The Blue Eyes of a Black Nationalist
By Maliq Hunsberger
When I was four years old, I came home from preschool and said to my mother, “they think I’m one of the white kids.” To their credit, I have always looked like one of the white kids. Unfortunately for those not interested in giving evidence to the proverb about books and their covers, my appearance is phenotypically misleading.
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My mother is white and my father is Black. My older brother Miles looks, as he describes it, “ambiguously brown.” I on the other hand look unambiguously white. And not just in the way you tell your lightskinned friend he looks white. But invisible to the police, pre-Tiger Woods golf course, Applebee’s in the suburbs white.
The way I look has allowed me to occupy a space of “accessible Blackness” to many of my white peers. In other words, I have Black blood but not Black skin, meaning I can be seen as interesting but not scary. This has also functioned as my greatest tool of influence. I often find myself in discussions around race that I know my father, brother, or anyone visibly non-white are not included in. This is because I evoke much of the white fascination directed toward Black communities without donning the Black skin that the white world has been taught to fear so strongly. In this space I am able to “be a part of” genuine conversations about cultural appropriation, white privilege, racial common sense, etc. within white spaces because I pass so easily. These conversations have become taboo in multiracial spaces for fear of upsetting the colorblind “politically correct” balance that has pushed both straightforward racism and productive conversation underground. Unfortunately I have also become the acceptable target of much of that pent up racism that can no longer be expressed explicitly to those identifiably Black. It is this constant grappling of placement, membership, and authenticity that have provided my greatest privileges and contributed to my strongest feelings of isolation.
It is an odd feeling to be one race at the beginning of a conversation and another by the end. When I was in high school a white friend asked me about Emmett Till. The question was prompted by listening to Kanye West’s “Through the Wire,” and particularly West’s verse including the line: “On the plane scared as hell that her guy look like Emmett Till.” In response, I explained the 1955 lynching and how it fit into the long history of Black men (and in this case Black boys) being lynched in this country under the guise of them being “rapists,” and about Mamie Till’s bravery and foresight in the creation of the infamous Jet Magazine cover depicting her child’s savagely beaten face that had inspired the verse.
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My Wonderful Mother
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Miles and My Father
Read More https://medium.com/the-secret-history-of-america/the-blue-eyes-of-a-black-nationalist-a04ef17e394e
This is a good read.
The reference to Emmett Till, yes I knew the story, yet had not seen the images until now. Don't go look for them, I did and they will haunt me forever. I am so ashamed.
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Last edited Mon May 11, 2015, 09:49 AM - Edit history (1)
I was the "ambiguously brown one".......
....I bookmarked, after reading some of the link. I must read that one slowly. A lot of the life of my sister and I, growing up, was spent "covering each others asses" from the hate and confusion of blacks and whites. She is gone from this existence after a life of pain. I survived, but it took many years to come to an acceptance of myself. I FEEL THIS!
Meaning of Maliq
Meaning
The name Maliq has the following meaning:
The king or master. Also means "Angel of God".
It is a male name, suitable for baby boys.
http://www.quickbabynames.com/meaning-of-Maliq.html
I love it for your sister, may she be RIP.
Well, I sure am glad you made it heaven. I love listening to what you have to say here.
Backatcha~ 