So the next few posts will be all about race/ethnicity, identity, black history month and humanitarianism. These are based on my experiences, and my experiences alone, they are not intended as generalisations for any group including those which I belong to.
Where to begin?
Let’s begin at the beginning then, with my mother, who like all humans has her strengths and flaws. On reflection, she, more than anyone, shaped my attitudes and behaviours when it came to other people.
She would describe people using many terms to reflect categories including skin colour, nationalities, regions, religions and caste.
- ‘gora/e’ (white/s),
- valethi (English – origin of the word Blighty and what Indian people call folk from England regardless of our origins),
- kala (black),
- Pakistani,
- Indian,
- Bengali,
- Sikh,
- Muslim,
- Hindu,
- Christian,
- Punjabi,
- Gujarati,
- Jat (caste)
- Chamar (caste)
- and so on.
So the family down the road were ‘gore’ but they were not valethi because they were…
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The Echo Chamber 