#culture/ethnicity is a lot more complicated than the west likes to pretend it is | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chibimyumi · 4 years

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Hello Chibimyumi, I apologise in advance for the uncomfortable question I have about the musicals. I hope I'm mistaken, but for those musicals where Soma and Agni are included, is it truly the case that they are portrayed by actors in brownface? Is this a common occurrence, and what is public perception of this in Japan today?

Dear Anon,

You ask an incredibly good but complicated question. It is great to hear that you are aware of how cultural contexts can play into such matters. Now, since you asked, I’d ask you all to strap in; this is going to be quite a ride.

Short answer

If you mean whether the actors used darker make-up to portray a race with a darker skin tone, then yes. The actors are all ethnically Japanese without any Indian heritage to the best of everyone’s knowledge.

However, before we can discuss this “whether this is an issue”, the following is what I need all readers here to keep in mind at all times (i.e. don’t continue reading with White SJ in mind). Namely: In Japan and Japanese live theatre medium especially, ‘[colour] face’ has entirely different connotations than in the White West. To anyone mid-pounce of their attack in light of social justice, halt. Please hear me out. I am talking ONLY about Japan.

Brown Face in Japan?

Demographics

So, before we begin, I wish to instill in you all that Japan is very, very homogeneous in comparison to most other countries. Japan has LESS THAN 2% of ethnically non-Japanese people, and half of this >2% is ethnically Chinese or Korean. So yes, in Japan, ONLY 1% is racially and phenotypically different than the native Japanese. Japanese people are the natives in Japan, so they consider their skin ‘neutral’; it is NOT coloured. Then there are the ‘white coloured’ people who are semi-neutral, and you have everyone else who have a ‘darker colour’.

Now with this framework in mind, let us jump to how this demographic makeup affects the theatre world. For clarity’s sake I shall discuss this in sections.

Section 1 - Poor, poor industry

Japanese theatre and especially 2.5D industries are really poor. As discussed in full detail in this post about the extreme harm of pirating JP theatre, the vast majority of theatre actors need to juggle 2 or 3 jobs to make a living because most theatre companies ONLY pay the performers for their stage time (no rehearsal pay, no food, no accommodation). One run of a show is usually no more than 5 or 6 weeks. If one show gets a run of 3 months, that is considered ridiculously long. So far, only the top three Japanese theatre companies can manage such long runs, being: Takarazuka, TOHO and Shiki.

Section 2 - ‘Broad utility value’ and chances

The super short runs means that on average, an actor only has an income for 5 or 6 weeks for one job, even though their work for one production takes much more time than that (formal rehearsal is usually one month, but there’s a lot of ‘homework’ and ‘overwork’ too). This again means that in order to make a living in the theatre industry, a performer needs to have ‘broad utility value’, that is to say: they need to be ‘castable’ into as many roles as possible, and therefore ‘neutral’.

The selling stories in Japan usually have an all-Japanese or all-white character list, as you all must have noticed. When there are non-white foreigners in such stories, they’re usually countable on the fingers of one hand. And sadly, when they are present they‘re often comic relief, antagonists, or ‘exotic accessories’.

The wider sentiment in Japan is that if you are ‘neutral coloured’ you can be painted into a different colour. But if you are ‘darker than neutral’, you can’t be painted lighter. “You cannot take the colour away”, so to say. That is the reason why in Japan, darker skinned minorities would have very little incentive to sign up for the theatre industry. Why bother get a job that pays so terrible and ONLY be allowed minor/bad roles if there happen to be darker skinned characters once in a blue moon? Why bother competing with ‘neutral’ skinned people who can replace you easily?

In a nutshell, the terribly racist reality is that darker skinned actors are not considered to have broad utility value because the entertainment industry and common populace decided so. With so few dark skinned characters and the wide acceptance that ‘neutral’ skinned people can be painted into any other colour, darker skinned people’s chances of getting by on theatre work is just very slim. The entertainment industry makes itself very unappealing to these people, and indeed resulted in a shortage of darker skinned performers.

This current shortage means that if a production wants to feature differently skinned characters without ‘brown facing’, they’d have trouble finding enough people who: 1. are ‘the correct colour’, 2. are willing to work for virtually no pay, and 3. also have the skills to perform in Japanese language (many of these people also really lack the practice to build up theatre skills because - as explained - they have very little outlook in this field). So again, “why bother going through the trouble if you can just paint these actors white and those actors brown? Same difference right? Here have some brown foundation and you’re good to go!”

