POLITICALLY CORRECT, WHY NOT SIMPLY CORRECT?

This may not be a politically correct tip or mail… I beg your indulgence if it annoys, hurts, or disturbs any of you. Still, I feel I must, and I believe we all should ponder on the topic of racism and, in general, the irrational divisions we are creating, endorsing, or tolerating through varied and all equally unacceptable lines. Yes, this is triggered by the sad news dominating the US press some time ago about the killing of yet another unarmed black man by the police-, but it is not limited to that.

For sure, we are all very proud to feel part of groups, jobs, organizations, and societies that cherish, welcome, and promote diversity. Still, we would be lying to ourselves if we were to assume that we have always upheld the values of care and respect regardless of color, faith, sexual orientation, disability, gender, etc. We would be hypocritical if we were to say that all of us have always been correct in diversity and inclusion. Perhaps, in the best-case scenario, we have been just politically correct. We may have been part of the problem and not of the solution either actively or passively, despite our lofty ideals and grandiloquent statements.

This is why today’s tip for us is to do everything in our power to be correct and not just politically correct. To do what’s right, not what is popular, easy, or socially acceptable.

Not long after I arrived in Nigeria, I discovered that by Nigerian standards, I am ‘white’… Yes, I still chuckle when I remember -and my friends laugh out loud when we revisit the event- because, in my almost 50 years of existence (I wrote this some time ago), this is the first time I am white! Back home in Costa Rica, I have always been lovingly called ‘negrito’ (blackey) by many of my friends: darker than many but not dark enough to be ‘black’! That was not a demeaning term because racial prejudice in my country spares the ‘blackeys’ like me but unfortunately not the ‘blacks’ or those coming from other Central American countries.

In Spain, where I lived and studied for three years, I was ‘black’ and ‘sudaka,’ which is how some people scornfully refer to those coming from South America (which is ‘funny’ because Costa Rica is in Central America!). Right then and there, I felt the racial prejudice for the first time.

Later on, in the US, where I worked for a decade, I was ‘brown’ and ‘Mexican… 😊 From Sudaka to Mexican! We in Central Americans are invisible! Prejudice in NYC was also evident and annoying.

Here in Nigeria, I am white (really?), but surprisingly there is no prejudice. Instead, some entitlement is assigned to my ‘whiteness,’ and I don’t get it.

Perhaps we should really take a deep breath and ponder how each one of us and our families creates, enforce, enable, tolerate, feeds, or ignore artificial divisions.

Perhaps we can start in our homes and certainly in our jobs, to see all humans as humans, members of the same human race, regardless of whether we are black, brown, red, pink, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, southerners, northerners, westerners, easterners, disabled, rich, poor, fat, skinny, gay, tall, short, cultured, illiterate, chief, ‘Oga,’ African, European, American (not just from the US), junior, senior, francophone, lusophone, anglophone, Hispanophone, and all the other divisions that foster fear, hatred, violence, and oppression instead of love, respect, care, empathy, development, growth, health, and happiness. I guess that’s why we all joined the UNITED NATIONS, to help UNITE all the world’s peoples!

The little problem I had renting a house: https://www.ted.com/talks/james_a_white_sr_the_little_problem_i_had_renting_a_house

What we can do about the culture of hate: https://www.ted.com/talks/sally_kohn_what_we_can_do_about_the_culture_of_hate

What I am learning from my white grandchildren – truths about race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5GCetbP7Fg

The danger of hiding who you are: https://www.ted.com/talks/morgana_bailey_the_danger_of_hiding_who_you_are

Colorblind or color brave: https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave

How to overcome our biases walk boldly toward them: https://www.ted.com/talks/verna_myers_how_to_overcome_our_biases_walk_boldly_toward_them

Are Africans citizens of the world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS1n3MdzF0k

Take care and stay safe. I wish you a happy and productive week!