Betty Chambers Has Spoken: Black American? or an American Who Is Black? Part i

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Black American? or an American Who Is Black? Part i
Sunday, December 23, 2007

I have a confession to make: I rarely think about my race.

I mean that I don't wake up every morning and say, "Damn, I'm still black?" or "Damn, where can I go to escape being a black person?" I also don't see everything through a prism of: this is racist! I don't go looking for it.

I do think about being a woman, almost all the time, especially at my age, more than anything else.

Why don't I think about my race? Let me try to put my thoughts in perspective.

I've been traveling since I was a little kid. I've been to the Caribbean, which have black majority ruled countries. I grew up in a mostly black area here in the USA.

Even as I got older and really traveled overseas to Europe (and other places hopefully!), certain things stood out in my mind. In the Caribbean and elsewhere, I'm a woman first. People may ask, or note, that I am also an American.

I'd get into the specifics of why they know I'm American, but that's for another posting. The same goes for Europe, well, except for the UK. People assume I am native there. Aside from driving on the wrong side of the road and talking funny, it's a bit like being at home.

Oh wait, no! No one in the UK clutches their purse when I'm around. I don't get the "you must be a criminal because you are black" treatment. No one stares at me "funny" when I go into a pub or restaurant. Although I hear from my UK family that the country does have its issues with black people.

The grass is never greener anywhere.

I figure when our (America's) bad racial habits gets picked up overseas, it will be with a country we are closely tied to culturally. Plus, it's to be expected with the US media devoted to the demonizing of (American) blacks worldwide. A ton of the entertainment on UK TV / movies / radio / etc. are American. Think of the anti-black pollution served there daily.

Overall, my thinking of race has been tantamount to this: racism is the problem of the person who harbors it. As long as this person isn't trying to deny me Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, I don't think about it.

More to follow...

Labels: African, Black American, black women, Caribbean, White American

posted by GoldenAh

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