Section 3 - The race is the costume

Well, is painting Japanese actors white or brown ‘same difference’? In practice... to Japan, ‘yes’. Japan does not have an issue with pretending to be a different race through make-up. This means that there is no concept of ‘brown face’ or ‘any other-colour-face’. Seeing Japanese actors painted white in modern theatre and cosplay is the standard. Countless modern theatre shows feature almost exclusively white characters, after all.

As a representative example, Kuromyu mostly has white characters. But so far it has had 4 mixed-race actors in 10 years! However, all of them are partially white, meaning they’re “““light neutral””” or even “““extra pretty”””.

There is no such thing as ‘white face’ in Japan, and outside Japan, nobody (in their right mind) should compare ‘white face’ to ‘black face’. When the Europeans arrived in Japan, the Japanese were actively challenged to prove themselves as white as possible. Japan was spared from colonisation because they proved themselves “white civilised enough” for the Europeans. That is the Japanese-Western legacy: “pretending to be a colour is part of ‘modernisation’ and ‘globalisation’”. If painting a ‘neutral’ person white is okay, why wouldn’t painting someone ‘brown’ be? It sounds quite hypocritical to Japanese people because Japan has a different racial relationship than the White West has.

Unlike white-colonising countries, Japan does not have such a long and problematic history regarding brown/black races, hence there is also no collective guilt about having systematically oppressed and excluded dark skinned people. In the White West if you paint someone darker it’s because they don’t want to employ dark skinned people. In Japan however, it’s because there are hardly any darker skinned people to actually take the job. It’d be an altogether different problem for the theatre industry to just go: “we shall only stage all-Japanese-characters productions now!” ... that’s what they did in Imperial Japan during WWII, and that was NOT pretty.

Besides, Japan in being so homogeneous, we can imagine why awareness of ‘brown/black face’ was never deemed immediately ‘necessary’ in Japan. In combination with the legacy of ‘pretending to be a colour is fine’, the current status quo had taken shape.

Unlike American media or South Korean media, Japan predominantly creates solely for the purpose of domestic consumption. Hence the DVDs are often sold in Japan only without subtitles. Hence that many websites are Japan restricted. Japanese theatre no exception, it’s made by Japanese, for the Japanese, in Japan. As explained above, because there is no concept of problematic x-colour-face, then why bother avoiding it?

Section 4 - Orientalism though....

So, are Soma and Agni ‘brown face’ in Kuromyu? Not in the same way it would be in a Euro-American way, but that does not mean it’s ‘no problem at all’.

The main problem in Japan is not the ‘brown face’, but Orientalism. The common Japanese people would not bat a single eye at two Indian characters going on and on about curry, elephants and Hindu Gods. But unlike ‘colour-face’ not really being a problem in Japan because of different cultural heritage, the perpetuation of stereotypes cannot be excused.

When there are so few dark skinned characters in an otherwise all-white/ “neutral” cast, it surely is quite aggravating that the musical chose to reduce Indian people to... well, curry, elephants and Hindu Gods. Had the writers not reduced Indian culture to a stereotype however, then as long as the portrayal of dark-skinned people is respectful, ‘brown face’ really is not a problem in Japan, just like ‘white face’ is not.

Conclusion

In this post I have discussed the demographic makeup of Japan, the terrible circumstances of the theatre industry, and how this lead to a real lack of dark-skinned performers. The lack of dark-skinned actors, in turn, means that if a theatre/film industry doesn’t want to go ‘pure Japanese race pride!!!’, they’d have to ‘paint actors into a race’.

Japan narrowly having escaped white colonialism also means that the Japanese have a very different awareness about race and sensitivity. In being challenged to ‘perform the white race’ in the 19th century, Japan gained a legacy wherein ‘race is just performative’.

That Japan has a different cultural heritage and racial history can explain why x-‘colour-face’ is non-problematic in Japan. Applying white-social-justice to Japanese standards would cause entirely different problems simply because the Japanese demographic makeup and film/theatre industry simply cannot adopt this western standard without doing more harm than good. This Japanese heritage however, does NOT excuse offensive stereotyping of people however.

So in a nutshell: Soma and Agni are not ‘brown face’ in Japanese context because there is no such concept. However, there is a problem, and it lies in the Orientalist stereotyping of Indian culture.

