Stereotyped

A few years ago if you had told me

That I was a stereotypical example of my community

In disbelief I would have shaken my head

“Absolutely not,” is what I would have vehemently said

I had thought I was different, I could not fully integrate

In my community, therefore I could not in my estimate

Be a stereotype of someone from my community

The idea was just preposterous to me

I also believed, in my youthful audacity

That I could shape myself into anyone I wanted to be

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Over the years I’ve been trying to figure out

How others view me, and without a doubt

Even if I am perceived as different within my community

I conform to a stereotype when outsiders see me

I came to realize how the best and the worst

Of my community I had imbibed, this realization at first

Left my ego deflated, because I had thought

I was unique, that I was someone I really was not..

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To be a stereotype has a connotation negative

But your community imparts values with which you live

The values and ideas that members of your community share

Are built on a common history, of which you may be unaware

Who cares if people stereotype you

You know you stereotype other people too..