As you may know, black boys and men are heavily sexualized in society, books, everyday gossip, schools- everywhere.
Obviously, there are more to them than just their bodies and sexual appeal. They are humans too, not objects of sexual desire, but in most cases, their bodies are used, not their brains or their brilliance, not their stunning and distinct personalities.
Many times, black boys are used in a disgusting, dehumanizing way that is completely unacceptable. This oversexualization leads to a decrease of value in black boys.
Why? Because when people oversexualize our boys and men, they become degraded and people stop thinking about their personalities or the knowledge that they have to offer, the things they can bring to the table- the ideas they can craft and bring to life. They become, in a way, targeted for what is in their pants and talked about solely because of it.
People use this to their advantage to seduce black boys and tug at their lustful thoughts, bringing them to action.
Sure, it's okay to assume that a black boy may have an active sex life, but people are honestly over doing it when they present every black male in their story to be a player or make it seem like they are preying on innocent girls, which, a lot of times, isn't the case. Black boys aren't the predators looking for prey, they are the prey.
It is essential that people stop oversexualizing our men and boys and focus on their other qualities and their beings as a whole.