#Kuroshitsuji #Black Butler #Kuromyu #Agni #Soma #soma asman kadar #Brown face #black face #white face #culture #cultural context #japanese society #japanese context

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allbeendonebefore · 6 years

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Ref: Calgary / Calvin McCall

Cal’s comprehensive and updated bio since I keep meaning to publish it somewhere. Feel free to ask questions if there is anything you are curious about or want an explanation for.

[2015 Visual Ref Sheet Here]

Last Update: May 23, 2018.

QUICK STATS

Name: Calgary

Human Name: Calvin ‘Cal’ (Brisebois) McCall

Gender: Male

Age: 140s

Human Age: Early 20s

Birthday: November 7, 1874

Nationality: Canadian

Ethnicity: White (Scottish, English)

Language: English

Religion: N/A (Raised Methodist/Protestant)

Other: Biggest city in Alberta, 4th in Canada

PHYSICAL STUFF

Height: 6′0″ (182 cm)

Body Type: Kind of hourglassy but gangly and thin. Sharp al dente noodle limbs but soft thighs/shoulders. Strong legs from speed skating.

Hair: Blonde - more saturated/golden than dirty. More pronounced waves than Ed. Just above shoulder length, bangs just below the top of his ears. Center part. Piece of hair sticks up at the front of his bangs from the part.

Eyes: Light brown.

Skin: Whitey McWhiterson, freckles. (Tans ok in summer or burns to a crisp. Primarily Scottish. Any Blackfoot etc heritage isn’t immediately obvious on sight)

Details: Ski-jump nose.

“Default” Outfit: Salmon-pink collared shirt, red tie, dark jeans, flame cowboy boots, white cowboy hat, custom up-to-date Flames jersey (McCall, 75) on game days (or Whenever because he’s That Extra).

Everyday Clothing Style: Wild West Executive: expensive, leather, fleece, occasionally over the top and involving Cs or flames motifs. Bolo ties, belt buckles, hats, warm colours, Too Much Red. Oscillates from professional suits to mountain flannel, sometimes combines aesthetics poorly during Stampede.

Other Notes: I tend to think of him in s-curves or flame shapes- soft curve, sharp point. Pointy curved nose, pointy chin.

---

- Grew up extremely quickly relative to his neighbours, Industrial revolution kid from the age of steam. Had two major growth spurts in the 1880s-90s, and the 1960s-70s. By the end of the 19th century, he was nearly as tall as Ed. The 70s involved puberty hitting him like a sledgehammer.

- Was a cute, well groomed and pudgy kid in his first decade. Extremely embarrassed of what a well-off childhood he had and likes to pretend he was a lot more wild west than he actually was. By the Depression, it was clear that he was going to be on the thinner side as he got older.

- His hair was short and usually styled carefully prior to the 70s. It was at its longest in the 90s. No idea if the sticky up hair actually represents anything- it was originally meant to be a nod to APH America, so maybe American Hill? Haha.

- Looks kind of dumb with a beard but goes through phases where he's determined to grow one.

- No known physical scars, tattoos, or piercings. Freckles on his face, shoulders, etc.

- In remarkable shape considering how much bad food he eats and how little he exercises and goes outside in his day to day life. Prefers the gym or weekend hiking/skiing in the mountains to literally any other form of physical activity aside from skating. If it's set up as a competition or an olympic event, however, he'll give it his all.

- Has flat feet, needs insoles in his shoes. Also has really smooth and powerful elbows.

PERSONALITY

- ESTJ "The Executive". Very good at organizing people and sticking to his guns, but can also be a bit too mathematical about things at times. Stickler for planning things out and following through. Really genuinely likes talking to other people and getting to know them, really giddy when he makes it into new social circles. Strong sense of justice and morality that he doesn't like to question.

- His mood literally changes with the weather. Generally he's a bit of a genki type and a go-getter, a people person, etc, but when the chinook wind comes in he does a 180 and becomes irritable and snappy. He also has a reputation for being one of the most stressed out cities in the country (which is why he only lets totally loose 10 days a year). However, he is calm and level headed in a crisis and very dependable.

- Tends to be really hot-headed, easily goaded, and a jealous type. A bit of a crybaby as well who needs extra reassurance, but always feels better afterwards. Also has TERRIBLE road rage.

