Comments on: Just so we know we’re not special http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/2007/02/just-so-we-know-were-not-special/ Nicolette Bethel's Blog Sun, 20 May 2012 21:30:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Nicolette Bethel http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/2007/02/just-so-we-know-were-not-special/comment-page-1/#comment-7162 Nicolette Bethel Mon, 12 Feb 2007 01:23:27 +0000 http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/?p=234#comment-7162 I wouldn't put it in exactly that way, Bob -- that racism has <em>nothing</em> to do with the colour of your skin. I identify myself as a "black" Bahamian because of the political reality of this country (my parents and my grandparents were excluded from places of privilege because of the colour of their skins) and because the way I see the world is not the same as the way that people who identify themselves as "white" see the world. But because my skin is fair enough to "pass for white", I know very well that there is a difference between the way in which people like me are treated and the way people like my brother (who could never "pass") or our cousins (for whom there is no ambiguity about "race" at all) are treated. The likelihood of experiencing racism still depends very much on the colour of your skin. The irony of the situation, though, is that the colour of your skin doesn't preclude you from <em>being</em> racist yourself. And by that I mean not only the kind of racism that many white people have experienced since majority rule, which is a kind of reverse racism and which still tends to come more from a position of insecurity than from superiority, but also -- as happens with Haitians in The Bahamas -- with the application of the very same rhetoric of superiority and inferiority against other black people that was once used against you. Racism has a whole lot to do with the colour of one's skin, or -- perhaps more to the point -- one's heritage, one's ancestry, one's descent from a place other than Europe. These places are still all ranked hierarchically in the popular imagination according to a kind of ladder of "evolution" (whether one believes in evolution or not), and the ranking goes like this: Europe, East Asia, Oceania, Africa. Or, as the hymn goes, "red and yellow, black and white". And no matter how you arrange the middle, white is always at the top and black at the bottom. This is true globally, so that no matter where you go in the world, if you are white, you will occupy a place of privilege in that place, even if that privilege is a skewed one; when things get really really bad, you are likely to be evacuated by whatever major army comes into that place to take the "civilized" people out. And if you are black, no matter where you go in the world, you are more likely than anybody else to be on the receiving end of discriminatory practices -- even when the people practising discrimination are as black as you are. I wouldn’t put it in exactly that way, Bob — that racism has nothing to do with the colour of your skin. I identify myself as a “black” Bahamian because of the political reality of this country (my parents and my grandparents were excluded from places of privilege because of the colour of their skins) and because the way I see the world is not the same as the way that people who identify themselves as “white” see the world. But because my skin is fair enough to “pass for white”, I know very well that there is a difference between the way in which people like me are treated and the way people like my brother (who could never “pass”) or our cousins (for whom there is no ambiguity about “race” at all) are treated. The likelihood of experiencing racism still depends very much on the colour of your skin.

The irony of the situation, though, is that the colour of your skin doesn’t preclude you from being racist yourself. And by that I mean not only the kind of racism that many white people have experienced since majority rule, which is a kind of reverse racism and which still tends to come more from a position of insecurity than from superiority, but also — as happens with Haitians in The Bahamas — with the application of the very same rhetoric of superiority and inferiority against other black people that was once used against you.

Racism has a whole lot to do with the colour of one’s skin, or — perhaps more to the point — one’s heritage, one’s ancestry, one’s descent from a place other than Europe. These places are still all ranked hierarchically in the popular imagination according to a kind of ladder of “evolution” (whether one believes in evolution or not), and the ranking goes like this: Europe, East Asia, Oceania, Africa. Or, as the hymn goes, “red and yellow, black and white”. And no matter how you arrange the middle, white is always at the top and black at the bottom. This is true globally, so that no matter where you go in the world, if you are white, you will occupy a place of privilege in that place, even if that privilege is a skewed one; when things get really really bad, you are likely to be evacuated by whatever major army comes into that place to take the “civilized” people out. And if you are black, no matter where you go in the world, you are more likely than anybody else to be on the receiving end of discriminatory practices — even when the people practising discrimination are as black as you are.

]]> By: Bob Knaus http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/2007/02/just-so-we-know-were-not-special/comment-page-1/#comment-7153 Bob Knaus Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:03:14 +0000 http://nicobethel.net/blogworld/?p=234#comment-7153 My "job" is to teach boy scouts how to sail for a week at a time in the Abacos. These kids are almost all as white as can be, and they come from places like Minnesota. One of the things I often tell them is "If you want to learn that racism has nothing to do with the color of your skin, watch how black Bahamians treat Haitians." It's a good lesson. I wish they didn't learn it here. But they do. My “job” is to teach boy scouts how to sail for a week at a time in the Abacos. These kids are almost all as white as can be, and they come from places like Minnesota. One of the things I often tell them is “If you want to learn that racism has nothing to do with the color of your skin, watch how black Bahamians treat Haitians.”

It’s a good lesson. I wish they didn’t learn it here. But they do.

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