Race!
I have tried to avoid writing about this otherwise very complex and convoluted human-made issue. Probably because i feel both equipped yet inadequate in writing about it. I worry I dont know enough or haven't experienced enough to say much, but then can't keep quiet given all that I actually have seen and been through. It paints quite a sad picture of humans as a species that a difference in melanin concentration can be this deep and divisive, but again, I digress.
From slavery to colonialism to native american and asian clan purges, its ubiquitous presence in every aspect of human interaction makes it something you cannot avoid no matter your best efforts - especially if you are black. An issue that stares you smack in the face almost on a daily basis, particularly in the West. Given the spate of shootings and institutionalised racism on display, sometimes I want to blame technology for putting these instances in our faces and possibly magnifying the problem, but then I realise technology can't capture what doesn't already exist. One instance of racism, one racially motivated death or injustice, is still one too many.
It is just melanin folks; melanin!! Yet again, I digress.
And let us just get this out of the way, for those who might want to start an argument; science has proven without any room for doubt that there is invariably NO genetic differences between the races - NONE. Whew! Now that I got that off my chest and out of the conversation, let us proceed!
My musings won't attempt any kind of nuanced or academic analysis of racism, as many people much better placed than myself have expounded and pontificated ad nauseam. I fear my voice only gets lost in the whole vindictive debate, and suffocates in the accusations and counter-accusations which only exacerbate the problem. I talk from an intentionally narrow & personal platform; from the perspective of a non-African-American African in America (N4A).
Full disclosure: I am black - Cameroonian, Black, and African to be precise, and in that order. Proud and happy to have been so all my life, and hoping I stay so till I die ( I aint about to do a Micheal Jackson anytime soon). But paradoxically, the mere fact that I proudly identify myself as black already makes me a willful participant in this unfortunate paradigm - it is what it is! I have always held that difference and diversity are intrinsic to God's earth and should be celebrated. I am a fiercely proud black man, and hold no ill will towards others who are proud people of their races. The issue with race as I see it, is not with self-determination but with using race as a basis for comparison contrast, and prejudice projection.I contend that identity is a good thing for it tells us who we are, and gives us a sense of belonging. But what I think is wrong with the quest for identity is the latter part of that statement; when our quest for identity and society overshadows our humanity, our empathy and our common sense. From such arise all kinds of negatives and mayhem.
Let me explain.
As an African, I only experienced racism in my adult life after leaving The Continent for education and socioeconomic advancement. I had read about racism and watched 'Roots' of course, but it didn't affect my reality and or my outlook. Racism didn't shape my self-determination (say, in the way tribalism, nepotism and colonialism did - but again, that is a different discussion). I am a firm believer in the idea that knowing, and experiencing, are two very different things, and you really cannot know a social issue, until you experienced it - empathy aside. Having lived in multiple countries in Europe and now the US and travelled around the world, my take on race is coloured and defined by my own experiences, which are totally not unique in their occurrence but might just be, in their combination, as I am sure is yours. I have experienced overt racism in east Germany, covert racism in the UK and institutionalised racism in the US.
Paradoxically, I have also experienced some positives of being a black man in the world (I got my share of free drinks and female looks for being black, properly dressed and marginally well-spoken!) Thing is, if you could speak good English, appeared a little confident and well-dressed, you had to be an African-American from New York, Philly or California - the youth in Europe (particularly Eastern Europe, couldn't tell the difference otherwise, and seem enamored with the novelty of blackness ( in regions which had not been that exposed) and the idea of African-American culture (Hip-hop music,videos, culture, and sports heroes sure have done black people a world of good around world. I personally owe a certain measure of gratitude for that).
What you couldn't possibly be to them however, was a young man from Africa (not with all the hunger and disease infestation from that country - Africa! Plus, 'how did you get the money for a flight, to leave your tree houses and famine? And you speak English too? Nah, definitely from Detroit!'). I quickly realised that your racism experience differs, depending on the perceived origin of your 'black', and unfortunately, Africans are at the lowest rung of that 'blackness' scale.Overt racism, which is rampant in pockets all over Europe makes the African position on that rung painfully obvious in the insults, injurious assaults, profiling and harassment you have to endure as a black person in some parts of Europe. Interestingly, you get treated with much more respect if, and when you are mistaken to be African American - go figure!
In some ways, these kinds of experiences were more tolerable to me. It was in your face. You know it, you can name and identify it, and you can locate it. You know the places not to go to avoid skin heads and racist nationalists; the neighborhoods and bars you only visit in a group; what documents you need to have on you to thwart racist law enforcement. You figure out the survival tactics you can use to varying levels of success; speak impeccable English, fake an African American accent (sometimes to some honestly hilarious results), project more confidence and outrage than you really have, etc. Do this and you just might get away from tricky racist situations - In other words, be 'American brash',( or just use the tried and tested 'I am an African prince' fallback, if all else fails). Essentially, because the fabric of that society refuses to lie to you about their racism, one does not develop a false sense of security and expectations. You know how far you can go, and how high you can climb; you take the rewards you can get and develop the skills and coping mechanism necessary to live productively therein. Without any promises of equality or 'land of the free' monikers, the racism - though equally abhorrent- is in fact more tolerable.
In most other parts of the world, as a black man, you might get beaten up by skin heads and have police harass you, but more often than not, you don't end up dead for 'driving while black'. Of all the places I have been to and lived in, nowhere is there a more complicated and combustible racial landscape like the USA, where an already complicated topic like race is mixed up with slavery, institutionalised racism, unfair criminal justice practices etc just to name a few. All this, mixed in the cauldron of the careless availability of lethal weapons and a controversial constitutional amendment to boot. Racism in America turns out to be a completely different animal... A minefield for any N4A who ventures on its shores.. This I will attempt to elucidate when next I muse... To Be Continued.
SoP @ 330000ft.
Not fair at all. This not the kind of write up in which you pull a trumpesque suspense. The issues are so relevant and the writing so engaging a reader would be within his rights to sue for reckless endangerment of the intellect. By all means resume musing so we can participate in the discussion.
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