- Basically thinks of himself as the main character in a national and at times even continental drama, pre-destined to be Amazing from birth. It's not exactly that he displays himself as egotistical, he just thinks he's worked really hard and deserves every good thing that comes his way. He just knew he was going to be a big city since he was a kid. Classic small town boy turned entitled white collar white boy who isn't exactly aware of how much has been handed to him, but doesn't mean harm by it.

- Has a carefully cultivated image and really concentrates on making good first impressions, but also is a very straightforward person. What you see is generally what you get with him, and he really wears his heart on his sleeve. Really doesn't appreciate people who are manipulative or don't say what they mean, but also the sort of person who doesn't want to show all his cards when he is making a bargain.

- Even though he was raised by penny-pinching Scotsmen and waxes poetic about fiscal conservatism, he's Extremely irresponsible with his money. You know how NHL players go grocery shopping on video for laughs because they have no idea how to budget or what to buy? He's like that. The sort of person who says "I spent THIS MUCH" where Ed is "I ONLY spent THIS MUCH!"

- Despite his image of being reckless and thoughtless, he puts a lot of work in when it matters and gets easily emotionally invested in projects and people. He's mostly reckless and thoughtless when it comes to himself, so while he looks quite established and firm he's still crumbling a bit on the inside from overwork and stress.

- Still does his best to project his relaxed and folksy small town side and knows that this makes people underestimate him to their disadvantage. Less embarrassed about his redneck character and more irritated that he's so easily brushed off by others because of his perceived social class.

- The heart of the tension between fiscal conservatism and social progressivism. Really traditional romantic white picket fence guy, but also someone who is really interested in change and new innovations.

- Has a lot of issues with his personal identity which he pretends is not based on tenuous stereotypes, constantly trying to figure out who he is and really plays up the cowboy identity to hide his lack of certainty and to have something constant to hold onto.

- Was the absolute Worst kid in school, really doesn't like doing what he is told and has no patience for academia. Math is the only discipline that makes sense to him (and even then he doesn't really think critically about math as a concept).

- Is extremely neat and organized. He doesn't mind getting dirty as long as he's squeaky clean immediately after.

RELATIONSHIPS

- His 'family' includes southern Alberta, that is, the former District of Alberta territory which more or less includes those on Treaty 7 territory (Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, etc). Also has a close relationship to those he shares a river with (Banff, Canmore, etc.) Lately however, the other municipalities have felt him growing distant and unfamiliar as he navigates not only being the biggest city in the province but one of the biggest cities nationally as well. Still largely the center of Albertan culture, tourism, and stereotypes in spite of this.

- Close to the municipalities who have since amalgamated, particularly Bowness [Caroline] who he visited frequently in his youth to ignore his problems and play with. They moved in together in the 60s. If he had a 2p, it would likely be Cochrane. Also close to Fort Macleod, who is like his older brother and fellow NWMP fort.

- Didn't really feel a strong kinship with the other western cities in his youth and still is on good and friendly terms if awkward around them. He and Regina would have shared NWMP history, and he tried to take the younger Saskatoon under his wing for all of two seconds before his apprentice surpassed him. Cal tends to have closer relationships with American cities (particularly in Colorado, Texas, Illinois, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona etc.) than he does with cities in the other prairie provinces.

- Set his sights on Chicago before Winnipeg, but still maintains an admiration of Toronto and Montreal from a young age despite their complicated relationship. He and Vancouver are relatively close in age and the coast remains Cal's favourite vacation spot. Cal tries to hide his jealousy by being a bit overly friendly with him, but figures it's something that the rather isolated Van Man appreciates. Overall, he is EXTREMELY desperate to make the Big Three into the Elite Four, but has difficulty reading the atmosphere when it comes to them because he's a bit blinded by his ambition to get closer than a simple orbit. On the other hand, he's also the guy with the Let Those Eastern Bastards Freeze in the Dark bumper sticker and the Big Shots can really get on his nerves.

- Ed remains Cal's worst enemy and also his most steadfast friend. Cal has known him his entire life and can't imagine how difficult it would be to define himself without him, and the two have been known to wreak havoc fighting each other and bring the house down when they are working together. Cal often pretends that such a backwater and isolated city isn't enough to catch his attention, but Ed is probably the first thing keeping Cal from looking more nationally and more internationally outwards as he is the easier to provoke of the two by a narrow margin. The obsession with the other is completely mutual and very little of it is genuine hatred despite Calvin's easily produced list of victories and Ed's lower self esteem and reputation.

