Can Your Accomplishments Outweigh the Color of Your Skin?

[Shakeera Frazer]

Can Your Accomplishments Outweigh the Color of Your Skin?

African Americans have overcome many trials and tribulations do to our wonderful shades of brown skin tones. We have often not been afforded certain opportunities or held back from opportunities just because of the color of our skin. There was a time, not that many years ago that there were clubs, facilities, bathrooms, and even forms of public transportation that were reserved for “Whites Only” and displayed signs such as “No Coloreds Allowed”. Schools were segregated and Blacks and Whites were not allowed to occupy the same space, but today in 2009 with all of the numerous accomplishments of African Americans and America’s first African American president all that prejudice is behind us, or is it?

Many of us like to think that appearance shouldn’t matter, people should be judged for the type of people they are on the inside rather than the outside and what type of impact they make on the world. Many people feel differently. Often people are judged solely on how they look rather than what they accomplished or what type of person they are. This is often seen by the abundance of video vixens, and the extreme rise in plastic surgery and buttock injections. But beyond physical appearance lies the undying question does racism and prejudice still exist? Many of us would like to think not but there are often reminders that tell us it is still very much alive.

Last Thursday was supposed to be a great night for Top-selling Urban Fiction author Teri Woods, instead of a sad lesson. Woods has just completed her most recent novel “Alibi” and was giving a party at NYC popular nightclub Greenhouse to promote her novel. She had invited 175 of closest friends and family and ended up in tears when the owner didn’t let any of her guests in. Club owner Barry Mullineaux declined to discuss what had happened to Woods' party beyond calling charges of racism "all pretty much bogus." Woods claims she has text messages she says he sent that night showing he was barring people based on appearance. "Everybody looking at me like this ur people Barry???" read a text message. "I couldn't let in 300lb girls” read another text. All of Woods’ guests except about five people were all African American. Woods claims that the entire incident was racial and her guests were not let in because of the color of their skin and as a result Wood’s and her guests have filed a $1 billion dollar class action suit against Greenhouse. If this incident was racial it is so sad that in this day in age your accomplishments are not realized but the color of your skin is. What are your thoughts?

[Enoch Mubarak]

With a 1 billion dollar lawsuit pending any outside comment may be detrimental to your case especially if someone black is disagreeing with the incident being racially motivated.

Off the record
With such a large amount of money at stake let's hope the text messages is not her strongest peice of evidence because if he can explain his text messages away he may also be successful in explaining her case away as well but...... you did not hear this from me.

E.M