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Mixed Race Season?

10/10/2011

1 Comment

 
Picture
BBC television centre
October is Black History month and the BBC is airing its Mixed Race Season. In a special guest post Aniwaa Buachie shares her personal take on the season.

The BBC has decided to broadcast a season of programmes documenting the rise of mixed race people in Britain. When I first heard about this season, I couldn’t help but feel slightly offended by this gesture.  Having watched the BBC all my life, I rarely ever see any drama or a season dedicated to a particular ethnic group. The BBC fails to explore the experiences of Black, Asian and East Asian people, yet these are the genes that contribute to the rise of mixed race people. I wonder as to why they could even think that producing a season dedicated to a particular ethnic group is something to be proud of?

Is the BBC running blindly into a topic which is a not only glorifying a particular race…..which of course portrays a very colonial objectifying view of ‘Mixed Race people.’ Almost like the slave plantations times when being of a lighter hue allowed you to sit in the masters house whilst the darker black folks worked all hours of the day and gained no recognition for their work!

Sorry to be so extreme, but this is what it appears to be. I can’t remember there ever being a time when the fat cats at the BBC thought that it might be great idea to have a season dedicated to Asian, East Asian and Black African- Black Caribbean history and entertainment! Black, Asians and East Asians are also TV license fee payers as well, so as a paying TV license customer I expect to see programmes that reflect this!*  The fact that October is Black history month, I would think that if they wanted to have a diverse autumn programming, they might have considered broadcasting productions which highlight the fact that it is Black History Month?

Or perhaps because the majority of the BBC audiences live in a community where there are hardly any ethnics and so seeing a lot of ethnic people on their TV screen might just give the ignoramuses a heart attack!  

I just think by having this ‘Mixed Race’ season are they not addressing the effect before the cause? I would think that it is imperative for the BBC to perhaps have a season which is dedicated to Black, East Asian and Asian people prior to this ‘Mixed Race season.’ It is important for the ignoramuses to understand the journey of Black, Asian and East Asian people from the past until the present. Some of you may feel that I am making a fuss over nothing because we all live in one big happy world….and there is hardly any racism. For those of you that think that, you are perhaps a white individual who due to that fact that we live in a world, where society has classed white as a default majority – you have managed to live a rosy life without a hint of exposure to any racism.

I am sure that if the BBC wouldn’t ever dream of having a white season…..maybe because the majority of programmes that the BBC produces is from a white perspective, which explains as to why you get black, Asian and East Asian people constantly playing age old stereotypes. But yet the BBC has taken note of the rise of mixed race people and their journey but not the progress of Black, East Asian and Asian people, particularly second generations Black, Asians and East Asians who have a more diverse and radical insight on life. This as a result allows one to look beyond race and culture and procreate with an individual who is completely different in terms of race and culture.

I do not think that the ‘Mixed Race’ season is all negative, no, it is extremely encouraging to see a rise of mixed race people, as it is a clear indication that we as a nation are beyond defining an individual by their race. It makes me happy to see this development, however by the BBC having a ‘mixed race’ season, it also appears that the transition and shift of interracial relationships is irrelevant because they are more concerned with the end result rather than focusing on the individuals that make up mixed race people. Exploring the foundations is the only way to understand the beauty of the end result.

*A month should not be allocated to black history, as the history of black people should be all year round. This also goes for Asian and East Asian people particularly as the labour of Asians, Blacks and East Asians contributed to the wealth of Britain but also because of the fact that now we have a rise in mixed race people.

Anniwaa Buachie is an Award winning Actress and Artistic Director of Golden Delilah. Follow her on twitter @AnniwaaBuachie, explore more of her work and writing at www.anniwaabuachie.com. 

For more on Anniwaa's theatre company go to www.goldendelilah.blogspot.com and follow Golden Delilah on Twitter @GOLDENdelilah

1 Comment
Nic
9/10/2011 10:35:22 pm

Thank you Anniwaa for opening a discussion up about this series and the concept of ‘Mixed Race’. The documentary element of this series does reveal an untold history of people of Non-Caucasian decent in British society and the people from Britain they have formed relationships with but more importantly how the government treated these couples and Non-Caucasian people new to Britain in general. Addressing this is a good thing. It's the 'Mixed Race' element that is giving it it's starting point to explore this history but adding a new category to the way we label people is not a good thing. I don't think the idea of 'Mixed Race' people as a group should be the focus, they are not an oddity or novelty, they have entirely different ethnic backgrounds. Calling the Series the 'Mixed Race' season is missing the the point of what they are trying to do with this progamming.

The idea of judging people by the region of the world they originated from (or are from) or categorising people in this way is ridiculous although I understand everything that has come before this point has shaped the way we view each other but things have to progress. Even more so when you think calling people White or Black tells you hardly anything if not nothing about a person – it’s such a massive box to put someone in. Even trying to address everyone by saying White, Black, East Asian, Asian – these phrases society has given us and deemed Politically Correct are insufficient in trying to explain or define. None of these terms ever truly describe a person accurately. What about everyone else? (not that this is EVERYONE else but they are groups that are not inclusive of these colourings or Continents) Aboriginal people, Native Americans, Mauritian people? At least when you try to class someone by calling them English or Indian – by where they are from, you get an idea of the culture they are part of. You might as well call ”Mixed Race” people Brown, it’d be more in keeping with a vague categories of ethnicity already in place and vastly less offensive.

People are people, it is our cultures, experiences, society and individuality that make us who we are. A long history of treating people from different places and even worse people of different skin colour differently, is the source of racism and division based on the colour of peoples skin. The idea of being called Mixed Race is insulting as there is only one human race but society has chosen to try and divide them into groups on superficial differences. Mulatto, Half-caste, quarter-caste, bi-racial, duel heritage: the idea of having a term to describe a person who has parents who are of contrasting complexions is a joke. These terms date faster than you expect and I think ”Mixed Race” will be another one we tell older people in 30 years time ‘You can’t use that word/phrase anymore.’

A person of mixed ethnicity is just a person, they are not physically any different from a person whose parents both have the same skin colour. People just see features from different backgrounds on one face and need a way to explain it.‘Mixed Race’ isn’t a person or a group of people it is another way of stereotyping/generalising be it in a negative (Your hairs a fuzzy mess/You must come from a single parent family) or positive way (Mixed race people are so exotic and beautiful/Mixed race people have a more varied gene pool so they’re healthier).

Maybe this series can contribute to diminishing that kind of narrow minded stereotype but as Anniwaa was saying, it is just one of many stereotypes and misrepresentations that the BBC and television and TV in general seem to add to. Non-Caucasian people or people who are part Caucasian are still seen as a minority which is only in the scheme of this society and not the world. It’s stupid things like a nearly all white community in ‘Notting Hill’ or choosing a ”Mixed Race” girl in ‘Skins’ (series 1) to be the only main black character. What does this say about society apart from we have a long way to go before we really understand how to breakdown these boxes we’ve nailed ourselves into.

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