HOBBIES AND INTERESTS

- Despite not exercising enough, he loves all winter sports and hockey and speed skating in particular. In his youth, he played polo and croquet often. Always looking for ways to make these games either more extreme and full of stupid stunts or more silly (like human curling). Other outdoor sports he enjoys are quadding and dirt biking. Do Not mention the 1988 Winter Olympics because he will Not stop talking about them.

- Also super fond of horseback riding. And horses in general. And images of horses. And sculptures of horses. And carousels. Is really gutted that he can't keep a horse or a cow at home, so he goes out to Caro's or Bert's ranch when he wants to spend quality time with the animals. Animals are a sure fire way of calming him down. On a related note, he knows how to ride both Western and English style.

- Really into arts and music in particular, but has no sense of social class or refined taste. Really leans into the 'fake it til you make it' philosophy but also brutally honest about things he finds overrated. Likes paintings of dramatic mountain ranges and wild horses the most and has been known to try his hand at it once in a while. Also can play guitar and probably every marching band instrument. Fear the day he picks up bagpiping.

- Loves travelling when he can, not just for business deals. Owns a vacation home in Phoenix, Arizona, (a sister city) probably; also frequents Vegas and Mexico. Banff is a weekly destination for him.

- Learned the art of BBQ from the Americans. He is the Token Grill Dad. Come to think of it, he also loves golf and probably wearing socks and sandals too. Will absolutely judge a restaurant by the quality of the steak (and the person taking him to said restaurant too). His other favourite foods are ginger beef and prairie oysters. Apart from that, his taste in food is like giving an 8 year old unlimited access to a kitchen - 'let's deep fry a cockroach and cover it in powdered sugar and chocolate syrup, that will be great!!' 'What if we put clamato juice and vodka together?!'.

- Like Ed, also really fond of planes, trains, and automobiles. Unlike Ed, he can't stand cyclists and will choose a truck over a bike any day of the week. The newer, shinier and more features, the better.

- Loves anything involving betting and gambling, particularly against Ed. Tries to disguise his love of gambling with fancy adult words like 'real estate' and 'stocks' or whatever. It's probably his oldest and worst addiction. Also loves fairgrounds and carnival games even though they're rigged.

- Drinks a lot. Buys a lot of expensive whiskey and keeps a liquor cabinet in his office. It's his only other major vice- he really can't stand smoking and will get annoyed at people who do it near him.

- His hockey passion is still very strong, but he finds it less exciting when there's not a good rivalry and still has less going for him than Ed historically. Also really jealous of Ed's big dumb new arena for some stupid reason. Also a big fan of football. Wears his Flames jersey and puts flames motifs on everything a little too much.

- Loves fire in general, whether on the grill, a campfire, a romantic fireplace, or a Sunday drive out to Turner Valley to watch gas get lit on fire. It's only a little worrisome.

- Has a lot of hobbies to cope with stress. Knitting is one of them. Exercise is another, if less used. Also doodles cartoons on his notes during meetings.

HISTORICAL STUFF

- Was 'born' or 'found' on the south side of the Bow River, near the confluence of the Elbow.

- Founded deep in Blackfoot Territory as a North West Mounted Police fort to stop American whiskey runners. Had quite a spoiled and sheltered childhood. Most of the "Wild West" era was already over by the time he was growing up, and the buffalo were already driven to near extinction.

- He comes from a very WASPy background, maybe knew some Gaelic back in the day and definitely had a good deal of exposure to Spanish from a young age. His German and Scandinavian languages are rather good and he's progressing pretty well with Mandarin and so on. He particularly struggles with French and indigenous languages. Cannot learn languages well in classroom settings and especially not when they're mandatory, just has to go out and speak it or listen on the radio at the very least.

- Was raised Methodist/Protestant but is relatively secular lately. Even so, listening to Bible Bill on the radio was his favourite activity during the Depression and it's stuck with him quite strongly. Religion has simply been replaced with the economy.

- Relative to Ed he is a bit more distant from his First Nations roots, having lived through the enforcement of segregation and the development of the reserve system during his childhood, but despite his awkwardness he is working to finally begin his own path to Reconciliation.

- Has always been traditionally right-wing, but also complicit in the inventions of many radical parties including Social Credit and the CCF (now NDP). He has developed a bit of a liberal heart lately compared to some of his neighbours.

- The 1980s was his "traumatic" decade, but his solution to any traumatic decade is to throw huge parties and spend money he doesn't have to pretend like it wasn't happening. Lost a lot of his strength early in the decade and became extremely resentful of the federal government, a resentment that had been percolating since Confederation.

