Each time I go to the bar, I have the same discussion with the bartender.
Bartender: What can I serve you?
Me: I don’t drink alcohol. What kind of cocktails “sin” alcohol do you have?
Bartender: We have virgin Mojito, virgin Piña Colada, or virgin Cuba libre!
Me: Virgin Cuba libre? Never heard of it! What’s that?
Bartender: Just a Coke!
Me: Hahah, well tried. I don’t drink Coke; I just sniff it! Just kidding!
Bartender: This is not funny!
Me: I will have a virgin Mojito!
I love cocktails, alcohol-free. But, for just a mix of some juice, it is damn expensive. Yet I am, like many of us, a sugar addict.
In life also, there are a lot of different cocktails that we are addicted to. Some are visible, and others are more insidious.
Take, for instance, the Molotov cocktail. It is the preferred tool for violent protests all around the world. What makes it successful is the easy steps to prepare it.
Another hidden cocktail is the racism cocktail. As with all cocktails, there are many recipes.
This article will explore the 3P cocktail recipe Black and Brown people have been forced to swallow for centuries.
Here are the three ingredients of the 3P recipe:
- P as Power
- P as Privilege
- P as Prejudice
And let the cooking start.
P as Power
Power can have many definitions. However, the one below is the content of our main ingredient:
“ability to control people and events or the amount of political control a person or group has in a country.”
Source: Cambridge Dictionary
When it comes to power today, those who have it are not Black and Brown and are not keen to share even an atom of it.
We can take all the big institutions ruling the world today at an economic or social level. Take the United Nations, for example. The five permanent security council members are China, France, Russia, The USA, and the UK. That is the best we came up with after World War II.
My grandfather on my mother's side fought to liberate France as thousands of Senegalese Tirailleurs.
He was lucky enough not to be part of the people killed in the Thiaroye massacre:
The Tirailleurs, all the Black and Brown soldiers, the Tirailleurs were deprived of their victory and, most importantly, their share of the power in this new world.
In the USA, similar tactics to Jim Crow laws in the USA deprive Americans of their African heritage and their part in the American dream.
Regarding economic power, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) is squeezing African countries from the rise to their economic power.
As of today, the grand grandchildren of those who have fought the Civil War in the US or the 1st/2nd World Wars in former western colonies are denied their heritage and their seat at the table.
Have you been taking advantage of such power on behalf of your ancestry?
P as Privilege
Our second ingredient can be defined as follows:
“an advantage that only one person or group of people has, usually because of their position or because they are rich.”
Source: Cambridge Dictionary
I have noticed that we have 50 shades of “White” when it comes to describing Caucasians all over the world.
When we think of Europe, we believe in terms of countries, sometimes even cities. Paris, Venise, Berlin, Amsterdam. “La France”, Italia, Espanña, etc.
Me: Hi, I am Ahmadou.
Them: Where are you from?
Me: From Toulouse, France.
Them: Yeah, but what is your country of origin? Where did your parents come from?
Me (Thinking in my mind): What the hell?
Them (over the phone): You have a little accent. That is so cute.
Me: I was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, etc.
Them: Yes? Cool, I have also been in Africa for holidays. You guys are so grounded and smiling.
When you are “Black,” you are just “Black.” As a “Black” person with one monolithic, bold colour: BLACK!
Barack Obama was as Black as he was White. Yet he has been categorized as the first “Black” president.
As a “Black” person, I must justify or explain my “colour.” I am always the usual suspect. I am both the most visible and most invisible person simultaneously.
I am the visible “Black” guy at work, always smiling and with a positive attitude. I am the “muscle” doing the hard work. Yet when it comes to retribution, I am not worthy of the position, the promotion, or the paycheck.
I am already lucky enough to have been accepted within the palace. That should be enough for my kind. I have no mind. I am not worthy of the light just to fight for them.
Have you been promoted or granted a loan without a heavy background check?
P as Prejudice
Finally, here is our last ingredient:
“an unfair and unreasonable opinion or feeling, especially when formed without enough thought or knowledge.”
Source: Cambridge Dictionary
When “Black” babies are born today, they cry louder than the other babies because of those chains of prejudice entangled in the umbilical cord connecting them to their Mama.
The presumption of innocence is in dissonance with mine.
The presumption of guilt is the guillotine intended for me.
I am Black, and I am just good at entertaining the “White King.”
I am Black and not worthy of the mighty knight ring.
My dreams are limited within the line of the Colonists.
My screams are muted within the ads of the Supremacists.
After all, I have no brain as I dance in the rain, always seeking help.
After all, I have no reign as I influence in vain, always being held.
The “Black” person's voice is a song to be tuned out because it is too loud, too raw. We are entering the world with some stones weighing us into the ocean of helplessness. We cannot breathe. And when we got rid of one stone, a brand new one emerged within the rope tied to our necks.
You might be a “Black” eagle in our ocean and have no power.
You built a diving suit, and we cut the oxygen supply hose forever.
They are tolerated as long as the “Black” person is mediocre or not trying to rise to their potential. But, by the minute they take the stairs to greatness, they are reminded of their “Blackness,” inherent to the color of their skin.
Do you want me to strip my “Black” skin so that you can put it in your head?
Do you want me to get rid of my “Black” blood so that you can pump it to your heart?
Do you want me to cut my “Black” tongue so that you can taste it with your lips?
Do you want me to burn my “Black” hair so that you can use it as your light?
Have you been feeling the burden of your skin colour lately?
There you have it, the cocktail we are served, whether we like it or not.
Power, privilege, and prejudice are the three companions of the “Black” person. They are stones that will carve the word “Black” in their soul to remind them how small they are.
What does the colour of your skin mean to you?
Are you that visible or invisible being in your private or professional life?
Do you feel that your voice is muted because of your skin?
Leave a comment below.
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Photo by Nicolas Steave on Unsplash
