Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Public schools teach students more than the curriculum. Interactions between different cultures, races and classes can be far more educational than what the teachers put on the board. When many students come to the University, these lessons become more acutely noticeable. These lessons are also incredibly valuable.
When I refer to myself as being a “brown person,” nine times out of 10 the person I’m talking to, who, needless to say, is white, starts laughing at me because I am categorizing myself as a color. I do not find it offensive to refer to myself as brown, nor do I find it offensive when people refer to me as being brown.
After I classify myself as being brown, the [white] person I’m talking to asks what the criteria are for being a brown person. The guideline I use is that they have to be Indian, Pakistani, Afghani, Bengali or originally from somewhere in that region. And of course, they have to have a skin tone that matches a shade of olive-brown.
The real question is, as we start to lump people of the same skin color into groups such as black, white and, more recently, brown, does it make people forget that their peers, as well as themselves, have an original heritage?
It is obvious that within secondary schools, both public and private, the value of culture is not presented to the degree it should be.
True, this is a terrific movement to end race and gender discrimination, but there has to be some way to conserve culture and feel open to talk about it before getting to a big university. I know firsthand that it has always been hard to refer to myself as being Pakistani, because some people do not know where or what that is.
Therefore, I have started to classify myself as being brown. But as I continue to characterize myself by my skin tone, I can say that I have forgotten the little things that I took into account while I was living at home with my brown parents, who exposed me to Pakistani and Indian culture every day.
The same is true for white people and African Americans, who are referred to as black. Honestly, when is the last time you asked a Caucasian person where they or their families were from? The term “white person” has been around for much longer than the term “brown person” and it is noticeable that American white people of our generation do not know too much about their original heritage.
If we continue to use colors instead of countries to represent people, it will lead to a mixing of cultures that may offend some people. We must find a way to balance our culture as an American white, black, Asian or brown person while maintaining the more acute aspects of our heritage.
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