- Historical roles include: the first incorporated city in the NWT, a center of Treaty 7 territory and the district of Alberta, training ground for pilots during the World Wars, heart of ranch land, the O&G industry, and the home of many business headquarters.

POSSESSIONS ETC.

- Lived in a sandstone house in his youth, recently bought a luxury penthouse overlooking the Saddledome and the Calgary tower, a short walk from Olympic Plaza. All leather/cowprint/wood furniture, bronze western sculptures, giant paintings of rocky mountain sky. Spends way more money to look rustic than necessary.

- His truck is red (to make it go faster), needs a step to get into, has Flames decals and flags and junk, and gets a lot of use to prove that he actually needs it (he doesn't). God, so much Flames and Stamps stuff.

- Got a business degree when they were super easy to get because why not, now boasts a lot about how it's such a commodity and he's a risk taker and blah blah blah to justify being a monkey of average intelligence who wears a suit. He's That Guy™ in all your Econ classes.

- Probably has a model trainset somewhere that he never lets Ed touch (at least not without meeting very specific criteria).

- A lasso. No reason. Just in case, you know?

- Probably has a hunting rifle that he's fully licensed to use, he just hates using it and keeps it on a wall for decoration because thinking about using it for hunting makes him cry (the other munis make fun of him a lot). Will shoot at targets or bottles, anything but animals.

- Has a chestnut coloured horse named Nellie- she either lives with Caro or with Bert. Has had Several horses over his lifetime and probably thousands of cows.

- Has. So Many. Boots. And Belt Buckles. And All That. You have No Idea. He has a separate walk in closet specifically for Stampede, probably.

- A Calgary White Hat, obviously, just for being him.

- Has a picture of himself as a kid riding a mountain goat. In the museum. No one can know.

OTHER STUFF

- Like Ed, spends the majority of his time working for the city. He suffers a lot when trying to please all the billionaires who keep trying to influence him (Ed on the other hand only has like one).

- Has some experience in trades, probably, but his history is in law enforcement and crunching numbers, cozying up to investors, lots of wining and dining, that sort of thing. He is the sheriff of his boardroom. Loves making slideshows.

- His middle name is Brisebois and he shrieks if you bring that up. Mac calls him Brisy to tease him.

- Prior to working for the city, he "worked" at Cochrane ranch. By "worked" I mean he "supervised" Bert and the gang of Americans and company that showed up on his doorstep; by "supervised" I mean he nearly missed tea time because he was busy learning gross habits from cowboys and drinking coffee with them and getting himself in trouble.

- Bisexual/Biromantic, attracted to both men and women with a preference for women, but his preference doesn't dictate who gets the high beams of his intense love-rays.

- Does not smoke tobacco, but will chew it on occasion (but he hates what it does to his teeth and prefers drinking).

- Has a relatively flat Americanized accent, says "yahoo!" constantly, and when he's out with his buds he just speaks like the guys from On the Bench. Uses increasingly dated/silly western slang (Well if That don’t take the rag off the bush!) when he’s annoyed with people or wants to give them a friendly tease.

- Suffers from migraines that are definitely caused by weather most of the time. He's still trying to learn how to recognize the signs in advance, but often wakes up with them.

#projectcanada cities #pc: calgary #pc headcanon #cities refs #hapo rambles

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abbindkataskea · 7 years

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2017 is being an intense year for the Western world, marked by the rise of nationalist movements. Anyone with a basic understanding of fascism, xenophobia and white supremacy would have probably seen this coming in the last few years. When politicians across the spectrum use migrants as a basketball ball to score points, when challenging racism becomes a bore-some activity for so called progressive/liberals, when dealing with inequality and xenophobia is seen as a matter of “overrated identity politics, when people pretend only white people are working class and suffering since the financial crisis of 2008, when the media is still unable to check their biased language, and when all of the sudden everyone wants to pretend we are all equal as if a few decades of brown and black people seen as human (debatable) erases the effects of centuries of genocide, slavery and colonisation, well…. You get this. A region in which racial supremacy and discrimination are okayed again (to be honest, were they ever not okayed?) in the name of freedom of speech.

