White like me...

Obruni! Obruni!

One of the first words you learn when you arrive in Ghana is ‘obruni’ or ‘white person.’

As a six foot tall, pale skinned blonde, I certainly can’t hide. Wherever I go children call out "Obruni!" Sometimes it’s just a friendly smile, sometimes it’s a shout, sometimes it’s a chant of sorts. There is no way around it, white people just stick out in the sea of beautiful, black skin and vibrant fabrics. Sometimes I forget that I am an obruni and find that, on the rare occasion of passing another white skinned person, I myself am whispering “Obruni! Obruni!”

Obruni is part of my identity in Ghana, just as it is part of my identity in America.

In America I don’t identify myself as a “white person” when asked to respond on questionnaires and surveys. Though I study demography, I disapprove of classification on skin color and find this to be an artifact of times past and an attribute I hope to see discarded in future generations.

That said, I am an obruni. But the difference between being an Obruni and being a white, American young woman is quite extreme. Having grown up in the American South I attended schools and played on sports teams where my skin color wasn’t a representation of the majority. And, to be honest, I often felt uncomfortable and unwelcome. As a white woman from the south, not all staring eyes are friendly at home. There have been a number of occasions where I’ve felt so uncomfortable by my surroundings that I’ve wondered if I’ve not become unconsciously racist in my thoughts and opinions. Being in Ghana, however, has opened my eyes to the fact that nothing could be further from the truth.

I do not feel the slightest bit uncomfortable around the Ghanaians I have met and the Ghanaians I live with. I am the only white woman for miles around, but I don’t feel unwelcome or out of place. What a difference there is between Ghana and the American South! It seems odd (if not flat out wrong) that black Americans and white Americans alike could come to Ghana and feel more comfortable around strangers than they do around their neighbors in the South of the US.

I wonder if others have had this or similar experiences?