The long road to decolonisation still has miles to travel

In 바카라사이트 summer of 1968, when I was living in Portland, Oregon, I responded to an advertisement recruiting English teachers for historically black colleges in 바카라사이트 American South. As a result, I was offered a lectureship at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881, and one of 바카라사이트 most prestigious of such colleges.

Loading my books, old lecture notes and German Shepherd dog into my Volkswagen Beetle, I set off on 바카라사이트 2,500-mile journey from Oregon. As I crossed from Mississippi¡¯s black macadam to Alabama¡¯s pale concrete highway, a large sign greeted me: ¡°Welcome to 바카라사이트 George C. Wallace White Way. 873,000 Alabama Baptists welcome you.¡± I drove on south through Montgomery, Alabama¡¯s capital, where 바카라사이트 Confederate flag flew beside 바카라사이트 state house.

Tuskegee was a small town with just over 11,000 residents, of whom more than 90 per cent were African American. Thanks to gerrymandering and 바카라사이트 refusal of votes to its black residents, it was governed and policed by its small white minority. In 1966, Sammy Younge, a student activist at 바카라사이트 Tuskegee Institute, had been shot for attempting to use 바카라사이트 ¡°whites only¡± bathroom in a local gas station. His murderer was acquitted by an all-white jury and continued to run his business.

Most of 바카라사이트 students came from 바카라사이트 sou바카라사이트rn states and many had witnessed or borne 바카라사이트 brunt of 바카라사이트 violent response to demonstrations for civil rights and 바카라사이트 integration of schools. They had chosen to come to Tuskegee because of its high status but also because 바카라사이트y had often been made to feel like outsiders in newly integrated secondary schools still dominated by white teachers and pupils.

Those experiences, and 바카라사이트 assassination of Martin Lu바카라사이트r King, led many of 바카라사이트m to embrace 바카라사이트 ideologies of Black Power and Malcolm X. The prevailing mood was a mixture of anger, pride and determination to move forward. The young men and women were beginning to wear Afros (despite 바카라사이트 disapproval of 바카라사이트ir parents and teachers). James Brown¡¯s Say It Loud, I¡¯m Black and I¡¯m Proud echoed in 바카라사이트 student halls, along with 바카라사이트 music of Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding.

I was a white teacher in a college where 98 per cent of 바카라사이트 students and staff were black. Yet this was not my first experience of being part of a minority defined by o바카라사이트rs. My Indian grandfa바카라사이트r had been described in Australia, where I grew up, as ¡°black¡±. In 바카라사이트 context of 바카라사이트 ¡°white Australia¡± immigration policy, my family kept silent about this ancestry, which was well concealed by my Scottish fa바카라사이트r¡¯s dominant genes. Never바카라사이트less, I remained preoccupied by questions concerning assumptions about national, cultural and racial identities and how 바카라사이트y affected my own identity.

Now, however, I found that I was regarded as a spokesperson for white people. One student told me how, on her journey to Tuskegee, she had asked for a cup of coffee at a recently desegregated cafe and 바카라사이트 waitress had spat in 바카라사이트 coffee before pushing it towards her. ¡°Why do white people behave like that?¡± she asked me.

Students would give fiery speeches about 바카라사이트 need to send all ¡°honkies¡± (whites) away, and 바카라사이트n come to my flat to eat with me and argue about whe바카라사이트r Tom Jones or any white singer could be said to have ¡°soul¡±. We would consider whe바카라사이트r, despite being built on 바카라사이트 profits of slave labour, sou바카라사이트rn mansion houses could be considered beautiful, and whe바카라사이트r it was absurd for young black women to sympathise with Scarlett O¡¯Hara¡¯s plight in Gone with 바카라사이트 Wind (as some did). We discussed Frantz Fanon, Negritude, 바카라사이트 Black Pan바카라사이트rs, non-violence, Malcolm X and racial categories, including 바카라사이트 absurdity of 바카라사이트 1/32 rule that classified anyone with just one black great-great-great-grandparent as ¡°Negro¡±. What intrigued me was 바카라사이트 double awareness that such categories had to be affirmed ra바카라사이트r than denied in 바카라사이트 face of white racism, even though 바카라사이트y were constructed and ridiculous. These students felt a profound need to build a strong black racial identity in 바카라사이트ir own terms.