At the same time, everyone willing to challenge this bigotry is called a “regressive leftist” by people who genuinely believe they are progressive leftists, while being moderate centrists, if anything. Neo-Nazis and conservatives might refer to them as “easily triggered snowflakes”, which is ironic since they turn purple and angry whenever you call their statements ‘racist’. “Clueless social justice warriors” is another label used often by people who still don’t know their right to freedom of speech can only be violated by governments and their agencies/bodies, not by fellow citizens counterarguing what they say. And lastly, my personal favourite one: “entitled millennials”, a tone-deaf term used by adults who believe young people under 30 years old are all middle-class babies who had everything handed to them (working/lower class young people don’t exist anymore), were rewarded for mediocrity (seriously, where are all these awards? I didn’t get mine) and can’t live outside safe spaces (apparently young people live in protective bubbles away from the cruel real world, I can’t believe I didn’t get one!).

I’m not going to go any deeper into the political situation in the West, I’m still on an indefinite break from writing about social issues at a non-personal level. I just wanted to give a brief look at the context in which this personal article is set. The ongoing discussions about nationalism, patriotism, culture and ethnicity have made me think deeply about my own identity. How I identify and how I am identified. I struggle to determine to where I belong and to which countries/regions I should be loyal too. My national, ethnic and cultural identities are complicated to the point in which I’m uncertain I have any of these.

I was born in the Basque Country, an autonomous region in Spain. I lived there till 2012, the year I moved to England, where I currently reside. My nationality is Spanish and despite living in Britain for over four years, I still have a strong (Northern) Spanish accent. At the same time, I have adopted various British customs, such as saying “sorry” non-stop without an actual reason, eating roast on Sundays, being passive aggressive and drinking a lot of tea throughout the day (just joking!). Despite all this, I was born (and I live) in a different place to where my parents and grandparents were born. Hence, my nationality and place of residence say little to nothing about my ethnicity and heritage.

My mother was born in Equatorial Guinea, located in Central/Middle Africa. Her mother (my grandmother) is from there too, while her father (my grandfather) was originally from a West African country, either Cape Verde or São Tomé and Príncipe (I can’t confirm which one it is since I have been told different things). As you can see, simply in my mother’s side there is already a mixture of ethnicities, which would be even bigger if specific ethnic groups/tribes would be considered (which I won’t do because I don’t want to overcomplicate this article). Although it might seem confusing, describing my maternal heritage is easy compared to my paternal heritage: my biological father (from whom I inherited my genetic traits) differs from my legal father (who legally recognises me as his daughter). I have never met my biological father and I know little about him. Meanwhile, I was raised by my legal father and he is the only person I consider a “father” in my life. I was told that my biological father is Senegalese and Bissau-Guinean (both West African countries). My legal father is from DR Congo and his parents (my grandparents) migrated there from Angola. Both countries are in Central/Middle Africa.

I learnt most of this information about my family during the last couple of years. Growing up, I was never curious about my ethnicity and heritage. I never even tried to define them. The only things I was sure about were my race (black) and my nationality (Spanish). While I grew up immersed in Spanish culture, I never felt part of it: it wasn’t something I could claim as my heritage. While Spain is a “colourblind” country in many aspects (when I lived there, race and ethnicity were not officially recorded as in UK), racism and xenophobia are common. People always give you subtle and not-so-subtle reminders about you not being “originally” from Spain.

It was also hard for me to feel attached to my African background because I didn’t grow up with my family (except my siblings). Now and then, I did have access to my parents’ cultures, mainly during family celebrations and spiritual rituals, but these were limited. I can name some basic Congolese food dishes, some basic Equatorial Guinean food dishes. I can understand some words of Lingala (Congolese language) and Pichinglish (Creole language in Equatorial Guinea). I’m aware of some rituals and customs. But my position regarding these cultures is the one of an outsider, rather than someone actively involved in them. In addition, till no long ago, I silently rejected my African background because of the gender roles that were being forced on me in the name of it.

Moving to England and becoming a young adult triggered in me an interest to know more about my roots to define my ethnicity better. In England I saw how most black people, even if British, embraced their ethnicity a lot, not just as “African”, but as Nigerian, Ghanaian, Jamaican… Or even specific subgroups, such as Yoruba. I felt a lot of envy about this, I wished that was me. Meanwhile I realised that I would never be considered Spanish and I wondered if I wanted to live in this continent forever. In addition, when deciding what to study at university, I remember how my dad pushed me to go for something that could help people “back at home”, meaning DR Congo for him.

