In Africa you are either 'pointee' or black

                                        PHOTO:COURTESY

I thought she only hung out with pointees,” was how the overheard conversation started. I had never heard the term before, and I instantly jumped into the convo requesting clarification.

As if 5 (point five) was not an abbreviation enough, it had gotten abridged even smaller to ‘pointee’, meaning a mixed race person.

Personally, I’m constantly asked in Africa, “What are you mixed with? Which one of your parents is white?”

How daunting it was for me on my first trip to Africa – wanting to revel in my African roots while Africans were constantly referring to me as a white woman.

Different locations have different names for mixed race people.

In Rwanda, someone referred to himself as a ‘half-caste’ in what I deemed, as a non-celebration of his Rwandan and Belgian heritage.

Made me not dark enough

The caste system, which exists in India and other places, is degrading enough, yet you describe your identity as a reference to half of that system?  Gosh...It was the first time I had heard ‘pointee’, which I thought was cute, in identifying this woman with Japanese and Kenyan roots. Then there was my hilarious father who referred to mixed-raced people as ‘zebras’.

Being light-skinned in Africa made me not dark enough to be considered black, but somehow light enough to be considered white.

Then I would see light skinned Kenyan women here. I was told it was a trait of a particular tribe. These women are lighter than me. Do people call them ‘pointees’? 

Someone tried to explain that the undertones in the skin are used as a marker. What? When it comes to mixed race people, I am actually ‘blind’.

I honestly cannot tell if they do not have soft curly-wavy hair. If they come out with their sheep-wool hair like President Barack Obama, they are just another black person to me, with no hint of backstory to their heritage.

When my husband is out with my son without me, he often gets the question, “Is his mother white?”... to my horror!

My reaction is not against being white, but I feel I am so obviously black. I am never mistaken for mixed race in the US.

 

Easier to be a real zebra

Part of my naivety in the mixed race world is due to the fact that there seems to be no mixed race in the US. Of course mixed raced couples, who have children exist — just look to the new Mayor of my hometown of NY! But the level of lightness of a skin colour was never a consideration.

When I was growing up, the 1/8 rule was in effect, meaning if you had a grandparent who was black – his children and their children were all considered black, no matter how many white people were thrown into the mix. There were court cases in the state of Louisiana (where everyone seems to be a pointee) where people who had identified and looked white, petitioned the court to change their race from black to white.

These cases are usually denied, and boy what a Pandora’s box to start making those changes!

I actually wonder about the pointees of the US.  I personally think it is unfair that they cannot be both black and white — that the government mandates their identity. At times I think my dad had it right. It may have been easier to be a real zebra where all of your colours are evident and you get to wear them as you wish.

Denise is an Afro Soul singer and a musical performance coach. [email protected]