Meet Alexander White
The
moment I met Alex there was an instant connection. His aura and
attitude were warm, he was open, friendly, with a firm handshake, honest
focused eyes that made solid contact and there was an immediate vibe
that resonated. He is a good person, has a good job at a good firm and
we had some interesting discussions about life in general, our
backgrounds and personal history. Alex is from Suriname which is in
South America and was once a Dutch colony.
Most
of us are interested in our personal family histories or family trees.
Mine has been traced back to the early 1700's where ancient family
members on one side were once field workers in England. Alex told me his
family tree history but it comes to an abrupt halt in the early 1800s.
His father had sought the details in 1985 and came as far as the
document below reveals. It is an official paper from a government office
in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. In fact, it was the formal
release information when his great-grandmother was freed from being a
slave. It gives her birth as being somewhere around 1809 and the list of
her subsequent children. The opening line translated into English reads
: "In the register of Freed/Released Slaves of the district Low Commewijne." His grandmother had owned land but it was taken away from her during colonialism.
It
was such an astonishing experience to read Alex's document this week
and actually see a document which shed light on history just two
centuries ago. How must it feel to have a certain cultural history,
where one can never come to know one's original family name.? When
slaves were sold, they were automatically given the name of their owner.
For those of us whose history is completely dissimilar, the idea of
never knowing our real name can never be experienced and the whole idea
is just baffling. It's therefore completely natural that it still means a
lot for those whose history it does concern. Can you imagine being
given a name by someone who bought your
great grandmother and then were never able to get it back? I can't. This
powerful story of personal history brought to mind a song called Family
Name from a Prince released album in 2001 called The Rainbow Children.
Prince
received horrible critique about the album but particularly for the
song "Family Name." People and fans accused him of being racist because
it was interpreted as suggesting that Jews were responsible for slavery.
The Rain Children album is an imaginative concept and journey into a
supernatural world. Layered in jazz and alternative music, one of the
songs is called "Family Name." Here a few lyrics ...
Welcome.
U have just accessed the Akashic Records
Genetic Information Division.
Please select the race history u desire.
U have selected African-American.
This is your history:.....
End of part one.
2 continue, select the program Family Name
And type in the current government name u wish history on.
(London, England sometime in the early 1600)
"We have the God-given right
2 run out of our colonies
Anyone who does not bow down 2 our law.
Come on, come on keep it moving here!
What's your name boy?"
"Abu Cah"
"Well it ain't now; it's Tom Lynch."
U might say, "what u mad about?"
But u still got ur Family Name
Pleased 2 meet u, Mr. Rosenbloom
I'll b John Blackwell just the same
What's ur Family Name?
As
people complained of Prince's supposed racism the more racist they
became and that's what's wrong with this ugly facet of human nature.
The reason for this blog is not to lay blame on any generation because we can't, but what we can do is to at least acknowledge what went down and understand why movements such as Black Lives Matter arise. Even Van Jones (CNN) who criticises its overly zealous activists, supports the movement and claims that although naturally, all lives matter, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg-0_alBIds he also emphasises that few can understand where a lot of these people are coming from. Identity matters extremely to some but it might not have if history had been different. Family names are part of your heritage and if that is ever taken away there will be a scar. Prince certainly didn't look to be any descendant of a Medieval Middle English Old Gaelic Irish Nelson bloodline.
There are ongoing intellectual public arguments in America about whether affirmative action (reverse of racist policy) works or if it's slowing down progress. I am undecided for all I know is that it takes centuries for moral injustice to iron itself out in societies. Look at the Israeli/Palestine issue we are still dealing with today. It seems societies are constantly trying to keep up in culture for what politics and economics have decided. For example, slavery was abolished in America and passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States...." Yet it wasn't that long ago in education, when black children were being failed or discriminated against because of their use of Ebonics, which is American Black English. Fortunately, after much research, Ebonics today is regarded as a language in its own right.
