Thinking about "otherness"

I've been participating in a month-long discussion on race through Experimonth, which has run month-long experiments since 2009 on a variety of subjects/actions.

Discussing race is about discussing otherness. I've had a long history of friends and boyfriends who do not mirror my appearance or accent or home country, and I sometimes wonder why. I don't think it was particularly a conscious choice. As a child in Minnesota, my preferred neighbor friends were Korean and Vietnamese neighbor girls, even though there were several white neighbor girls also. After my dad died and I returned to Alexandria, I became "other" overnight, though it was not obvious from the outside to those who first met me. I am always careful to explain that my life was not a giant walk in the park and I understand being an outsider. But then I also understand that I have many inclusionary qualities. So I have the understanding of both sides of the world.

In a TED talk on otherness by Thandie Newton that I recently viewed, she discusses her otherness and how it affected her, and urges us to create a world of oneness with each other. She also points out that race is not about biology or genetics, which was something I didn't know:

By 19, I was a fully-fledged movie actor, but still searching for definition. I applied to read anthropology at university. Dr. Phyllis Lee gave me my interview, and she asked me, "How would you define race?" Well, I thought I had the answer to that one. And I said, "Skin color." "So biology, genetics?" she said. "Because, Thandie, that's not accurate.Because there's actually more genetic differencebetween a black Kenyan and a black Ugandan than there is between a black Kenyan and, say, a white Norwegian. Because we all stem from Africa. So in Africa, there's been more time to create genetic diversity." In other words, race has no basis in biological or scientific fact.

In this discussion of otherness, I think of the current uprisings across the world calling for change. Too long have we considered those who are different, whether better or worse off, our own neighbors or not, to be "the other," quietly walling ourselves off in our safe separate worlds. I think the movements which are going on are less about Wall Street and more about awakening. Awakening to question the separation in the world by race, and wealth, and location. In truth we are all one and interconnected. It is time to start rebuilding our connections to the earth, to our fellow beings, to the "other" inside and outside ourselves. We are all one in the same, united in our otherness, united in our time on this earth.

The problem of calling your team "Sprechen Sie Englisch."

After the crazy triathlon fiasco, and flowing with energy from the near death swimming adventure, I decided I should run another race- October 3 in Nuremberg. I gathered a team of eight together; me plus soldiers. 10 km, so as not to kill ourselves. (I wanted to do the half marathon, but was shot down. Not literally, mind you.)

After several attempts to register the team online, I finally succeeded. We brainstormed team names, and decided to just go with the original idea, "Sprechen Sie Englisch." Because at the triathlon, we were given shit for not speaking German by a snotty "I belong to the Portland Tri Club" woman who only finished a few places ahead of me. Anyway. Not all Oregonians are perfect. I know, it's hard to believe.

This afternoon, I'd planned to pick up our registration and shirts in Nuremberg, so I rang the store to make sure our packets were ready. (I'd done everything in German, so you never know.)

They transferred me to a woman, who asked my name, and then couldn't find the registration, even after I'd spelled my names twice. I said, "Is it different for teams?"

Lady: "Yes, what is your team name?"

Me: "Sprechen Sie English."

Lady: "Yes, but I am German. What's your team name?"

Me: (Thinking that she's thinking, I am speaking English. you idiot.) "Our team name is Sprechen Sie Englisch."

Lady: Still confused.

Me: "Our team is called 'Sprechen Sie English.' Wir sind doof!" Laughing. I explain my feeble German skills.

Lady: "Ohh!!" Laughing. She explains the rest of the details to me, regarding packet pick up, and then we hang up.

Hopefully they got as much entertainment out of my stupidity as I did....

Our mixed race presidential candidate

In the paper this morning, I came across an interesting commentary about Obama and his "blackness." In the Herald, it was titled, "Democrat winner is actually not black, he's just not white." Written by a UK journalist, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, it has some important thoughts on race.

We base a lot of importance on external appearance. I guess it's the easiest and quickest way to judge people. It's so unfortunate though. Not that I have not fallen into that category. Whether it's race, weight, attractiveness, style, confidence, it's something that can be seen in a few seconds from the outside.

If I've learned anything here, it's that we are all the same. My students have similar backgrounds, similar pains, similar stories. Underneath it all, we are all human. Why not judge people for what really matters: kindness, honesty, integrity?

If nothing else, those little mixed race children are usually the most attractive ones in the room. Let's celebrate diversity. I'm proud to support our first mixed-race candidate for president.