And why you shouldn’t say them.
1. “Are you sure you’re black?”
My friend was working with a white colleague on a project. She had just come up with a brilliant idea for a problem they have been trying to solve for weeks. Even though this guy could see that my friend is a black woman, he couldn’t believe a black woman had solved a problem he, a white man, couldn’t. Hence, his question, “Are you sure you’re black?”
What he didn’t say was he could not imagine a smart and talented black woman.


Latest posts by Banchiwosen (see all)
- Favorite Essays, Short Stories, Novels, Short Story Collections, and Memoirs I Read In 2024 - December 28, 2024
- New Flash—Which Is Nominated for the 2024 Pushcart Prize - December 26, 2024
- Momma, Did You Hear the News?, and Where Are the African Literary Magazines? - May 20, 2024