South African comedian and host of the American TV programme, The Daily
Show, Trevor Noah sparked a debate on race, culture and national identity after
he made a joke about France’s 2018 soccer World Cup win when he referred to it as a victory
for Africans, as most of the players are black.
The black French players insisted they were French and the French
Ambassador to the US wrote to Noah to explain his country’s policy on race,
ethnic and cultural relations stating that France does not define their
citizens with a hyphenated identity as is the case in the US and other parts of
the world.
Noah mocked the Ambassador’s
letter and maintained the players were Africans. Although I do not fully agree with Noah, I agreed
with his argument about the double standards towards non-white players (or
on-white European citizens). When they do well, they belong to us, when they
perform poorly or commit a crime, they must go back to where they came from.
What I disagree with is the continued reference of citizens with a
hyphenation based on their ethnicity. Why can you not just be American, French,
Spanish, German or African?
We live in a global village where simply being black does not make you
African, nor does being white make you European. This is not to say that you
don’t recognize where your ancestors came from.
These hyphenated identities are partly to blame for black Americans
still fighting to be fully accepted as Americans, 400 years since the first
Africans arrived on American soil.
I never understood why black Americans and other minority groups in the
US were described based on their ethnic or cultural connection to a continent
their ancestors came from, such as African-American, Asian-American and so
forth, yet few white Americans are not referred to as European-Americans, even
though their ancestral lineage is European, all of them. The United States of
America is after all a stolen land. Australian whites are simply described as
Australians, although they all came from Europe, but everyone else has a
hyphenated identity.
This type of labelling perpetuates the ethnic and cultural divide and
racism in any country, especially in a terribly divided USA where everyone’s
descendants, except of course the Native Americans, were originally from other
continents. What is wrong with officially calling all citizens Americans? Racism
and xenophobia are ugly realities in our societies and by making these types of
jokes or statements perpetuates and normalizes these issues, thereby creating
an environment where hateful speech is likely to happen.
The French are on the right track and I believe other countries should
follow suit.