Culture
is deeply embedded in the human psyche through history and it gets
passed on to
each generation almost as part of our DNA. It is in consciousness
content, memories, language plus behaviour and needs to be respected. It
is therefore increasingly alarming to me to hear white supremacists, a
group who have never been discriminated against, come out of the modern
woodwork with ideas that claim to hold prestige or superiority over
other groups. The events in Charlotteville were horrific. Haven't we
outgrown all this? Hasn't history taught us where that path leads? This
is why it is essential to not let defamatory words about Muslims, or
descriptions such as Islamaphobia,
regressive left, alt-right etc, dominate our politics. We really have to
respect each other as individuals and understand that we all come from a
unique cultural background or religion. No one has to take the blame
for history but acknowledging racism's long term negative effects is
vital and morally fair. Additionally, we really shouldn't be starting
any new divisive game.
I spoke to a few professional Chinese millennials recently, asking them their response to how some in the west claim "they are not free due to their communist political system." They themselves feel completely free in their country as freedom is measured differently they say. Furthermore, I was also told that even today, there is still general cultural embarrassment that the Chinese were not able to stop the English in the old Opium trade war. "So many Chinese so few British but the Chinese lost back then because we were weak." It goes to show how long and what impact historical events have on minds long after the episode has occurred. It lives on through cultural memory.
This
perhaps also explains why in the Netherlands every year, the sensitive
debate about the Dutch Xmas re-ignites. Traditionally, Saint Nicholas
arrives from Spain with helpers which they call "Black Piets" Zwarte
Pieten. They are supposedly black because they are covered in soot from
delivering presents down the chimney on the 5th of December. But many
feel this is racist as the Piets were slaves at the time. Some want to
abolish the tradition completely, some want rainbow coloured Piets and
protests at what I might add, is a children's party are ongoing. I
understand the sensitivities on all sides as I understand how deep
culture is. Personally, I think the tradition should stay and we should
change our language and refer only to Piets. We do not refer to Saint
Nicholas as White Saint Nicholas, so why the need to refer to colour?
Or for that matter, religion. "All Muslims are..." is hollow rhetoric
and far too present as malicious gossip in today's social media. It's
really time to wake up and change our prejudices into understanding.
Alexander White does not carry his original Family Name and this will live with him and his future generations forever. He is not bitter but he cannot forget and I think this is just human nature. I think he's a wonderful person and I feel privileged having being able to meet him and to share part of his life story.
The reason for this blog is not to lay blame on any generation because we can't, but what we can do is to at least acknowledge what went down and understand why movements such as Black Lives Matter arise. Even Van Jones (CNN) who criticises its overly zealous activists, supports the movement and claims that although naturally, all lives matter, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg-0_alBIds he also emphasises that few can understand where a lot of these people are coming from. Identity matters extremely to some but it might not have if history had been different. Family names are part of your heritage and if that is ever taken away there will be a scar. Prince certainly didn't look to be any descendant of a Medieval Middle English Old Gaelic Irish Nelson bloodline.
There are ongoing intellectual public arguments in America about whether affirmative action (reverse of racist policy) works or if it's slowing down progress. I am undecided for all I know is that it takes centuries for moral injustice to iron itself out in societies. Look at the Israeli/Palestine issue we are still dealing with today. It seems societies are constantly trying to keep up in culture for what politics and economics have decided. For example, slavery was abolished in America and passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States...." Yet it wasn't that long ago in education, when black children were being failed or discriminated against because of their use of Ebonics, which is American Black English. Fortunately, after much research, Ebonics today is regarded as a language in its own right.
Quite disgusting this
I spoke to a few professional Chinese millennials recently, asking them their response to how some in the west claim "they are not free due to their communist political system." They themselves feel completely free in their country as freedom is measured differently they say. Furthermore, I was also told that even today, there is still general cultural embarrassment that the Chinese were not able to stop the English in the old Opium trade war. "So many Chinese so few British but the Chinese lost back then because we were weak." It goes to show how long and what impact historical events have on minds long after the episode has occurred. It lives on through cultural memory.
Alexander White does not carry his original Family Name and this will live with him and his future generations forever. He is not bitter but he cannot forget and I think this is just human nature. I think he's a wonderful person and I feel privileged having being able to meet him and to share part of his life story.
