Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Britain, Pakistan, Identity and Faith














  1. Anonymous09 June, 2009

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

  2. Every post I read, I feel like I have had similar experiences. And if I haven't, then my children will.

    I am American, born and raised in the center of my country. Blonde hair, blue eyes, very fair skin, freckled as a child. When I was growing up, there were few minorities around, though my city had more than neighboring towns, due to the large university in town. But there was never any doubt that we were Americans.

    I married a Peruvian man in 1997. We met in Utah, both drawn there because of our faith (Latter-day Saint, or Mormon). My husband has very dark skin, beautiful black, shiny hair, and dark eyes. Many people in my country confused him for Pakistani or Indian. He is a very handsome man, and I wanted my children to look like him.

    And they do. They all look like him. Only they are not dark. My oldest boy has almost black hair and dark eyes, but his coloring is Mediterranean "white". My other three boys have reddish brown hair and light skin. All have brown eyes. Number 3 son has almost caramel colored eyes, but the darkest skin.

    When asked to check boxes for race in my country, there is never one that says "American." It may say Latino/Hispanic, Native American, Caucasian, African American, or other. And it is not a required box.

    But all of my boys consider themselves white Americans. They don't consider themselves Hispanic. They were all born in Utah, in the middle of white, Mormon culture (no, not all Mormons are white, but Utah culture is like that).

    In my country also, if you ask someone what they are, they will tell you their background. For example, when I was a teen, they would ask "What are you?" And I would say German, Danish, and Native American. That is the kind of blood running through my veins. But it does not refer, in this case, to culture or language. Just where did your ancestors came from.

    A year and a half ago we came to live in Peru as a family. My boys were not learning Spanish the way they should, and could not communicate with their grandparents. We wanted them to connect with their Peruvian heritage also. And surprisingly, we have actually found racism here. Not so much against us. People are more curious, or think we are rich. But racism amongst the Peruvian races. You can tell the region someone is from by their appearance. And the mountain people are terribly looked down upon and abused. The people from the rain forest are also marginalized. The black people (left over from slave days) are made fun of. And they equate white with beautiful, and dark with ugly. People have told my maid that I am way too pretty for my husband. I think I am all right, but my husband is a very handsome man, and being dark skinned doesn't make him less so.

    I enjoy reading your blogs. They are well-written, and show that many of us have the same concerns and struggles, no matter where we come from.





    Iftikhar Ahmad