Race In The 21st Century
It was only 53 years ago, that the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the USA was passed to end all state and local laws requiring segregation. 50 years ago, ethnic minorities such as Blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics etc. were protesting to earn their civil rights as human beings to live as freely as whites. This date always amazes me, as this law was only passed for the generation before us. For generation's prior to this British-Caribbean and African-American slaves were still oppressed by the shackles of the legal system, women were unable to vote, and Native Americans were removed from their own land. Not even 100 years have passed since Nazi Germany and the murder of Jews and the demise of Eastern and Western Europeans. Apartheid South Africa only officially ended 2 years before I was born (1948-1994) and the Bosnian Genocide commenced in 1995. To me, this will always be extremely shocking and saddening.
I am and probably always will be touched by Ava DuVernay's 2014 historical drama Selma. The Portrayal of Martin Luther King seems honest and raw, showing his great leadership skills but also his rumoured infidelity. Common and John Legend accepted an award for Best Original Song at the 2015 Oscar Ceremony for the film and the speech they delivered was extremely heartfelt. John proclaimed that 'Selma is now' as the struggle for justice is now and something I thoroughly believe in. There are more black men incarcerated in prison globally than they were under slavery in 1850.
A Stanford rapist (Brock Turner) , did not even receive a one year sentence for his crime. He received 6 months and only served 3 of those, while black and Hispanic males petty drug crimes combined makes them 13x more likely to be sentenced than their white peers. But of course America is the land of the free, right? (Side Note - I am not pardoning drugs crimes as these are against the law, but you get the gist)
I am forever proud to be British and indebted to my parents that they created me in this country (lol), but I am also forever proud of my Afro/Caribbean and European heritage and background. Growing up, the lack of representation of people who looked like me still makes me sad. These people now like Idris Elba, Lupita Nyongo, Naomi Campbell etc, are experts at their craft but are also exceptions. Even now when I walk into shops with the intention of buying makeup, Rimmel, Benefit, Makeup Revolution, etc., seem to have almost every colour before 'Caramel', but what about us guys and gals who are darker? (Side Note- I also recognise how difficult it is for those with 'Ivory' skin tone to find a suitable foundation tone)
I am extremely blessed and the people I am surrounded by at home and the people I consider family and love dearly, are made up of several varying ethnicities. Growing up I was mainly surrounded by Irish, Caribbean and Africans. When I was younger, I never noticed this racial difference between the Irish, Caribbean and Africans and sometimes when talking to other people about their past racial experiences, I feel even more blessed because of this. I was just Kes, but throughout my teen life I was consistently told that I was an 'oreo' by blacks and whites. Hearing this term does not offend me in the slightest, it makes me laugh to be honest that people are SO small minded to think that because myself as a black female, acting differently to the stereotype I am associated with, means I am trying to be someone else or I am acting like an 'oreo'. This is incorrect. I am not trying to be anyone other than myself. It is called a stereotype, not a definite type. Stereotypes are not the be all and end all, they are perhaps what a small minority of people are and often a large and inaccurate generalisation.
It just baffles me how we live in the 21st century and people still so closed minded? The last time I was labeled an 'oreo' was only in 2016 by someone at university (lol) Also, may I add that more than once, I have experienced African males in my Student Union approach me and ask if I am Nigerian. When I politely say no and say that I am in fact half Ghanaian, one guy looked like he had seen a ghost , was rude, (not in a humorous way), and then made an excuse to leave. To me this was actually great, because I would not want to spend time with someone who was so opinionated and petty. For those of you who are not aware, within the African community there can sometimes also be unnecessary prejudices and grudges. An example of this is the above, and two Nigerian ethnic groups Yoruba and Igbo. Obviously with all the racial representations I have spoken about in this post, these prejudices are not always the case, but sometimes they can be and by using the African examples I have, I want to show that even within people of the same race, there are still racial frictions and prejudices . I am also aware that in places like Zimbabwe and Kenya, the demise of white farmers and citizens, is occurring and is totally unacceptable and something which angers me JUST as much.
Whenever people talk about their grandparents, I get an overwhelming sense of pride. This is because of the stories I have heard about mine and also the times I cherished that I have spent with them. If I ever show people a photo of my grandmother, I am sometimes met with responses like 'she can't have been your grandmother, she is so pale.' YES my grandmother was of a significantly fairer complexion in comparison to myself, but that does not mean she is not my ancestor because she is. The colour of skin does not detract from that. My mother is also a lot lighter than I am, and I remember in 2009 we went to Rome. At border control during this holiday, we were stopped both ways. I was asked if my mother was really my mother, and if she was forcing me to pose as her child and the distinction between our skin colours was pointed out in London. To me this seemed barbaric, why would my mother not be my mother? Admittedly, I was tired, confused and thought I would have some fun and pretended that I didn't know what was going on and did not speak until perhaps 30 seconds had passed. When we left this section of the airport, I was met with glaring eyes (from my mother) and was cussed out for about 5 minutes or so, because my mum did not find me pretending to be oblivious funny at all and enlightened me about child trafficking. After I was told about its brutality, I understood the error of my ways and that I should not have been so silent at first as child trafficking was very serious and truly alive and living. Before I move on to the next paragraph, I want to point out that I have a triple-barrelled surname (Browne Owusu-Awuah.) My mother's last name is Browne, and on her passport and my passport, this surname is disclosed. Even though we share one of the same names, we were still stopped both ways. This is only one example but when travelling, for both of us this has occurred more than once, but perhaps I am looking too much into this, who knows.
I do want to point out that I am not racist, before I am accused of being racist because I most definitely am not that and I am not ignoring the fact that Asians, blacks, and Hispanics can be racist. I am simply questioning why race is still an issue. In 2017 it shouldn't be a problem that children are bringing home a partner of a different ethnic region or colour to meet the family. We are all humans and we all bleed the same blood.
I do not walk around with a chip on my shoulder because of the previous injustices I have mentioned. That does not solve anything, I just strive as an individual in a world that does not appear to favour me, for better conditions, not just for me but for women in general, men and their femininity, the LGBTQ community, the old, the young, the disabled, and other ethnic minorities. I hope history does not repeat itself to the extent it has in the past when dealing with disability, race, gender, and sexuality. I am aware of how naive it sounds, but I simply desire for the world to become a better place.
Thanks for reading, once again if you have any criticisms, want to have a debate, or feel like this info is wrong - do not hesitate to let me know x
Also Check out my friend Helen who has just published her first blog post :)
https://helenramage1996.wixsite.com/mysite/blog
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