Vanessa Uzoh
Dallas, TX
My freshman year of college was the first time I actually had to think about how identified myself within my own racial community. I didn’t know how to handle this and other questions that people asked me, but I knew that I definitely wasn’t going to let the opinion of others make me feel bad about who I am. This was a new challenge for me and I had to find a way to tell other people my story. The story begins with my parents, without whom I would not exist. They were born in raised in different areas of Nigeria, a country in west Africa. They moved to the United States in the late 80’s to give their children access to more opportunities. I am very grateful for them and for all the other parents who came to the United States for this reason. Although I am blessed for living in this country and having access to its resources, I am even more proud of my heritage. There is no other culture like the Nigerian one. I love the style of dress, the language, the food, and the connection that the people have. I have an appreciation for all of who I am, which includes my Nigerian and American influences. In reference to this question, I would say neither but if I had to choose a label then it would be “African American”. It’s as simple as that. What’s so bizarre about this experience is that many of the people who would ask were “black” or “African” or “African American”. As a racial community, we were segregating ourselves. Never mind that there are people outside of our community that do this on a daily basis, but must we follow in their footsteps? I certainly don’t think so. Just as we are called to embrace our Caucasian, Asian, Native American, and Hispanic counterparts, we must also embrace each other. Yes, we are similar in physical color and perhaps even background, but there is diversity between all people. However, we are all people and that’s something that unites us all, or at least it should be enough to create unity. But the more that people knit-pick at differences and place an increasing need on labeling someone as black or another as biracial, the more segregation that occurs. My wish for all people and all groups, is for them to celebrate the likeness that exists so no one else can feel like an outsider among their own like I did.
