Discovering Who People Truly Are

I read @afriken’s post and something about it caught my attention. In her post, she mentioned that human beings should get to know themselves based on who they truly are, not just based on what country they are from or what tribe they belong to. One of the worst people I hate having conversations with are people who judge you based on your tribe, look, or any other factor. I grew up in the western part of Nigeria and we often got stereotypical comments from a lot of people simply because my parents are from the eastern part. It is always, “that's how the Igbo people do. You are this way because you are Igbo. Growing up, these comments always got on my nerves. I mean, the fact that my parents are from the East doesn't mean I would behave a certain way, does it? The most common one that people told me is, “You are probably stingy because you are from this particular place. With time, I got used to it. I realized that the best medicine for people like this is just to keep quiet and agree with them just so they would keep shut.

For today's Hive Learner’s prompt, the topic is STEREOTYPES. We live in a world where people judge you without knowing who you truly are. They judge you based on your country, tribe, appearance, or affiliations. What are some of the common stereotypes that you have been subjected to? The last time I got stereotyped happened recently. My friends and I were having a conversation and somehow, one thing led to another and we started talking about religion. Usually, I don’t enjoy having religious arguments because I know everyone would have different opinions and the argument would lead nowhere. A friend asked me what church I attend and I replied that I was born and brought up in a catholic church, and the next thing she said was, “You guys are not even religious.” In my head, I had already replied to her with 5 different answers. What, what have you heard about Catholics? Why do you say we are not religious? Let’s even assume that Catholics are generally not religious, have you met me, What if I am different?

Those were the things in my head and something in me wished I could unleash the words, but as usual, I managed to cool my nerves. I waved her sentence off, and just smiled and the conversation ended. It works every time. If I had said something like, “How dare you say that about me?” the conversation would probably lead to a heated argument.

I have been subjected to different types of stereotypes, but the one that happens frequently is the one that has to do with my tribe. As I mentioned above, my parents are from the East. I grew up in a western state. In my street, we were the only “different” family, so you can imagine how difficult it must have been to fit in. Sometimes, parents would tell their kids not to come and play in our house because we are not good people. What do you mean we are not good people? You haven't even met with us yet and you have finally concluded that we are not good people? That's hilarious. I'm sure the Yorubas who also reside in the east also go through these same things.

I have heard people say, “I can't get married to this person because he is from Ijebu and Ijebu people are known to be mischievous and greedy. How can you be so sure that the person is also like that? People should get to know people first by having deep conversations with them or spending time with them, not just judging them based on their appearance or tribe.

Images in this post are mine.

Thanks for reading.