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ethnic origin

by Sheree Mack

A Taste of Liquorice

October 2004

WHO AM I?

a question that’s got me thinking
i can’t lie

i’ve only got one box to tick
but which one is the best fit

BLACK

yes – used in the political sense
to represent
the people of a darker hue
who can run and sing and a jiggaboo.

AFRICAN

yes – my great grand daddie came from ghana
travelled with brothers and sea
took a look at newcastle town, stuck around
and married a ginger lassie

CARIBBEAN

yes – my daddie was from trinidad
stowed away to the mother country
that spread the myth
it was flowing with milk and honey

OTHER

yes – that’s how I’m viewed in society
in this fair city
it’s a pity
they don’t see the other side of me

not my right side
or my left side
but my humanity

so which box to tick
with so much of a mix

let’s not conform
and be restricted by a form

let’s use and abuse the dotted line
to expressed my identity

……….Black British of Afro-Caribbean descent……

but the more descriptors put in place
only entangle me further in the question of race

i’m British that’s what I want to say
but that’s equated with white, always.

Updated: 08/09/2006

Sheree image © Sheree Mack. Text and images © Sheree Mack 2004