Black and white

“My Zambian neighbours gave me avocadoes the other day,” I say on the drive to volleyball. “Black Zambian or white Zambian?” he asks. “Oh, ah, um, black.”

I am starting to realise that I am more uncomfortable with the mention of race than I care to admit. I lay blame on an overly politically correct upbringing. Part of me want to believe that when referring to someone it isn’t necessary to refer to their race, but I know in context a black Zambian is a different person and has a different story than a white Zambian. I don’t think of race as an essential descriptor and the mention of race inevitably brings up stereotypes. Then again, I suppose it never really is a choice whether you’re labelled and what label people attach.

My label the past week has been the Chinese president. Since the newspapers started writing about his visit to Zambia, I have literally been called Hu Jintao. Apparently, I look like him. It was somewhat amusing the first day, but now I am ready to call it racism. In being open-minded and culturally sensitive, I was trying to be understanding that I look different and people can only base reaction on previous experience. But, I really have no idea what to do when people make a dead stop in front of me, stare, point, and say, “Chinese! Korean! Japanese!” (I get all three about equally). Not wanting to be impolite or stir up any more attention, I usually ignore and keep walking. What can I really do? Do I point back and say Zambian. One particularly bad day, I turned around and told a guy he was being rude (okay, not exactly the perfect comeback), but I couldn’t believe how dumbfounded he was. He kept saying, “Forgive me madame.” I guess his stereotype of me was that he could call me anything and I was not going to say anything back.

A letter to minibus conductor

Dear minibus conductor at filling station,

Since our path will no doubt cross again, allow me to set a few things straight:

I am walking from the bus stop across the street from the filling station, so it would be fair for you to assume that I have just come from somewhere and will not be getting on your bus heading the opposite direction. I usually shake my head when you shout the name of your bus route at me. Perhaps, the gesture is not obvious to you, but as I approach, a verbal no should make clear that I have absolutely no interest in going your direction.

Making sounds as your attempt to speak Chinese does not earn you any points. Not every Asian looking person you see speaks Chinese and if they did, mocking the language will not motivate anyone to respond or help you learn. Though my grasp of the language is by no means good, if you are truly interested in learning Chinese, I will be more than happy to teach you a few basic phrases. Unfortunately, our interaction does not leave me wanting to do anything for you.

Contrary to the movies, not all Asian people break out in martial arts while walking about. As I try to walk around your minibus, I am not sure why you think I might be interested in a duel. I have just come from work, so I have my bag and sometimes a bag of vegetables. Do you really think I have any interest in setting my bags down and fighting you. For your information, martial arts is a little more than swinging your arms and prancing about.

So the next time we meet, I hope we can have a more pleasant interaction. I do not need to come home feeling that I have just experienced my most racist encounter to date. I know what you look like now, so the next time I am coming from town and your bus is at the corner, I will say hello and a hello back would be a more appropriate way to reciprocate.

Regards,
M

p.s. I also do not respond well to baby, hissing, or proclamations of love.