All this inspired me to learn more about my roots. I asked questions to my family, and I did an Ancestry DNA test to proof-check their answers. While Ancestry DNA isn’t 100% accurate, it is an indicator, and I’m hoping to do a 23andMe check soon, since it is considered more reliable. Here are my Ancestry DNA results:

(*Trace regions are regions/countries which are only possibilities and might appear in the results by chance.)

My reaction to this data was a mixture of confirmation and surprise. I suspected most of my ethnicity would be African. I knew I had some European ancestry because my maternal grandfather was creole/mulatto. I thought I would get a small percentage for Native American (defined by Ancestry as indigenous groups from North to South America) because I was told my maternal great-grandmother has an Indigenous Cuban ancestor (the ancestor might be too distant to appear). I definitely have Afro-Cuban ancestry, something common in my mother’s home country, yet it isn’t reflected on the test since Afro-Cubans, as other Afro-Latinos, are direct descendants of black African slaves sent to the Americas.

I was surprised by the percentage for the Middle East, and although it is just a chance, it might be true due to extensive presence of Middle-Easterns in Africa, particularly in countries that make up my ethnicity. Regardless of this, I’m happy with being just black African, that’s how I have always identified. (Black) Afro-Hispanic is a label that wouldn’t bother me either, since linguistically speaking, I’m indeed Hispanic, which is not the same as Latino by the way (though I do have Latino [and Caribbean] heritage since I have Cuban ancestry and I grew up quite influenced by it).

When comes to individual countries, I already knew I had Senegalese roots, though I didn’t think it would be my biggest percentage. Conversely, I knew I had Bantu background, since my maternal grandmother’s ethnic group is Bubi, a Bantu subgroup, but I didn’t think the percentage would be so small. I was dazed by the rest of African countries and for the lack of mention of Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde or/and São Tomé and Príncipe, in the list. However, a small look at African history helped me to make sense of this. Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe were supposedly uninhabited islands when the Portuguese arrived to colonise them. They were populated mainly through European settlers and slaves from continental Africa. That’s probably why countries like Congo and Benin appear in my Ancestry DNA: many slaves were taken from there. A similar logic can apply to Equatorial Guinea: that country was inhabited prior to Portuguese and Spanish colonisation (by ethnic groups like the Bubis), but there was a lot of migration from neighbouring areas afterwards.

Except for two, all the African countries/regions in my results are in West & Central Africa. Considering how European-made national borders in Africa don’t respect ethnic groups and tribes, the variety in my ethnicity makes more sense: the ethnic groups I belong to could be found in various countries in the area. Nationality might not be the greatest indicator for ethnicity in Africa. It is also important to keep in mind I don’t have full access to knowledge about my biological father’s family background. And, as I mentioned earlier, Ancestry DNA isn’t 100% accurate, although my results look more right than wrong.

As you can see, my ethnicity and heritage are heterogeneous. My mother, my legal father and my biological father are all from separate places, even different to their own parents. It is important to mention that while I didn’t inherit genetic traits from my legal father, his heritage and ethnicity still influence my cultural identity. Now, add my nationality (Spanish) and my place of residence (England). To which country in the world am I supposed to be loyal? To which country in the world am I supposed to show patriotism? I identify as black African normally, but I’m aware I’m legally Spanish and I’m a citizen of England.

Having a transnational, multicultural and mixed background is supposed to make me richer in knowledge and experiences, which is not untrue. Yet, it doesn’t make you richer in company. It can be very isolating. You belong to so many places that you end up belonging to nowhere. And more nowadays, when nationalism and ethno-supremacy are such a trend worldwide. It is easy to force nationalism upon people when you haven’t been rejected by your country of birth, when the country where you live doesn’t hate you and when you don’t have a transnational family.

My nationality is culturally and ethnically meaningless. Living in England matters to me, but the current war on immigrants and Brexit make things harder. While I’m trying to learn more about the countries that compose my African background, I still don’t feel attached to them. That’s the main reason why I can’t get behind any person or idea that doesn’t consider that who I am comes from more than one country or region, and tries to shame me for not being nationalistic. I simply have a borderless identity not confined to a single culture or place. And I wish people understood this, just as I respect their right to be patriotic. Hopefully one day, people like me will be considered during political discussions about culture, ethnicity and nationalism. Hopefully.

NEW POST=> Journal Entry: Nationality, Ethnicity, Heritage and Me (About my complex identity) 2017 is being an intense year for the Western world, marked by the rise of nationalist movements.

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