Byera Kashangaki
Contributing Writers
I come from a country that is predominantly Black. I am from Kenya, a country in the Eastern part of Africa. I have never felt like an outsider because everyone I was surrounded by looked like me and spoke like me. Race has always been an afterthought for me and I have always seen people for more than their skin color. I was raised to see people as human beings, not pigments of color. My grandmother from my father’s side is white and my grandfather was Black, which makes my dad biracial—what we call “point five” in Kenya. Whenever I explain my ethnicity to people their jaws drop at the fact that my grandmother is white. I have never really understood why; to me she is my grandmother, not a white woman. The dynamics of race in Kenya are different because when people find out you have white blood, they start to associate you with whiteness; for my dad especially, they would call him “mzungu” which means “white” in Swahili. The case is slightly different for me because I am not as fair-skinned as my father.
Coming to the United States has created a shift in perspective for me. In this country, you are Black despite any single drop of whiteness you may have. I now see myself as a Black woman living in a country that places me at the very bottom of the social and racial hierarchy. I have come into a country that sees me for my skin color, a society built on the premise of race. At the College of Wooster I have felt what it means to be Black in a predominantly white space. Not just being Black but being Black and African. I have learned to become more comfortable in my skin by engaging with fellow Black women on campus. The African Student Union has been an excellent support system for me because I have met wonderful and uplifting women from across the continent. It helps to have people with similar experiences around you, people who can relate to your Blackness.
My Blackness has taught me that I may never be attractive towards other races. I have learned that I may never fully relate to people from other races, and that is okay. I have sat at tables with white people where my Blackness is evident because I do not relate to their conversation, but I have come to realize that there is nothing wrong with that. The whole point of studying abroad is to experience the diversity of culture and perspective, which I have come to appreciate during my short time here at the College.