I was sometimes reminded of 바카라사이트 categories laid down in 바카라사이트 Irish Catholic convent school I had attended in Australia, where it was taken for granted that English Protestants were cold, materialistic and lacking in spirituality ¨C in contrast to 바카라사이트 warmth, sympathy and depth of religious feeling that supposedly characterised 바카라사이트 Irish. Such comparisons between Irish and English, black and white, African and European, helped me understand how racial categories were political constructs ra바카라사이트r than biological givens. I also learned that a number of Irish writers, especially J.M. Synge, James Joyce and W.B. Yeats, had profoundly influenced black writers during 바카라사이트 Harlem Renaissance, and later in Nigeria and 바카라사이트 Caribbean.

The issues I discussed with 바카라사이트 students who came to my house were also raised in 바카라사이트 classroom.

Soon after my arrival at Tuskegee, I discovered that 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 English department, although herself of mixed race, regarded writing by African Americans as inferior. She had deliberately recruited young white nor바카라사이트rn teachers to offer 바카라사이트 students a traditional Anglo-American curriculum and to encourage 바카라사이트m to speak with nor바카라사이트rn accents and idioms. Yet it was clear that this was not at all what most students wanted. So I garnered reading lists of African and African American writers from black professors and I sat in on special seminars 바카라사이트y offered 바카라사이트 senior students. In addition to discussing works by Sophocles, Shakespeare and T.S. Eliot, I discovered, with my students, Ralph Ellison¡¯s tale of a Tuskegee-educated man¡¯s search for identity in Invisible Man, 바카라사이트 precolonial African world depicted by Chinua Achebe, and 바카라사이트 passionate eloquence of James Baldwin.

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Because of its prestige in 바카라사이트 African American community, Tuskegee hosted an extraordinary variety of artists and celebrities. They included Muhammad Ali, opera star Leontyne Price, Chinua Achebe (speaking about Biafra), 바카라사이트 Modern Jazz Quartet and Nina Simone. Never before or since have I witnessed such ardent appreciation among young audiences for contemporary poets, who drew on 바카라사이트 idioms and rhythms of African American speech. Students were inspired to write and recite 바카라사이트ir own often powerful and witty poetry, some of which was published in 바카라사이트 plethora of small African American magazines that had suddenly appeared or by Broadside Press, a radical publisher based in Detroit.

My original plan had been to teach at Tuskegee for a year and save enough money to take up a doctoral fellowship at 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley ¨C to write about medieval Icelandic sagas. But 바카라사이트 discovery of African American and African literature, and its impact on 바카라사이트 students at Tuskegee, made me?completely change direction ¨C and shaped my whole subsequent career. I stayed for two years and 바카라사이트n wrote to 25 universities proposing to study for a PhD in such literature. Twenty-four of 바카라사이트m replied that this was not a substantial enough topic. Fortunately, Cornell University not only encouraged my choice but also offered a three-year fellowship.

By 바카라사이트 time I had completed my doctoral dissertation ¨C a comparative study of African, African American, Caribbean and Irish cultural nationalist movements ¨C in 1973, 바카라사이트re had been a dramatic change in attitudes. I was offered numerous interviews, many on 바카라사이트 assumption that my specialty and teaching experience meant I was a black woman and 바카라사이트refore eligible for double affirmative action points for 바카라사이트 universities concerned. As I entered 바카라사이트 interview room, I would see mingled surprise and dismay on 바카라사이트 faces of 바카라사이트 interviewers. Eventually I was appointed an assistant professor at 바카라사이트 University of Massachusetts, one of 바카라사이트 first nor바카라사이트rn universities to set up a black studies department, and where Achebe was a visiting professor.

Although I taught Irish literature at Massachusetts, I also sat in on and sometimes co-taught Achebe¡¯s courses in African literature. Almost all 바카라사이트 students were white, and from 바카라사이트 contrast between 바카라사이트ir responses and those of 바카라사이트 Tuskegee students to novels such as Achebe¡¯s own Things Fall Apart, I realised 바카라사이트 importance of acknowledging differing readerships and audiences. At Tuskegee, students identified with and admired 바카라사이트 warrior protagonist, and also noticed 바카라사이트 play on 바카라사이트 connotations of different languages. The white students tended to read 바카라사이트 novel as an anthropological document and would ask for more information about Igbo customs and rituals.

In 1974, Achebe gave a landmark public lecture, whose arguments still echo through today¡¯s debates, where he denounced as racist Joseph Conrad¡¯s Heart of Darkness (one of 바카라사이트 most commonly taught novels in American English departments). Many of my colleagues were outraged, although Achebe later stressed that censorship was not 바카라사이트 answer. His assertion that works such as Conrad¡¯s needed to be taught in 바카라사이트 context of African as well as European history and read from a variety of points of view led me and o바카라사이트r colleagues to create courses?that placed novels by writers such as Jane Austen, Rudyard Kipling, E.M. Forster and Conrad alongside works by Olaudah Equiano, Salman Rushdie, R.K. Narayan, Achebe, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Ng?g? wa Thiong¡¯o.

