Monday, November 03, 2008
Color Connection: An African American in India learns that shame is skin-deep
Color Connection
An African American in India learns that shame is skin-deep
By Austin Thompson
As told to Robin Rose Parker
Sunday, November 2, 2008; Page W16
earlier sections were snipped off considering copyright.
I remember when I went to down to the state of Kerala. A group of students in my study-abroad program would often go on excursions to visit other parts of India. There was a darker guy there; he was a hotel employee, and he would serve us food at lunch and dinnertime. He would also help carry bags from the rooms. He was a Tamil. The Tamils are a minority ethnic group in India. You find the Tamil people basically doing a lot of migrant labor and some of the menial jobs in different parts of India. They have a history of being socially excluded and are darker in complexion than the dominant group in Indian society. I have a tendency to always smile and carry myself in such a way that I'm friendly to everyone, even the people who are serving me food. So, I think as I was going through the food line, I made a point to really make eye contact and smile and ask him how he was doing. He would see me and just smile and serve me a little extra of the chickpeas when I would come through with my plate. By the third day, he looked at me and said, "I like you."
Me, being the American I am, I was like: Hey, what's he trying to say? Is he hitting on me? The amount of affection that men show men in America is quite different than they show in India and other parts of the world. But I said, "You know, I like you, too, man," just being a nice guy.
The day before we left, I was leaving my hotel room, and he stopped me. I saw that he had tears in his eyes. And he said, "Same face, same face," pointing to the fact that we were both dark. He started crying, and I started crying, too. The tour guide, who was what you would consider part of the dominant Indian group, told me afterward that people who are my complexion don't dress the way that I dress; they don't exude much confidence. He said, "Austin, you have to realize that here the darker your skin is, the less opportunities, the less access [that you have] and the less confidence that many of them display as a result of it." I never saw the guy again; I just hugged him and left. But that image stuck with me, in that my experience wasn't only my own personal experience -- that there was someone else who was experiencing what I had experienced, and I think it was vice versa for him.
full article here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103003246.html
other indian skin deep article for hot post branch-hoppers:
'Kollywood' Makes the Everyman -- the Beer-Bellied, Double-Chinned Everyman -- a Star
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110102024.html
An African American in India learns that shame is skin-deep
By Austin Thompson
As told to Robin Rose Parker
Sunday, November 2, 2008; Page W16
earlier sections were snipped off considering copyright.
I remember when I went to down to the state of Kerala. A group of students in my study-abroad program would often go on excursions to visit other parts of India. There was a darker guy there; he was a hotel employee, and he would serve us food at lunch and dinnertime. He would also help carry bags from the rooms. He was a Tamil. The Tamils are a minority ethnic group in India. You find the Tamil people basically doing a lot of migrant labor and some of the menial jobs in different parts of India. They have a history of being socially excluded and are darker in complexion than the dominant group in Indian society. I have a tendency to always smile and carry myself in such a way that I'm friendly to everyone, even the people who are serving me food. So, I think as I was going through the food line, I made a point to really make eye contact and smile and ask him how he was doing. He would see me and just smile and serve me a little extra of the chickpeas when I would come through with my plate. By the third day, he looked at me and said, "I like you."
Me, being the American I am, I was like: Hey, what's he trying to say? Is he hitting on me? The amount of affection that men show men in America is quite different than they show in India and other parts of the world. But I said, "You know, I like you, too, man," just being a nice guy.
The day before we left, I was leaving my hotel room, and he stopped me. I saw that he had tears in his eyes. And he said, "Same face, same face," pointing to the fact that we were both dark. He started crying, and I started crying, too. The tour guide, who was what you would consider part of the dominant Indian group, told me afterward that people who are my complexion don't dress the way that I dress; they don't exude much confidence. He said, "Austin, you have to realize that here the darker your skin is, the less opportunities, the less access [that you have] and the less confidence that many of them display as a result of it." I never saw the guy again; I just hugged him and left. But that image stuck with me, in that my experience wasn't only my own personal experience -- that there was someone else who was experiencing what I had experienced, and I think it was vice versa for him.
full article here
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103003246.html
other indian skin deep article for hot post branch-hoppers:
'Kollywood' Makes the Everyman -- the Beer-Bellied, Double-Chinned Everyman -- a Star
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/01/AR2008110102024.html
// posted by ஜூலியன் @ 6:51 AM 
