I saw a post on instagram the other day that read ‘Students can now self-identify as black, says university and college union. Wtf. I get that we want to live in an inclusive society... but this a lot.
Black people, as a race, have had it so hard for the last, what? Couple hundred years? And you now think it’s okay to turn around and call yourself a POC because you like our hair, our culture, our attributes - but you don’t understand or have to understand the weight of what it is to be a black person.
It’s hard to be black.
A majority of the Western world was built on the backs of my Ancestors and we have nothing to show for it. It’s hard to be black and it’s even harder to talk about being black without someone trying to shout that I’m ‘playing the race card’. There is no race card. This is my life, my reality. I learnt very early on in life that a lot of the people that don’t look like me, don’t care for me and that’s okay. But don’t tell me to ‘go back to where I came from’, when your great great (etc) grandfathers are the reason I’m here.
My country and my father are the same age. My country was released from the hold of the British empire the year my father was born. Many African and West Indian countries are the same age as the people around me - my family, my friends. Everyone looks at colonisation as though it was something that happened and was over so long ago that it shouldn’t even be spoken about anymore but it’s effects are irrefutably irreparable. They took my country for its ports and diamonds and left my people with nothing.
It’s hard to be black.
I’m currently reading a book titled ‘Why I no longer talk to white people about race’ by Reni Eddo-Lodge. The book depicts her experiences of discovering the history of POC (especially black people) in Britain. The things that were said in the book resonated within me.
She admits that whenever the topic of race/racism is brought up, it’s never easy to talk about but I agree with Reni in terms of saying that white people more often than not tend to close up and get defensive over the part they’ve played in upholding the structural injustices of systematic racism. As not only a person of colour, but a black female I have an in-depth understanding of racism on a personal, structural and communal level and I constantly experience acts of micro-racism.
On one hand, I understand that not every white person holds the negative views of POC that have been portrayed on different platforms and not every white person overtly expresses their racist tendencies but they are easily picked up on through their actions.
The people that have chosen to self-identify as trans-racial have no idea as to what it means to be a black person living in the western world. As much as they would love to be classed in the same ethnic category as us, they will never understand the gravity of our skin tone.
It’s hard to be black.
When the old lady walking towards you holds her bag a bit tighter as you go passed.
When you have to be perfect all the time as to not be label an ‘angry black’.
When you have to work 5, 6, 7 times harder to get to where you deserve to be.
When they scream ‘go back to where you came from’ but my people were brought here to build the NHS and fight in your wars.
When you can’t enjoy who you are because you don’t want to be labelled ‘rowdy’ and you don’t want to fill the ‘you can’t take black people anywhere’ quota for the day.
Is my black too loud for you?
Is my hair too curly?
Is my skin too golden?
Are my lips too full?
The University and college union have made this change in an attempt to be inclusive and not discriminate against what or whomever an individual chooses to identify as but they themselves may not understand the less than desirable impact that this may have in the battle against current issues such as cultural appropriation and perpetuated stereotypes of what it is to be black.