PEOPLE OF COLOUR?
Yes, I am black maybe brown and it's a colour,
so maybe I'm really 'people of colour'
But
But
They tell me that the
ones I call 'oyinbo' are just simply white people
So I told my dear
friend Asake that white was not a colour
Just last week, Teacher
said 'white' was the 'colour' of her wedding dress
Now, I no longer know
if what I told Asake was right
If white is a colour,
then they were wrong...
The ones I call Oyinbo are indeed also people of colour
The ones I call Oyinbo are indeed also people of colour
I must go to Asake
after school
I must tell her that
'white' is a colour...
that we are all people of colour... just different
colours.
Good one dear!
ReplyDeleteGood one dear!
ReplyDeleteBlack or White sounds racist but now we have coloured from the oyinbo's perspective.
ReplyDeleteSo are u saying oyinbos' are white ?
ReplyDeletenot rily,jst dt the word coloured is an attempt to take out d divergent view on black and white people.
DeletePart of what some thinkers collectively regard to as the ‘human condition’ is the fear of the ‘Other’. Short sighted Europeans who, when they first encountered Africans centuries ago, thought Africans were no humans (and, hence, their ‘anxiety’/fear, to hastily explain away this apparent difference) since they did not look like them. This pseudo-hypothesis was given impetus by the sheer superiority of the Europeans in regards of techno-science. As a way of explaining away this difference, and ‘(il)legitimizing’ their material expropriation and domination of Africans, they further put forward a racialized (largely on color difference) theory of human variation – when honest scientific research suggests otherwise. Thankfully, many of these ‘ideas’ have been put to rest by intellectuals and well informed people. Yet, the enormity of this Eurocentric (racist) ideology is still being felt today, and with renewed vigor – as in the police-black civilians’ killings in the USA (here, we see the ‘hasty categorization’ of all black folks as criminal…), the ‘alt-right’ movement, some prejudicial adverts in the media wrongly portraying Blacks, etc.
ReplyDeleteBeyond scholarship work and political efforts, in the quest for dispelling these racist ideas and practices in today’s world, however, Africans need to also engage in deep thinking and putting their ‘house’ (continent) in order. For alongside Black Africans, the history of world race relations has shown us that there are other world races that have suffered one form of (racial) discrimination or the other – Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, are just a few examples in this regard. But, as it stands today, the (yet prejudicial/racist of) Euro-American will treat these people in a racist manner at his/her peril. The simple reason is because these people (Chinese, et al.) have made their own contribution to human civilization in a remarkable way – in governance, culture, economy, science, technology, in short, Development! When we do this, our friends and family abroad will (perhaps) no longer suffer the prejudicial treatment (on account of their ‘color’ and place or origin) of being perceived by the average ‘white (wo)man’ as an ‘economic opportunist’, etc.
Yeah, Taiwo, you “must go to Asake after school (and) tell her that 'white' is a colour... that we are all people of colour... just different colours” but you ought, I think, additionally tell her that the easiest way to end social prejudices is to cultivate ‘herself’….
This post has got me thinking a lot. I thank you for putting together this beautiful piece. May God help ‘Asake’ in her bid to overcome racism. But let ‘Asake’, too, bear in mind that “heaven (God) helps only those who help themselves”, first! Thanks, once more, and may God bless you more….
Absolutely
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely
ReplyDelete