It’s funny how my mind works, I can have really great articles or some bad articles. It depends on what is on my mind, that I just write. This week this is something that has been on my mind lately, that I insist on writing about it. My friend Nicole Williams got into Princeton University (you can read her article about it), while everyone was proud that she got into a really good ivy league school, there were others who found the need to say that she only got in because she is “black,” This time me got a bad vibe. Here are my reasons why:

Just because you are black, does not mean you can’t get straight A’s in school.

Be the person who makes a difference in your school, instead of being in the in crowd. Nicole is black, yes! But does not mean she had to be like everyone else who get stereotyped because they are black. She is a smart girl, studied hard and gave all she had to her academics. Nicole is someone that started not 1, but 2 clubs in high school (I would know because I was there) bible study and Melanin Minds! Nicole actually skipped a whole grade early on, which today means she is graduating ahead of her time. Nicole has many accomplishments underneath her belt, but yet she only got in because she is black…..

Just because you are black does not mean you have to be like the rest.

In 2008, Barack Hussein Obama II who is an American politician became our 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African-American to have served as president. Just because Obama was black do you think we voted him in? No, we voted him in because he chose not to be like the rest who get stereotyped and got his education causing him to get into Harvard Law school and meet his wonderful, beautiful, intelligent wife who was our former first lady as well Michelle Obama, who is a graduate of not only Princeton University, but Harvard Law School as well, where she spent her early legal career working at the law firm Sidley Austin. So while everyone claimed the reason why we voted him in because he was black, take a look at their early accomplishments, that lead him to become President Obama, not only for one term but for two!!

Just because you are black does not mean you can not do it.

There are no handouts because you are black. Everything you get in life is earned, not given. Any black man or women who found success is not getting into ivy league schools because of the color of their skin, they are getting in, but because they want to live to become successful. Like Michelle Obama once said “ I never cut class. I loved getting A’s, I liked being smart. I liked being on time. I thought being smart is cooler than anything in the world” You too can be your own person.

Finally, the point is -- I do not like hearing people say it because “you are black” because just because these Ivy League schools are looking to accept more and more black people in their schools, does not mean they are just getting in because they are black! They are earning their acceptance. That is why Nicole got in, with a full rid, too. Not because she is black!