There's so much that I want to say about this Immersion experience. It's only been a couple of days so far, and we've sought out some really interesting experiences, but I'm having trouble not seeing this as some sort of experiment that can never really truly be what it needs to be.
In college I had a professor who studied homeless populations. To do so, he spent a year "drifting", living on the streets and getting to know the people as well as their personal stories and reasons for being homeless. The experience gave him a new perspective on homelessness, and he was able to connect with people on a personal level. But even so, he will never truly understand what it's like to be homeless because the reality is that he knew his "experiment" with living homeless would eventually come to an end.
With this experience, we aren't in any way trying to "become" people of colour. I would never be so naive to assume that I can ever truly understand what a person of colour faces in this country. And so, this immersion project is sort of hard to wrap my mind around. What, exactly, am I trying to achieve by doing this, and how is it any different from my everyday life?
On the surface, access to cultures other than our own is pretty easy where we live, with the most obvious "inroads" being food, music, and film. Cultural centers and museums are also plentiful, and there are lots of different events offered around the city. But none of these things allow us to really experience the cultures fully. This is giving me just a small taste of what I imagine our children will face as they attempt to determine where they "fit" in society. I can't provide them with authentic Ethiopian culture because I haven't lived it. So how do I make those important connections. (Connecting with others has never really been my forte...)
While food, music, and movies will undoubtedly be a big part of our experience (we're definitely eating our way around the world!) I really want to figure out how to connect on a deeper level.
Anyway, so far, here's what we've done:
1. Attended a Turkish shadow puppet show (in Turkish).
2. Watched several movies (Precious, Stand and Deliver in Spanish, Roll Bounce.)
3. Listened to lots of world music (playlist to follow)
4. Explored the sari stores on Devon Avenue, one of the largest Indian neighborhoods in the country before having lunch at an Indian restaurant.
5. Went grocery shopping at two Indian markets and one Korean market (lots of curries and dumplings in our future!)
6. Sampled ice cream in flavours like maize, tamarind, jackfruit, buko pandan (young coconut and screwpine), ube (purple yam) at a Filipino-owned ice cream shop.
7. Watched a news report on human trafficking in southeast Asia, Africa, and even in the U.S.
8. Read Indian and Korean newspapers, Al Jazeera, and Ebony.\
9. Stopped by a Caribbean-American bakery in our neighborhood for some ginger bulla and ting.
10. Went to a multicultural easter egg hunt.
11. Almost bought a Durian to try, but Jon chickened out...
Honestly, not too much of this is really out of the ordinary for us, but we are making a very conscious effort to seek these experiences out. We're actually stopping at places that have always looked interesting. I'm taking the time to notice who's actually shopping with us, and what's being advertised in the different neighborhoods. We're often the only white people (or one of very few) around (that's pretty common for us in general), and yet there are still lots of "cultural markers of whiteness" around. (i.e. "beauty" adds for hair straighteners featuring "whitened up" Indian women, and Meat Loaf's song "Anything for Love" playing in the Indian Market...)
It's still hard to find television programs that feature people of colour. Especially difficult to find children's programs. (I'm talking about when I turn on the tv without planning for a specific show at a specific time, or going in search of culturally relevant dvd's. We still have a long, long way to go in order to truly reflect the diversity of our country in our media. The scary thing is that it's gotten much, much better than it used to be.
2 comments:
How about having your eyebrows threaded?
J, I have a different take on the 'why' of the immersion. I'm working on how to say this, but I'll give it a try. I think the purpose, as I have contstructed it, is to be more aware of my whiteness - of the majority/normative elements of dominant culture. I think I 'need' this exercise to get out of my head on this issue and more into my lived reality. Does that make sense? So, I'm not at all interested in getting into the black experience (or minority culture experience) because I don't think that is at all possible. (Morgan Spurlock makes intriguing videos that make us think about living on minimum wage, but hell...he goes back to his very cushy life after his month is done, of course). I think what is possible, for me, anyway, is that I will be more away of the insidiousness of white majority stuff and I really hope to put myself in some uncomfortable situations that aren't the 'norm' for me or my family - because really, we don't shop regularly at the Merkato or the Asian Market. I think our very different communities will present different challenges, but being white mamas is a real connection. What do you think?
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