Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year – Year of the Dragon.
I am one quarter Chinese, probably more than half black but there’s a world of bloodlines in my family – including Scottish, Portuguese and Jewish, so all the measurements are suspect. It’s always been easiest to just say I’m Jamaican. Occasionally someone wants to know what my genetic mix is. I’m a curious individual myself so I”m not bothered by inquisitiveness, but I’m wary about what we do with the information and how we file it for future reference. Labels can be dangerous things. (Every slur is predicated on shorthand information.)
At my family’s gathering to celebrate the Lunar New Year, my four year old cousin who is a genetic mix of chinese and black was recounting something that happened with a friend at his daycare and to get clarity his grandmother asked if he meant the black boy. She might as well have said it in Greek (or Chinese), he doesn’t have that kind of reference. When he shouted ‘Go black guys’ at a basketball game (true story) he simply meant the color of the team jersey. Everyone is truly equal in his eyes, colors are reserved for the clothes we wear. Later, when the potstickers were placed on the table nephew No.1 asked, ‘what’s inside the perogies?’ and no one told him he was wrong, we just smiled and said ‘chicken and mushroom’.
Image by Flesh for Blood via Flickr
The reality is we humans share more commonalities than differences. We all want food, shelter and clothing for our families. We all have the desire to see our loved ones happy and healthy. We bleed from the same wounds and laughter is understood anywhere in the world.
Happy New Year to all.
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