Is ignorance really bliss? In a few cases, yes. But, in the reoccurring case known as racial stereotyping, the answer is clearly no. In “Confessions of a Privileged Black Female”, Crystal Foretia explains her point of view on racial stereotypes. She begins with an anecdote that seems innocent at first glance, about one of her classmates that described her as “white” because of her fashion sense and good grades.

Although I am not black, I consider myself to be a privileged person of color. From my perspective, describing someone as “white”, “black” or any other race based on the way that they dress is wrong, period. In “Confessions of a Privileged Black Female”, Crystal tells the story of Nigerian author, Ngozi Adichie. In her TED talk, Adichie explained that ignorance affects all people, and that the way to combat it is engaging with others to understand the things that make us similar and different, rather than make assumptions.

“Confessions of a Privileged Black Female” helped me realize that we need to work together to create a more tolerant society. After reading it, I finally understood how disgusting racial stereotypes are, and how desperately we need to get rid of them. A person’s race is not defined by their fashion sense, or their good grades, and that is a message that all people should understand.