Very generally speaking, when you see a black man in a piece of media, be it tv show, movie, video game, etc. thereâs something you often see a lot of writers do. To go against the stereotype of black men (and black people in general) being dumb and lazy, youâll see this black male character being smart and an achiever. ïżŒ
The Black Nerd. A common character type, the nerd will always be very interested in all things nerdy: science, video games, mathematics, etc. In an continued effort to combat stereotypes, the Black Nerd will be lack athleticïżŒism, probably being asthmatic (the nerdiest of conditions). The Black Nerd will dress smartly, suspenders and bow ties. Theyâll always talk smart too, using proper English with complex words.
Now, I donât have a problem with a black character being a nerd, indeed black people are a people; we arenât all the same and we all have varying personalities. The problem I have is that too often we see a distinct disconnect between Blackness and the Black Nerd. The Black Nerd doesnât listen to hip hop or rap, only classical music. The Black Nerd only has white friends, the only other black characters are into not nerdy stuff. The Black Nerd never ever uses AAVE at any time in any context.
And again I must say that Black people, not being a monolith, there are no hard fast rules to being Black. Iâm more than sure there are Black people like what Iâve described above, Iâm not saying itâs impossible; what Iâm getting at is that the only Black Nerd we see. There are Black Nerds that play basketball, that bump Kendrick Lamar, and use AAVE since itâs an ever changing dialect. Iâm just saying thereâs no one way of being a nerd and no one way of being Black.
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