Posted on November 16, 2017
What is our identity?
To some extent, words that label us - like boy or man / girl or woman, black / white, Christian / Jew - can hold us apart from one another, can make it more difficult to see that we're all just human.
But those same labels can be a very important of our identity. It might be very important to one of your friends, for example, that she is Mexican American or that he is British Indian. Many of our friends proudly proclaim their heritage, race, religion, or nationality.
It's important to realize that we should allow people to choose their own labels, and we should respect those labels by using them. And it's also important to keep in mind that labels don't tell the whole story about a person, that no matter what the labels, people are just...people!
I was thinking this as I read that British life peer Lord Alli, whose full name is Waheed Alli, is considered "Asian" even though he was born in London, in the United Kingdom. And even though both of his parents were from the Caribbean!!
Where does "Asian" come in? You may well ask.
Alli's mom was from the island nation of Trinidad, but her farther-back ancestors were from India, in Asia. Alli's father was from the South American nation of Guyana, which borders the Caribbean. He, too, had ancestors from India.
I hope that Lord Alli doesn't mind the label the British system has put on him. I hope it is exactly the label he would've chosen for himself!
But I don't know....
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| Don't ask ^ If someone says they're from a particular town, state, country, whatever - accept that answer! |
How far back do we want to go when we ask the question "Where are you from?" or the impolite (racist?) question "What are you?"
Are we asking where someone was born? Where they live now? Where their ancestors lived centuries ago? What about if their ancestors came from many different places?
Are we trying to get a handle on "What kind of name is that?" Are we trying to figure out how to put people into boxes labeled by skin color or accent, clothing or religion?
If we go back far enough, all of us share one ancestral home: Africa!!!
Anyway, back to today's famous birthday:
Waheed Alli had several successful careers before becoming a politician:
He was a researcher for a finance magazine.
He became an investment banker - this is how he got rich!
He later became involved in television production. Along with his business and life partner, he created TV production companies and started shows such as The Word and Survivor. He also did (and maybe does) online marketing of products.
Alli's success in business is probably the main reason for his appointment as a life peer, although he did put time and effort into the political party he'd joined, the Labour Party, before his peerage. Once he was dubbed Baron Alli, he gained a seat in the House of Lords. He was just 34 years old.
Alli was the first openly gay Member of Parliament. He has used his political power to push for rights for LGBT folks, and he works on projects that serve LGBT youth.
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