the diverCity

Someone in London tried to tell me that this is the most diverse city in the world. As Hova has told us "we don't believe you, you need more people." This place has about 3 Latinos, and they are mostly from Brazil (plans still pending to go to a Brazilian restaurant, pretending to be a Brasilera and get a free meal). New York has the distinction of most diverse city in the world. Although both cities boast about the diversity of their populations, things get contentious when higher education is brought into the mix.

At SOAS I've noticed that there are not a lot of black Caribbean students in my classes. Most of the black kids are African- either first generation British or they've come specifically to go to university. And Somalis are repping hard at SOAS. Although I'm as American as a wings and a biscuit from Kennedy Fried, I'm used to having tons of Caribbeans around me. And by tons, I mean people like me, with West Indian parents but aren't really on that Mighty Sparrow tip. Although I'm aching for some stew chicken, rice and peas and plantains. The university system is very different here; many back British kids of Caribbean descent don't have access to the type of education that would help them get into university. Yet this doesn't seem to get as much media attention as debates over affirmative action, diversity and socio-economic make-up of colleges get at home.

The Washington Post, wrote an article on how top American universities enroll higher numbers of black immigrant students from Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America than native born blacks. Perhaps because my own experience has been different, and because as a Brooklynite and Queens resident I know many working class black immigrant families who hardly came from well heeled backgrounds, I disagreed with some of the people interviewed for the article. Yes in the Caribbean and in Africa we are talking about populations of black majorities without the history of American-type racism. However, in these countries, there were imperial interests that kept the majority black people from attaining a good education and good job prospects. As the daughter of black Caribbean immigrants, most of my ancestors were not American slaves (although my momma's daddy was Southern, so if reparations ever come I'll holla at that check). However, I personally have never received better treatment because of the nationality of my parents. Did affirmative action help me to gain my slot at Amherst- most likely. Do I feel that I was a proper beneficiary of this measure- yes. Affirmative action is supposed to help ensure that today in the ivory towers of higher education that their is a diversity racial, ethnic and socio-economic background, not simply to correct past wrongs. Yet, this does not mean that colleges in the US shouldn't do a better job of bringing in African American kids.

Lets just remember that black immigrants (and dey kids) have contributed much to black American culture and life- Harry Belafonte, Marcus Garvey, Stokely Carmichael and Shirley Chisholm. Not to mention - Malcolm X's moms was West Indian as was W.E.B Du Bois' daddy. Du Bois' father was from Haiti, explaining the last name (I bowed my head in shame when some SOAS kids argued with me over the pronouciation of Du Bois, sorry ya'll its more of a Du Boyz than Du Bwah). And hopefully our next President will be repping the beauty of the black diaspora, Barack Obama - half Kenyan, and the beneficiary of the dream of the American civil rights movement.

I'm making plans to go to Brixton to find a patty shop...