On Wed, 24 Oct 2001 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> In his email of yesterday ("today" in American terms as we are 8 to
> 10 hours ahead of you; it's 5 am or 05:00 over here), Mike
> Sylvester asked a fellow South African Tipster a question re the
> "amount of native born Africans on your faculty". Now, seeing that
> TIPS is also about learning about other cultures:
>
> The last time I looked I was white (just give me a second; okay, I
> still am). My ancestors came to South Africa in 1657. Therefore
> I'm African. As a matter of fact, more African than many
> Americans are American --- with all due respect. Should I ever
> emigrate to the US (still my no 1 choice if I ever have to leave) ,
> would I be called an African American? Well, well ....that's an
> American concept; I'll let you decide (!) Okay, now let's see, Mike:
> Tell me, how many native born Americans are you on your faculty?
> And how important is it over there?
>
> South AFRICANS have this tragic history where race and colour
> (oops, color) dominated. We are really trying very hard to put this
> behind us. And okay, maybe many of us tend to be hypersensitive
> about it.
>
> Something else you might find interesting. In South Africa and
> many European (eg Britain) and other countries, "faculty" refers to
> the American "College", ie Faculty of Social Sciences instead of
> College of Social Sciences. What you call "faculty", we would call
> "staff" or "personnel". Etc, etc.
>
> So, are these cross-cultural differences interesting, or what!
>
> Regards from this side of the ocean.
>
> Dap
>
>
Dap: You raise some very important issues of identity and national
and cultural significance.Noting that the tipsters who posted
had Dutch sounding and Indian sounding last names,I wanted to
know what percentage of their respected faculty were black
and born in Africa.Although someone born in Africa could be
labelled as African,social,political and cultural identification
factors may place some restictions on that person when it comes
to national identity.
Consider the case of the Leakeys' of Kenya.Some consider
themselves as Kenyans and some are undoubtedly so. However
many Kenyans would not vote for Michael Leakey and I suspect
because he is white.So being born and raised in Africa
would not necessarily make one African for certain types of
politico-social agenda.
The question of what identity one has depends on the country's
definition. In the U.S one's race is defined by blood lineage.
And regardless of one's physical appearance,if there is evidence
of negroid background this person would be classified as black.
One the other hand,in Brazil,there is the concept of Social race
where one's identity is defined more by appearance. Many fair
skinned blacks in the U.S would be considered white in Brazil.
So if you came to the U.S you could claim to be an
African-American
but your classification would be white.And you may be able
to use your double identity to your advantage.As a matter
of fact,I know a white dude born and raised in Zimbabwe
who is a minister to an black congregational church.Seems to be
enjoying it.On the other hand,I know of many folks of East Indian
heritage from South Africa and Kenya who consider themselves
Kenyans for certain strategic purposes.But they would not consider
themseles Africans.
There are Aficans who come to the U.S and do not consider
themselves as black.AS a matter of fact those Africans have the
worst type of negative attitudes towards the American bkack.
And such is the attitude also of some Caribbean blacks against the
the African-American.
Some wwhite people in the U.S give better treatment to blacks from
the Caribbean and Africa than blacks born and raised in the U.S
Some white Americans have been heard to comment to their Caribbean
black friends and Africans that they are not black.
I can go and on with this discussion,but I will stop here.
It appears that one can play or do not play the race card
pdepending on the perceived socio-politico-psycho-national-
cultural-economic-tipster payoff.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
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