are black, and not all black people in the world are from Africa. Take my daughter Panda for an example, she is Haitian. Yes, at one time her ancestors were from some country in Western Africa, but I bet if you ask her what her nationality is, she'd say Haitian. Also consider the population of African Americans in the USA.
Many can also trace their ancestry back to some country in Africa, but I'd lay money on the fact that many AA would say they are USA citizens, and they'd be right.
Heck, We can all proudly trace our ancestry back to some other country, and we also proudly state we are USA citizens. Pride due to where we have come from and pride as to where we are.
I say this because I think as adoptive parents of trans-racial children we need to be clear in that whenever we talk about the CONTINENT of Africa, we distinguish between each of the countries of Africa. Here, in the good ole USA (and I do believe it is good), Africa is usually talked about as though it is a homogeneous group of people that all belong and live in the same country, rather than a continent. We distinguish other countries in our conversation; such as I say Tuks was born in Guatemala, I don't say Central America. Why, because I know that Guatemala is a country of it's own with different languages, laws, customs, and religions than other countries in central America.
It is the same among the different countries of Africa. This may seem a insignificant detail, but somewhere deep inside me, I think we label the continent of Africa, like a country, because there is the racist, or prejudiced, or uneducated thought that "they all look and act a like, don't they", so what is the big deal. Please enlighten me if you think I am wrong.
I happen to think it is a big deal, and if we hope to pave the path of respect, and break down boundaries based on color, and instill pride in our children, their cultures and their heritage, then I think we need to start with how we see the world, and one way is to recognize that Africa is made of many countries, and each country is distinctively different than another located within the same continent. The citizens of Africa believe it enough to war and die over their differences.
That fact alone should convince us.
Please take no offense over this post, just expressing my opinions to the blog world.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Not all the citizens of Africa
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3 comments:
I guess I disagree somewhat. I think of Africa as one most of the time. It is actually because of my lack of knowledge of Africa, not because of racism or prejudice.
You are right that not all black people are African though. I had a good friend in college who was from Jamaca.
Gail
I soo agree with you! The term African is used interchangeably with the word black. Not all black people are from Africa. We had this discussion on the group a while ago, remember? Someone was asking what we should call our children: black or AA. The answer is neither, they are Haitian by birth and American/Canadian by citizenship and residence. The need to "name" someone based on their ancestory makes little to no sense to me and quite frankly irritates me.
The continent of Africa is a one of great diversity, socio-economics, language, religion, etc.. grouping all people from Africa together as one, undermines both their struggles and triumphs as well as their uniqueness.
Good post, Aves. I think a lot of people would be surprised if they clicked on your map of Africa and realized that MORROCO, EGYPT and LIBYA are all African countries! As you wrote, they don't all look alike or have the same customs, etc. We wouldn't say that Russians and Chinese people are the same. Yet both are Asian countries.
Saying African-American is like saying European-American instead of Polish-American or German-American.
When people ask where I'm adopting, I say Guatemala. Most looked puzzled, so I add "Central America." And then sometimes, for the geographically challenged, I have to add, "South of Mexico!" sigh. Just another learning opportunity in the world of internation adoption.
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