I've never really cared about racism. People discriminate on intellect, political beliefs, physical appearance, height, sex and every other variable. If someone is shallow enough to discriminate against me on my race, provided it's not the precursor to violence, what moral right do I have to prevent them from doing so? 

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In the past I've always watched people get triggered when someone made racist statements about me but I've never taken it to heart. I think it all stems from ego. People are so invested in their lineage and ancestry. 


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I'm fascinated by what my ancestors did but it does not define me as I believe the circumstances of your birth are irrelevant and it's your actions that determine who you are. 
There's this deeply embedded idea in the psyche of society that we are who we are because of our race and ancestry. I've always rejected that materialistic outlook. Within it lies the seeds of racism. Within the black community there is a strong emphasis on taking pride in the struggles of your ancestors and representing your people. From an early age I was told by my parents that I'd have to work twice as hard in this world as a black man due to the racial prejudice within society. A common narrative shared by Africans/African Americans that the western world is racist and will not see you for your own merit.

As someone migrating from Ghana to Australia, at a young age I experienced a lot of racism in my youth from other children but was, for the most part, embraced by people of all ethnicities.  The more I learned about the civil rights movement,  African History and ancient history, the more I realized that most civilisations at a point had experienced racism, slavery and other oppressive regimes. That my own ancestors from the West African Ashanti empire, had a 1000 year tradition of slavery, were complicit in the slave trades and that all races at one point had fallen victim to the horrible machinery of slavery. The more I learned about the cultural diversity of Africa, the more I realised that the 'black' experience was rich, diverse, full of accomplishments but like all civilisations,  filled with regrettrable transgressions. 


Your race does not consist of one ethnic group. It is a multitude of diverging races that have cohabited over the span of millennia. Classifying yourself as belonging to one race due to a stronger presence of one ethnic group can be practical but is often an incomplete picture of your racial origins. There are commonalities within the 'black' experience but to delegate someones behaviour or worth to a race because it fits into a subset of culture that has been popularised by mainstream hip hop culture and tokenized as 'black culture', is myopic, and only perpetuates racism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s

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