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For the past year - especially as the economy has been growing - President Obama has been calling for equal opportunity for all Americans, including young African-American men. 

, Obama encouraged a group of young minority males to ignore those who put them down with insults like "acting white:"

 is a concept that has been around for a long time. But now, the president assures us that there is no one way of representing a culture.

One caller from St. Paul said he thinks the insult is a big part of what's holding his community back. 

"Acting white" is something that African-Americans hurl at other African-Americans just to put them down, said Washington Post opinion writer Jonathan Capehart.

"Especially when this goes on in school, the either intended or unintended consequence is it makes young people feel that they have to limit themselves, that they have to hold themselves back," he said. 

That's what President Obama was saying in his speech. There's no one way to be African-American, Capehart said.  

This issue doesn't just affect African-Americans, said Duke University professor William Darity, Jr. 

"We have a widespread sentiment that suggests there is some kind of discount for being intellectually a high achiever. I want to argue that there is no evidence that the degree of anti intellectualism is greater in the black community than anywhere else," he said. 

Have you--as a person of color--ever been accused of acting white? Or have you thought it about someone else? What do you think it says about expectations, influences and peer pressure within your community?

Education News

In a recent speech, Obama encouraged a group of young minority males to ignore those who put them down with insults like "acting white."

Getting beyond the 'acting white' insult

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