I love it! I can only stand people around me for...Stuff PJ likes…
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008I do not tolerate racism or prejudice of any kind, but I do think that it can be fun to laugh at ourselves. I believe that the differences between races are more cultural than genetic, and I don’t see why we can’t examine our own culture and those of others for similarities and differences.
As a second generation immigrant living in the UK, I often feel like someone who doesn’t fit. I’m not Jamaican, but I’m also not like my white friends whose families may have lived here for generations. I am proud of who I am and my heritage, and also glad to be living in one of the most culturally diverse places in the world.
Growing up as an ethnic minority can have an effect on one’s self-concept, and I admit that there were times during my childhood when I would wish for the long mane and pale skin of a white girl. I also remember being called a “bounty” or a “coconut” (i.e. black on the outside, white on the inside) for being studious and not very “ghetto”.
Why is is thought of as “black” to fail in school, to take drugs and to commit crime? “Black-on-black crime” is a major issue in certain parts of London, and it seems that young black kids in certain areas only aspire to becoming drug dealers and only feel safe if they join a gang. It’s also true that the number of black people in prison and within the mental health system in the UK is disproportionate to the percentage of black people in the general population. Something is clearly wrong here.
Less seriously though, the other day I noticed this new (clearly satirical) blog called Stuff White People Like and read most of the entries. I definitely feel like some of those statements could apply to me. Here’s the current list, and my thoughts on them. I’ll bold the ones that apply to me.
#01 Coffee - nope, I hate it
#02 Religions their parents don’t belong to - not consciously, my mum is a Christian, and I don’t really know what my dad believes in. I’m some kind of agnostic, spiritual goddess
#03 Film Festivals - in theory, but I’ve never actually attended one
#04 Assists - ??
#05 Farmer’s Markets - nope
#06 Organic Food - if I’ve eaten any, it was probably by accident
#07 Diversity - not in the hypocritical way cited
#08 Barack Obama - he seems okay (anyone’s better than Bush, right?
#09 Making you feel bad about not going outside - I love it indoors, where it’s nice and warm and private
#10 Wes Anderson Movies - nope, I couldn’t even watch the entire Royal Tenebaums.
#11 Asian Girls - I had a phase of being into Asian guys around the time when Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story came out
#12 Non-Profit Organizations - not particularly, though I do work for a charity at the moment
#13 Tea - Earl Grey, anyone?
#14 Having Black Friends - I’ve got friends of several races, but not as trophies or tokens.
#15 Yoga - nope
#16 Gifted Children - nope
#17 Hating their Parents - as a teen I had issues with my mother, but who doesn’t? I don’t think it will be a lifelong affliction
#18 Awareness
#19 Traveling
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#21 Writers Workshops - I’ve done a few online ones, but I preferred to be a soloist
#22 Having Two Last Names
#23 Microbreweries
#24 Wine
#25 David Sedaris
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#27 Marathons - I admire anyone who can run one though
#28 Not having a TV
#29 80s Night
#30 Wrigley Field
#31 Snowboarding
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#33 Marijuana
#34 Architecture
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#36 Breakfast Places
#37 Renovations
#38 Arrested Development
#39 Netflix
#40 Apple Products
#41 Indie Music
#42 Sushi
#43 Plays - I do enjoy an occasional play
#44 Public Radio
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#46 The Sunday New York Times - I don’t know if reading the News of the World on a Sunday counts
#47 Arts Degrees - I enrolled on a degree in Creative Writing and Spanish, but dropped out after a month…
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#49 Vintage
#50 Irony
#51 Living by the Water
#52 Sarah Silverman
#53 Dogs
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#55 Apologies
#56 Lawyers
#57 Juno - anyone see my review?
#58 Japan - I love Japan
#59 Natural Medicine
#60 Toyota Prius
#61 Bicycles
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#63 Expensive Sandwiches - I bring my own to work
#64 Recycling
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#66 Divorce
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#68 Michel Gondry
#69 Mos Def - loved him in 16 Blocks
#70 Difficult Breakups
#71 Being the only white person around
#72 Study Abroad
#73 Gentrification
#74 Oscar Parties - they do look like fun though
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada - I’ve actually considered it
#76 Bottles of Water - I only drink Evian, darling
#77 Musical Comedy
#78 Multilingual Children
#79 Modern Furniture
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#81 Graduate School
So my score is 8/81 is pretty low really, how “white” are you?
4:09 pm on 6-Mar-08
I remember wishing I had European features, too, before I was old enough to know better; I had a yellow fringed scarf that doubled as a blonde wig! I too was bookish, and couple that with somehow having received pronunciation - despite being born and raised in east London to Jamaican parents - and you have a recipe for being a ‘bounty’ or ‘coconut’. To my mind, that’s someone who actively prefers being around white people to black and is, essentially, self-hating. It’s not someone who identifies with cultural references associated more with white people than black.
After all, those references are all around us.
I’d sooner identify with loving The Daily Show (mmmm, Jon Stewart
) than with being some ghetto queen. At least I learned things from The Daily Show. Footnote: when I went to see Jon Stewart perform in London in 2006, I honestly don’t recall seeing any other black faces there - just an observation.
Have you looked at Stuff Educated Black People Like?
9:56 pm on 6-Mar-08
I’ve been in the same situation as well. I grew up being the only black person in school and many group activities. It certainly had negative and positive aspects in my life. I always noticed the difference in the way teachers would treat me compared to my many white friends. ‘
Then again, I didn’t act ‘black enough’ for some people my age, because I talked and acted differently from them.
9:11 pm on 8-Mar-08
I’m white as can be and have about the same score as you.
1:18 am on 9-Mar-08
Hi CB, I don’t think I’ve ever watched The Daily Show, now I’m wondering what I missed out on. I checked out the Stuff Educated Black People Like, but didn’t really feel like I fit in there either. The examples cited on there reminded me of the Huxtables or that family in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Maybe I’m just not educated enough, I still love my fried chicken.
Semaj: yeah, sometimes it’s hard to fit in on either side of the fence.
Ian: thanks for commenting. The stereotypes on that site will only really fit a certain section of American society, so I’m not surprised that you didn’t find much of a fit with it.
1:54 am on 10-Mar-08
I scored a whopping 33/81. Does that make me a coconut or, as the Americans say, an oreo? Or can you blame it on the occasional infusions of European genes in my ancestral line? But I know friends who lack those infusions and who would score even higher on the list than I have. So much for racial stereotyping! Thank goodness I’m comfortable in my skin, because you can’t please anyone! I’m hoping to explore related themes in one of my works in progress: the reality of not conforming to expected stereotypes and being an outsider even where one would think you should feel a sense of belonging.
As for name calling, I blasted some students for calling a wonderful, brilliant boy in one of my classes an ‘oreo’. This boy loves languages and literature, he learned the Shakespeare text inside out, and he was simply a joy to teach. Seems that to the classmates those things meant he wasn’t truly ‘black’. When did stupidity, low achievement and lack of culture become what it means to be ‘black’? Where are the children getting these ideas? For crying out loud…
Sorry about ranting.