Exploring the melting pot
By Catherine Dunn
Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Unbeknownst to many students who vacation at beach resorts in the Bahamas or Jamaica during Spring Break, most people who now call the Caribbean home can trace their cultural heritage back to places as far away Java or Sri Lanka.
Tomorrow night at 7 p.m. in the Newcomb Hall Commonwealth Room the Association of African and Caribbean Cultures will host a forum on cultural identity entitled "Who Am I?"
The forum will explore issues that accompany identification terms, such as "African," "African-American" and "Caribbean," as well as cultural stereotypes.
Association President Andrea Gosine, a third-year College student, said the purpose of the evening is to "increase awareness among different groups" and "to have people understand the different backgrounds that people come from."
Gosine, who is black and of Trinidadian descent, said that, for her, the terms "black" and "African-American" are not interchangeable.
"I like people to know where I'm coming from," she said. "African-American, for me, denotes a specific heritage that I really can't relate to. Identifying as Caribbean and Trinidadian is more specific, and really, more accurate."
Gosine also said people are often unaware of the multi-cultural components of Caribbean heritage, which can include people of East Indian, Hispanic and Chinese descent, among others.
"People tend to look at the Caribbean community as only a black community," Gosine said. "It hasn't been totally acknowledged that African and Caribbean are distinct cultures at the University."
The lack of understanding about cultural, rather than racial, identification can mean that "you're kind of forced to cut off that part of you" that is influenced by different backgrounds, Gosine said.
Gosine added that among black students some people are hesitant to voice their specific regional or cultural identity because they think it will be viewed as divisive. But she said that those differences enrich a community and don't have to be obstacles to comprehending different facets of culture.
"Even though people are culturally different we can still relate to each other," she said.
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