Money and Melanin – how you’re treated in the world largely depends on these two factors. One is loved, the other derided.
Money is printed paper. We are all familiar with the power that money wields. Money talks.
Melanin (as we know) is a pigment present in our bodies which dictates the colour of our skin, hair and eyes. More melanin – darker skin, hair and eyes. Less melanin – lighter skin, hair and eyes. Like money, melanin also comes with it’s own set of associated consequences.
It’s shocking to see how a world that claims to be civilised can selectively throw all civilised ideals out the window and judge a book by it’s cover…in this case, an individual by the colour of their skin. The number of incidents where people have been killed or subjected to acts of violence simply based on their skin tone is staggering – more so in this “civilised” age that we live in.
There is the odd occasion when the incident has been a genuine accident or the result of the victim’s actions but most often, it is simply the result of the perpetrators dislike for a certain skin colour or their dislike for certain behaviours/practices associated with the same. Human beings are a species that love to stereotype other human beings. Unfortunately, racial stereotyping only breeds more hate, more violence and more unhappiness in the world at large.
Recently, an unarmed man was shot at point blank range simply because his skin colour evoked suspicion in the mind of a police officer. Incidents like this are horrific and rightfully command a lot of global attention. Yet, there are incidents that occur everyday; incidents that go unnoticed by everyone else except the victim. These aren’t actual murders and physical violence. These are, rather, the isolation and assassination of human beings by words, ridicule and sometimes blatant indifference.
I’m sure many, if not every person, irrespective of their colour or ethnic background, has faced racial discrimination at some place/stage in their lives; maybe while travelling or living in other countries? I will, however, use my own example to make a point.
I am a brown person living in a western country. I have been on the receiving end of some people’s contempt for my skin colour. I can assure you, I don’t fit the stereotypes associated with this skin tone. I wear perfume. I was educated in English medium institutions, I speak great English and have several degrees to my name. I pay my taxes. I use cutlery and I do not eat just one particular type of cuisine. I use my mouth to communicate and I do not nod for no apparent reason. I do, however, speak with a foreign accent – as do many other people. The modern world is a random mélange of many different people and many different accents. In this world without borders, I’m still trying to work out who drew up the lists of sexy accents and accents which deserve to be mocked. But No, apart from the accent, I don’t fit the general stereotypes. I do, however, get stereotyped, on occasion, by some people who aren’t willing to look beyond “skin deep”.
In my personal experience of living/travelling to foreign lands, every race has a fair section of individuals who very well subscribe to the global list of stereotypes that does the rounds of our world today. I found that every race has a segment of people who have issues with body odour – it doesn’t smell any nicer on a person with more classically inclined physical and facial attributes. I have encountered loud people, messy people, people with borderline savage table manners, people whose beautifully accented English is bubbling over with grammatical errors (and expletives too!), gorgeous looking citizens who are more of a liability to the government than most immigrants – yes, this is an actual fact – though there are those that believe otherwise. Clearly, this stuff isn’t restricted to any particular race as such.
Living abroad, I have also had the great pleasure of meeting a lot of beautiful, accepting people. We share a mutual love and respect each other. We enjoy learning about each other’s ethnic backgrounds and we are so much richer from every interaction. Acceptance of each other makes life beautiful and happy. How wonderful if the prejudiced could understand this!
The bottom line – every single individual walking this planet is a product of their personal circumstances and subsequently, their choices. Furthermore, every person is a product of society’s response to them. This alone renders all stereotypes redundant. And even if it didn’t, it still shouldn’t undermine our basic humanity. Imagine if each of us took time to stop and un-package the massive implications of the often, yet loosely, used expressions “a world without borders” or “a global village”. These expressions are so much more than market-place jargon. They are the subtle acknowledgement that people are people no matter where they come from and every person has the potential to add value to any given part of this big, wide world.
What an amazing place this world would be if we could stop to acknowledge and respect a person’s humanity. How much more amazing if we could buy into that lofty ideal preached by the Christ, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
You see, Brown is a colour. Brown is not a smell. Brown is not a mannerism. Brown is not a type of cuisine. Brown is not a particular style of dress. Brown is not a lack of honesty, intelligence, education, money, morality or culture. Brown is not a lack of personality, ambition, feelings or comprehension. Brown is just a colour. The same applies to White, Black and Yellow – they are all just colours. Colours don’t count for anything. The only colour that matters is the one that flows under all of these other hues – Red.
The Red is warm. The Red is surging with life. The Red flows with dreams, hope and promise. The Red feels. The Red is running full of purpose, value and potential. The Red bleeds through – irrespective of skin colour. The Red fuels every beating heart – in palace and hovel alike. The Red is the thing that, across life’s many divisions, unites us all. And this, in my humble opinion, is the world’s best kept secret.
– Melissa Domingo
2 Nov, 2016