THE STORY OF NIA

What ways do the various stereotypes about African American girls and women potentially play a role in this case (consider Nia, Joyce, teachers and coaches, and peers)? Nia expressed her teachers viewed her this way and labeled her as a gang member because of the darker skin, body composition, and clothes style. One teacher (liberal white male) criticized Nia for a history paper she wrote about African American culture, commenting that black culture was extinguished with slavery and racism, making positive African American culture was non-existence. Although Nia was a good soccer player, her soccer coach ostracized her and treated her differently than her Latina teammates. Within her cultural group, Nia felt isolated, stating she did not know where she fits in. She felt the other African American girls (light skin and fair hair) only talked and thought about superficial things. In Nia's case, these stereotypical concepts have distorted Nia's self-image and caused her to have internal ...