Very generally speaking, when you see a black man in a piece of media, be it tv show, movie, video game, etc. thereโs 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, youโll see this black male character being smart and an achiever. ๏ฟผ
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 athletic๏ฟผism, probably being asthmatic (the nerdiest of conditions). The Black Nerd will dress smartly, suspenders and bow ties. Theyโll always talk smart too, using proper English with complex words.
Now, I donโt have a problem with a black character being a nerd, indeed black people are a people; we arenโt 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 doesnโt 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. Iโm more than sure there are Black people like what Iโve described above, Iโm not saying itโs impossible; what Iโm 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 itโs an ever changing dialect. Iโm just saying thereโs no one way of being a nerd and no one way of being Black.
Well @dumbey, seems weโre in similar boats
This ainโt about him, this is about Black/Asian solidarity. Focus.
