"p.228. Bebe's mother put many ideas into her head, about why proper English was the right thing to do, "Speaking impeccably proper English was a strategy in the overall battle for civil rights. Bebe, we have got to be prepared." There are many different perspectives in the book, Sweet Summer about what "acting white" is. African Americans in this story have made many wrong perceptions about things, but they all seemed to learn from them. Therefore, speaking correct English should not be a put down, because no matter how u talk, that should not put a label on you. You are what you are, and being educated should not be labeled as being white. If somebody is not educated, that should not be labeled as acting black, or talking black. Labels put races down, and the people that do it are usually their own races. .
African Americans always felt as if they had to compete with whites, and either had to be as good as t hem, or even better. Not only the parents put these ideas into the children's heads, but also their teachers. Mrs. Clark, Bebe's teacher was putting many ideas in children's heads. Not only in school were they having to hear this, but mostly at home. Even if some things were not true about whites, African Americans still believed that whites were always trying to compete with them, and also thought they were superior over African Americans. Mrs. Clark was making it seem like everything African Americans did in life had to be a competition against whites, "We have to be twice as good as white children at everything they attempted in life, that way you got half a chance of making it."p.234. Nana and Bebe's mother believed that to have the same education as a white child was the first step up the rocky road to success. I believe that is a stereotype, because whites are not always necessarily smart, "even while the remaining whites anxiously sought buyers for their houses, they made not pretense of equality.