One Reason Why It's a Good Idea to Travel
When you meet people of other ethnic backgrounds and nationalities face to face, you have the opportunity to dispel certain myths and/or stereotypes about your culture. Take yesterday, for instance. i was at a meeting of the Daegu Ba'hai community--we were celebrating the start of Naw'ruz, or the Ba'hai new year, with a feast which also marked the end of a 19-day fast for members of the Ba'hai faith. I was talking to one of the other attenders who was seated next to me, a young Korean man who had been attending the meetings longer than I had but someone I had yet to get to know well. He always made me laugh, and I was glad to have the opportunity to talk to him. After conversing for about five minutes about our families and jobs, he asked me what kind of music I liked. I told him I liked a bit of everything, and mentioned U2 and the Red Hot Chili Peppers among my favorite rock bands.
"You like rock and roll music?'
"Yes," I replied.
"But I thought black people only listened to hip-hop!"
I stared at him for a moment, incredulous. Was he serious? He couldn't be! But he was. I calmly explained to him as gently as I could, trying to conceal my irritation and anger that all kinds of people listen to hip-hop, not just black people, and that anyone can like any type of music. Then he spoke of Jimi Hendrix. that he was black and a rock star. I didn't think much more needed to be said. While it's true that hip-hop music and culture originated in the black community, it has transcended race and is enjoyed by people of many ethnic backgrounds. I felt insulted that he actually thought that all black people only listened to one kind of music, as if we could only listen to the type of music that our people were responsible for creating. Did it ever occur to him that there might be certain blacks who might not like hip-hop at all? Or was that out of the question?
Even though I was annoyed, I was glad to have the chance to engage in this important, albeit brief conversation. I could have been the first African-American he had ever spoken to in his life, and I just happened to be a living example that it is not your race which determines what kind of music you like, but who you are inside, and what speaks to your heart.
"You like rock and roll music?'
"Yes," I replied.
"But I thought black people only listened to hip-hop!"
I stared at him for a moment, incredulous. Was he serious? He couldn't be! But he was. I calmly explained to him as gently as I could, trying to conceal my irritation and anger that all kinds of people listen to hip-hop, not just black people, and that anyone can like any type of music. Then he spoke of Jimi Hendrix. that he was black and a rock star. I didn't think much more needed to be said. While it's true that hip-hop music and culture originated in the black community, it has transcended race and is enjoyed by people of many ethnic backgrounds. I felt insulted that he actually thought that all black people only listened to one kind of music, as if we could only listen to the type of music that our people were responsible for creating. Did it ever occur to him that there might be certain blacks who might not like hip-hop at all? Or was that out of the question?
Even though I was annoyed, I was glad to have the chance to engage in this important, albeit brief conversation. I could have been the first African-American he had ever spoken to in his life, and I just happened to be a living example that it is not your race which determines what kind of music you like, but who you are inside, and what speaks to your heart.
posted by steph m at
3:53 AM
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