People's perspective of a black man varies from person to person. Those unfamiliar with Black men are left to their own devices and outside sources such as magazine articles, news reports, newspapers, television, and the Internet to develop a view of Black men. Often what is shown tends to contain demeaning [negative] assumptions about the general population of Black men. Some of these assumptions include that black men's clothing usually reflects the hip-hop theme of the 90s: with the connotation of unprofessionalism, black men speak in an uneducated manner, and rap and hip-hop they're for us, so that's the kind of music we use. listen. Contrary to these beliefs and assumptions, there are many black men who do not meet the standards of those assumptions. For example, due to my social and religious environment, my behavior tends to differ significantly from that of a typically black man. From my appearance, my walk, my speech, my mindset, my thoughts and overall outlook on life; my personality usually doesn't match the usual perception of a typically black man. Because I don't live up to the status quo, my identification as a black man continues to be questioned and misunderstood. Similar to Judith Cofer's dilemma in The Myth of the Latin Woman:/ I just met a girl named Maria, finding the right clothes to wear is a difficult task:…I appeared at an American friend's party wearing a dress suitable for a semi-formal rather than an arcade birthday party… I knew how to dress for school: in the Catholic school I attended we all wore uniforms; I knew how to dress for Sunday mass and I knew what to wear for parties at my relatives' house. (Cofer pg. 204) Baggy pants hanging from the waist, with a Notorious B.I.G. t-shirt and hoodie is quite possibly the first image that pops into some people's minds when they think of young black males. However for some