country music.What’s your path?Jonah C. Williams lives in Hermantown. He wrote this for the News Tribune.