Another letter

Here's another letter for the class...this one's a bit heavy...

Dear Class, January 2, 2008
I thought it would be interesting to discuss race and post-colonialism in Ghana. They are two subjects that seem to come up time and time again here; however, not among Ghanaians, but rather myself and my fellow Americans. Usually they come up in response to some interaction with a Ghanaian, but I've never had a discussion about either subject with a Ghanaian that I haven't provoked myself. Neither subject seems to be very relevant to Ghanaians in their daily life, at least from their perspective (or, at least what they've expressed to me of their perspective). However, as an American who has been culturally trained to be hyper-sensitive to both and all other subjects revolving around "political-correctness," I see these two constructs and their ramifications playing out everyday in Ghana. I've seen a lot of things that owuld make any "good American citizen" cringe with awkwardness, anger, embarassment, or a combination of all three.
First, on the subject of race, which truly does not operate in Ghana at all as it does in the U.S. In fact, it doesn't exist in Ghana when you're dealing with Ghanaians themselves, as they are all one race, which may be why they have constructed the term so differently than we have in the U.S., where we are comprised of many different races. So, for example, in my village, race would never come up if I wasn't there (the sole minority of Ofosu) and doesn't come up for many people in my village, except for in regards to me. And, when it does come up, very rarely does anyone notice that it's come up, aside from myself.
A day does not go by in Ghana when I'm not referred to as a white lady. If I'm in a place where people don't know my name, it's not considered offensive for people to greet me by calling, "White lady!" "Where are you going, white lady!" The twi word for this is "obruni," and it's not uncommon for a crowd of small children and the occasional adult to chant "obruni" when I walk down the street, or sing it even. Yes, there's even an obruni song. This can be incredibly off-putting, at first, but the truth is, these people are just trying to acknowledge me as a guest to their country. They're trying to welcome and include me. Hospitality is hugely important in Ghana. And, they just so happen to know I'm a guest because of my skin color, so, as a result, that's how they address me.

I still get "white lady" in my village too, but ti's not used as a substitute for my name. Rather, when I'm doing something they don't think white people/people from outside of Ghana who clearly have enough money to travel to Ghana, being as they are here could/would/should do, they often verbally acknowledge it-- "White lady fetching water!" "White lady pouding fufuo!" "White lady sewing" etc.
With these examples it becomes apparent that Ghanaians do seem to associate certain attributes to whiteness (i.e. wealth and lack of need for manual labor, which also implies educated, which in Ghana's hierarchical social system denotes a very high level of respect). However, these aren't solely assumed of me because of my whiteness along, but because I'm in Ghana, which means I could afford to get here. Also, my job as a health worker denotes my higher education. So, it doesn't have as much to do with my race, as it does with me being a person from another country who's been able to make it all the way to Ghana. My whiteness is just a physical marker of that. It's just another adjective.
However, to complicate things a bit, it should be noted that not only white people are referred to as white. Ghanaians, for example, often refer to all Americans as white, regardless of if they are of African, Asian, South American, etc. descent. Some people do think all Americans are white. They even think if they come to the States they too will become white. However, even if they do know we are a multi-racial nation, they refer to us as white people. When I talk about my African American friend in a nearby village, I often get responsed like, "He's a white black man!" I often try to explain why an American would prefer not to be addressed by their race, and especially why my friend would not like being called a white black man. I usually get nods and smiles, and then they do it again anyway-- "So, how is that white black man? Does he like Ghana?" It often makes my head spin. I try to wrap my head around the way they conceive race here, and I often give up in defeat. Race is just not the same here, and, simply put, it has no negative connotation or stigma. It just is what it is; which is interesting, because when you think of why race can conjure up such horrible stigmas in the States, you can easily come up with a history for why this is the case. Horrible atrocities have taken place in the U.S. revolving solely around race and ethnicity. However, in the case of Ghana, I would say the same is true.

Which brings me to our second topic-- colonialism. Granted, I don't know a lot about colonialism in Ghana specifically, but I do know it was a very dibilitating institution in Africa as a whole. And, while Ghana was the first African colonly to receive independence in 1957, becoming a leader in African development and the pan-Africanist movement, 1957 was not that long ago-- only 52 years. So, one might think that the horrors of colonialism and the slave trade would still reverberate horrible racial stigmas. In my three months in Ghana, however, I've still yet to see a single example of such a reverberation. Although, the reverberations of colonialism still remain clear. For one, all schools operate in English. Children are forbidden to speak in their local vernacular and are often caned for doing so. Mnay signs, almost all advertisements, and product packaging is written in English or French. English is often spoken intermittently on the radio. Ghana is also an avidly overt Christian nation in the south and predominantly Muslim in the north-- two religions that are not native to Ghana. And, lastly, when I ride my bike between villages, I'm often bombarded by people calling out "Fada!" The Volta Region in which I live was actually German-occupied and "Fada" is what they called the German priests who came to stay with them-- the first white people the people in these villages have ever seen. That was a sort of laudry list if all the reminders of colonialism I've witness so far. To be honest, I don't really know what to make of it all. It seems rather complicated, but ultimately the Ghanaians seem completely unaffected by this. They don't see it as good or bad. It just is, which is a bit telling of Ghanaian culture-- very resigned to fate, from what I've seen. What will happen will happen and what is, is.
But, I would really like to know what you think of all this, so feel free to send me your comments and questions, and we can continue to sort through these two tough subjects. Also, feel free to bring up other topics, as well.


I hope your holiday break treated you well!

Sincerely,
Ama Cynthia