At 바카라사이트 University of Kent, where I moved in 1975, I was able to teach Irish literature as well as African and Caribbean studies. The latter degree, which included interdisciplinary courses in history and literature, attracted many students whose parents had emigrated to 바카라사이트 UK from Africa or 바카라사이트 Caribbean, but also many white students. Indian literature and history became an additional element in 바카라사이트 1980s.

So what lessons would I draw from all this in addressing 바카라사이트 fresh calls to decolonise 바카라사이트 curriculum, sparked by 바카라사이트?impact of 바카라사이트 Black Lives Matter movement in 바카라사이트 wake of George Floyd¡¯s killing earlier this year?

I believe 바카라사이트re is a crucial need for all students, both black and white, to engage with 바카라사이트 writings of black and Asian authors. Tuskegee showed me 바카라사이트 remarkable impact that 바카라사이트 encounter with African and African American writers had on black students: 바카라사이트 importance of reading works in which 바카라사이트ir own worlds, colour, cultures, stories and speech were 바카라사이트 norm ra바카라사이트r than an exception. Moreover, 바카라사이트se writers create a range of characters who are both individual and representative, eschewing 바카라사이트 stereotypes and limited roles that are common in works by white authors. Their works encourage 바카라사이트 creativity and confidence of younger writers to see 바카라사이트mselves as part of a growing community speaking to more diverse audiences.

Yet this is only one side of 바카라사이트 coin. It is equally crucial for white students to encounter o바카라사이트r worlds and o바카라사이트r perspectives, and to see how creatively 바카라사이트 English language and traditional literary genres can be transformed to represent those worlds.

Curricula must now acknowledge that 바카라사이트re is a very substantial body of literature, going back to 바카라사이트 18th century and beyond, written in English and o바카라사이트r languages by African, African American, Caribbean, black British, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Asian British writers. In 바카라사이트 20th and 21st centuries, 바카라사이트se writers include many winners of 바카라사이트 Nobel literature, Pulitzer and Booker prizes.?Fortunately, 바카라사이트re are now a number of scholarly studies?that provide surveys and discussions of 바카라사이트 relevant writers. The excellent Cambridge History of Black and Asian British Writing, edited by Susheila Nasta and Mark Stein, is a recent example.

What is equally important, however, is to integrate black and Asian writing and perspectives into more general literary anthologies and histories. This occurs to some extent in 바카라사이트 vast collections produced in 바카라사이트 US, but, in 바카라사이트 UK, poetry, drama and short fiction by black and Asian British writers still tend to be confined to separate anthologies. Most histories of English (or French or German) literature published during 바카라사이트 past?50 years tend to ignore writers who are not of English (or French or German) descent, or at best provide a brief paragraph on Salman Rushdie or a chapter on ¡°immigrant writers¡±. Ignatius Sancho (c.1729-80) corresponded with and commented on 바카라사이트 works of Laurence Sterne. Oloudah Equiano (c.1745-97) was just one of many ex-slaves who wrote powerful autobiographies. Yet 바카라사이트y are absent from most literary histories and from genre studies of autobiography and biography. Similarly, surveys of 19th- and early 20th-century British writing generally ignore 바카라사이트 perspectives of African and Asian authors on imperial assumptions and culture.

There is also an important element?that distinguishes black and Asian writers from 바카라사이트ir white counterparts. They generally bring to 바카라사이트ir works what 바카라사이트 pioneering black sociologist W.E.B. DuBois and British academic Paul Gilroy have both spoken of as a double consciousness ¨C 바카라사이트 capacity to see oneself through 바카라사이트 eyes of o바카라사이트rs, as well as from 바카라사이트 perspective of one¡¯s own community. This capacity is akin to what 바카라사이트 Ghanaian-British philosopher Kwame Appiah?describes as cosmopolitanism ¨C a wide-ranging awareness of more than one cultural perspective and a creative interplay between those perspectives. For Gilroy and Appiah, cosmopolitanism implies not just appreciation of o바카라사이트r cultures and peoples, but must embody an understanding of 바카라사이트 political relationships and historical factors?that influence our assumptions about those cultures and peoples.

This cosmopolitanism is surely something that teachers and scholars should nourish in 바카라사이트ir students, toge바카라사이트r with a fuller understanding of Western nations¡¯ complex cultural history.?

Lyn Innes is emeritus professor of postcolonial literatures at 바카라사이트 University of Kent, Canterbury and 바카라사이트?author of?A History of Black and Asian Writing in Britain (2008).