Race is Ridiculous
Spike Lee's 1992 Malcolm X movie has a scene where Malcolm's character is learning the meanings of the words 'Black' and 'White'. The word Black was defined in the dictionary as meaning soiled with dirt, hostile and outrageously wicked. In contrast, the word 'White' was defined as innocent, pure and without evil intent. Malcolm X came to realise that those labels were created to make people of African descent feel inferior.
Children can see colour but they aren't born with an inbuilt understanding of race. The above picture of my mother and I was taken in July 1981 not long after I was born. My parents were born and raised in Nigeria but I was born and raised in the United Kingdom. I went to live with an English family when I was three months old and I stayed with them for the first five years of my life. I would visit my Nigerian family every other weekend so I was exposed to both cultures. When I was around three or four years old I turned to my Caucasian foster mother and said: "Mummy, why am I brown and you're orange?" She just laughed leaving me confused. I didn't learn about race until I went to live with my biological mother at the age of five. White people are the majority in the UK so they don't have to think about race on a regular basis.
Donda West discusses racial labels in her book titled 'Raising Kanye'. Donda grew up in the United States in the 1950's at a time that African Americans were called 'Colored' or 'Negro'. According to Donda: "“Black” or “blackie” were words white people used to degrade people of African descent just as they used the word “nigger.”" Donda goes on to say that 'the word “black” evolved'.
I live in the UK where the majority of Black people are from Africa and the Caribbean. The above form is an example of an ethnicity questionnaire that is used by the National Health Service.
My son's father was born and raised in Nigeria making my son a British Nigerian like me. I've been teaching him about his African culture to help him to embrace his heritage. My son describes his skin colour as 'brown' so he was surprised when he first heard me referring to myself as 'Black'. As I was trying to teach my son about race I realised that race is a ridiculous abstract concept. 'Black' and 'White' people have colours as a racial label but Asian people don't. This can be confusing for young children.
Race is ridiculous but representation matters. In the UK, mainstream media caters to the White majority so Black children don't see many images of people who look like them. This conditions some children into thinking that Black people are inferior. People growing up in countries with a Black majority don't have the same challenges. When my son was a toddler I would get him to watch cartoons with Black characters (Motown Magic was his favourite). In addition to cartoons, I also buy my son books with Black characters. Sophy Henn has several picture books about a Black boy called Ted. My son loves the books and he sometimes says: "Ted looks like me!"
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| @chimamanda_adichie via Instagram |
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is quoted as saying: "I wasn’t black until I came to America. I became black in America." Prior to travelling to America Chimamanda identified with her Igbo ethnicity rather than her race. Colorism is a big issue in Nigeria but racism isn't. Chimamanda is lucky that she didn't grow up thinking about race. Sadly, my son isn't going to have that luxury.
Bob Marley is quoted as saying: “My father was white and my mother black, you know. Them call me half-caste, or whatever. Well, me don’t dip on nobody’s side. Me don’t dip on the black man’s side nor the white man’s side. Me dip on God’s side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white, who give me this talent.”
Amen to that🙏🏾.