ALICEA KNOTT
LIFE REPORTER

Identity and race are two of the most complex issues in our society.

As a person of African descent, my identity is largely unknown. My ancestors’ history, prior to their arrival on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, remains a mystery.

As a young child, I knew I was Jamaican, I knew I was black. That was enough.

But what does ‘black’ really mean?

This is a question I’m still wondering.

As I grew up, I discovered more about my family history. My father is of mixed ancestry. His family was Jamaican, but he had a black mother and a white father.

Though it may seem unusual, this is not uncommon in Jamaica. The country slogan is a good summation of Jamaica’s cultural heritage – ‘Out of Many, One People.’

While over 90 per cent of Jamaica’s citizens are of African origin, many also have ancestry from Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It is not uncommon for many African-Canadians or Americans to have some European ancestry in their family line. One of the most apparent reasons for Jamaica’s mixed ancestry is slavery.

With this in mind, questions of racial identity are still pertinent as we approach the UN initiative for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21.

And they are all too personal, as I was acutely reminded during a conversation with a close friend.

My friend is also Caribbean but unlike myself, her background includes black, Arab and white. Based on appearance, you would not know she has African ancestry as she has very light skin and brown hair. People usually try to guess her ethnicity. It is a game she hates – and one they never win.

When the conversation turned to race I made the mistake of saying something she’s heard her whole life – ‘You’re not black.’

I thought because she did not look similar to me, or perhaps did not experience the same things I did because of her skin colour, it precluded her from identifying with her African heritage. I did not understand at that moment and in the heat of the discussion how offensive this simplistic phrase was and repeated it to her chagrin.

Racial identity involves more than skin colour.

Many people now share ancestry from a variety of continents and have parents who may have drastically different skin colours and cultures. This does not mean they are neither, it means they are both.

I don’t subscribe to the view that someone has to choose a side if they have mixed parentage. That is ridiculous and unnecessary. Individuals should have the right to identify as they please. There are many people who genetically have multiracial ancestry but choose to identify under one category. Others embrace both.

And to be fair, how can we categorize, label and typecast human beings? Race and identity are not as simple as it used to be or how it was previously treated.

Being ‘black’ does not mean your skin colour is dark and both of your parents have African ancestry. Identity is far more personal, and something everyone has to discover on their own. Myself included.