Journal Entry 7: "Afro-Talk"

One evening, I had a conversation with a German friend who was also studying at the University. He’s your typical white blonde hair-blue eyed male with a humorous personality. One thing I now appreciate about this trip is the fact that not only am I learning about issues of identity from Ghanaians, but I gain insight on how I am perceived by other international students as well. As I was talking to him, he said with an excited voice, “Oh, you speak that Afro talk!”. My first instinct was to crack up laughing, because I wasn’t sure how to respond. White people in the United States usually wouldn’t say things like that to your face, but of course I learned that Europeans are very different and often more open and forward. I replied, “What do you mean, ‘Afro talk’?” He attempted to imitate me, making hand gestures like a rapper and doing a stereotypical sha-na-na voice (but very poorly). I was shocked at what I was hearing, but knew that he also hadn’t been exposed to many people of the black diaspora. This was especially evident in his next comment, “You know it’s funny, the blacks in the U.S. talk differently than the ones here” referring to Ghana. I thought that would have been obvious, if you understood the history of the black diaspora. He asked me where I was from. “Boston”, I replied. “What about your parents?” he continued. “They are from Boston”.  “So…are you from here, Ghana?”. “I don’t know, possibly” I replied with a smile. He looked a little a puzzled. How is it I could not know where I am from? “I’m African-American” I explained. “My ancestors were slaves—so that knowledge has been taken from me”. “Ohhh okay I get it” he quickly replied, and changed the subject.

We (along with another European friend) then began talking about Americans. It was so interesting hearing about how people from other countries view Americans. As I expected, nothing positive was really said. “They are selfish and arrogant. They think they know everything.” Of course there were other stereotypes that I chose not to post, but you get the idea. I must admit that I didn’t totally disagree with some of these ideas, but I also realized that even if I am none of these things, people from other countries might automatically think so and respond to me accordingly.