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I,
as a person commonly termed, 'mixed-race', am a living, fully human
challenge to the concept of race. I personally feel the tensions that
Britain as a country is facing at present.
'It does seem that one common feature amongst those defined in terms
of mixed-race is an ability to demonstrate the ineptitude of race as
a means of dividing up the population' (Jill Olumide, 'Time To Tick The
Right Box')
'Richard Wright once wrote that black and white Americans were engaged
in a war over the nature of reality. Their descriptions were incompatible.
So it is clear that redescribing a world is the necessary first step towards
changing it.' (Salman Rushdie, 'Imaginary Homelands')
Hello! My name is Darren Chetty and I was born in
Wales. My father was born in South Africa as were his parents; his grandparents
were born in India. My mother was born in Holland, as were her parents
and grandparents. I have noticed that few people mention their great
grandparents' birthplace when introducing themselves. Personally, I have
found it the quickest way to satisfy other people's curiosity. At different
times in my life I have reacted to this curiosity with feelings of insecurity,
embarrassment, indignation or amusement. I think this variety of feelings
came from my inability to understand the actual cause of this curiosity.
One of the ways I used to respond to stranger’s questions was to
ask why they wanted to know. This seemed to me an obvious question -
after all, knowing the reason would better enable me to provide an answer
that satisfied their curiosity. However I noticed that this made a lot
of people feel uncomfortable. Some people would become apologetic, some
would lose themselves in unfinished sentences, others would become defensive.
A few would become angry.I soon abandoned trying to establish why my
background was such an object of curiosity and simply answered the question
as best I could. Nevertheless, this was not the end of awkward first
meetings. Fond reminiscences of Swansea, when asked where I was from,
would bring about perplexed expressions and an increasingly familiar
gesture - the back of the hand brushing the cheek. Equally, a condensed
version of a rich family history spanning three continents may be met
by 'Oh... er it's just I thought I could detect a Welsh accent.'
Ok, so I've tried to highlight the absurdity of it all. Now for my conclusions
which naturally are open to debate.
1. I think I am still dealing with the paradox of needing to accept that I
am perceived as different whilst wanting to challenge the preconceptions that
inform such a perception.
2. I think 'race' remains a taboo in Britain today. Everyday it is discussed
in the media, yet people are often terrified to talk openly about it.
I believe this stems from the definition of racism as: 'A belief in the
superiority of a particular race; prejudice based on this.' (OED). This
is commonly held to be a bad thing. It is the ideology of Hitler, who
is commonly regarded as the personification of evil.
Little wonder then that many human beings are desperate
to avoid being labelled 'racist' or even entering into a conversation
which may result in other people accusing them of holding racist beliefs.
But recognising the reality of 'race' as a myth - an all encompassing
belief that informs our daily beliefs and actions - can help us towards
a more accurate description of racism as: 'A belief that the human race
can be divided into further races.' Stated so directly, this definition
challenges our present way of thinking. It leads us to conclude that:
We are all racist - to differing extents. That the
term 'race' is itself 'racist'. That arguing over the quality of races
is futile, as the belief in the existence of races was and remains a
man-made system of division, and such division has led and continues
to lead to inequality. (We may note that 'apartheid' literally translates
to apart-hood. The term itself does not refer to superiority. However
we have all seen the reality.)
I think we need to re-describe the struggle against
racism as a struggle against the erroneous belief in race. This may reduce
the stigma attached to 'race' that leads to many well-meaning people
being scared of being labelled racist.
With reference to my proposed definition, I believe that there is a difference
between a racist and a racist bigot. If a human being believes that in
accusing them of being racist you are likening them to Hitler, their
response will be to defend themselves. Whilst they concentrate their
energies on defending themselves, they will not be open to a change of
opinion.
I, as a person commonly termed, 'mixed-race', am a living, fully human
challenge to the concept of race. I personally feel the tensions that
Britain as a country is facing at present.
Just like Britain, I have ancestors who have benefited from the divisive
concept of race and ancestors who have suffered from it. Just like Britain,
these different histories now inhabit the same space. Just as I was born
in Britain with a widespread family history, so Britain as a nation,
has a history spanning the globe. So to confine British History to events
which occurred on these shores (as the National Curriculum would have
us do) is to remain in denial about vital aspects of British History
and in turn contemporary British Identity.
I would welcome response to all this, even if it is disagreement. Healthy
debate is open conversation and open conversation can break taboos. You
can e-mail Darren with your comments about this article at:dmchetty@hotmail.com