You’ve heard or seen white people who are closer to, or support, or connect with, or get married to, or adopt, or identify as black, or Filipino or some other race. You might have also seen blacks who are closer to whites than their fellow blacks. Some white people go to extremes to not only identify as black but change their skin colour, or gain recognition in black struggles.
Martina Big with her tanning injections assisted black skin colour has been floating online for some time now. Born Caucasian but identified as black, Rachel Dolezal, was elected as president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in Spokane, Washington, USA, from 2014 to June 2015. Ja Du was born a Caucasian man named Adam Wheeler, but now considers himself a Filipino.
Transracial people are individuals who take on a racial identity which differs from their race at birth. Rachel Dolezal, now known as Nkechi Amare Diallo, is of white ancestry but now identifies as a black woman. Martina Big, now known as Malaika Kubwa had tanning injections that turned her appearance into that of a black woman. In February 2018, Big traveled to Kenya, where a local clergyman baptized her and declared her to be a “true African woman,” given the baptismal name Malaika Kubwa. Ja Du created a Facebook page and a community for others who believe they are transracial.
Transracial do exist at one end of the white race spectrum. On one end, you have the racist and the white supremacist. In the middle are those that are indifferent to race or tolerant and the multicultural groups who support multiculturalism indirectly. Towards the other end are the transcultural, those who associate and directly support multiculturalism. The other end of the spectrum is inhabited by those who do not only support multiculturalism and minority causes, but willing to go all the way to change their physical features and skin colour to reflect that of the race they have fallen in love with, whatever their motivations maybe.
To get a sense of how people becoming transracial or end up in that end of the white race spectrum, I had the opportunity to interview two people of European background very close to the African communities in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Jud Dudley and Michelle Corrine with most if not all of their friends of African descent but they themselves are white with no trace of Africa in their blood. While their hearts and minds live and breathe Africa.
This love to be the defendant of the oppressed started when Jud was in High School. As part of the wrestling team; he noticed that the other white members of the team will not wrestle with the blacks. He made it his duty to wrestle with all the blacks in the team and make them feel at home to the appreciation of their wrestling coach who was impressed that Jud did not see the black team members with prejudice. “…you are African like us…,” is the warm message that Jud gets when he goes to African events, and he will respond jokingly, “…I’m not from South Africa. I’m not from Africa. I’m just the white lion…” As a matter of fact, Jud is an American who grew up in Japan and has lived in different countries and has come to embrace multiculturalism with a strong affinity for Africa and anything black. During Jud’s time working with Diversity Magazine in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he met and latter got married to Julia Maru, now called Julia Dudley of Kenyan heritage. The couple moved to Jud’s native USA. Jud does not identify as transracial, rather he takes the best of all cultures.
In school, Michelle is the kid that was friends with everyone; the blacks, the natives, the nerds, and the popular kids. She is the one to talk feuding kids out of a fight, link up those not connected for whatever reasons, and connect everyone to anyone. Michelle became interested in Africa as a young girl watching images on TV of starving African kids and will cry and want to help. But her dream of saving Africa was put on hold when she got married. As an adult working with special needs kids to help them intergrade on behalf of the School Board, she rekindled her love for multiculturalism. She realized that prejudice is as a result of fear and exist on both sides of the race border. While working with special needs kids, Michelle helped to fade away the fear of the white kids on the black kids, and vice versa. She realized that when the fear was gone, both group of kids got to know and appreciate one another. With the new found tolerance, some of her kids became some of the most popular kids in the school. When her marriage broke down, she reconnected with the African community in the Edmonton area of Alberta, Canada. Her long awaited dream came true with the opportunity for her historic visit to Africa in 2018. Due to her regular visits to African restaurants and the help of black friends and some self-taught recipes, on Youtube, Michelle now cooks lots of African food including but not limited to; “Banku,” Pepper Soup, Okra Soup, “Egusi” Soup, Pounded Yam, Stew, “Ugali,” Fried Plantain, and “Puf-puf”.
In an era where some blacks are bleaching their skin to fit in and find acceptance in the believe that lighter is better in their communities, and in the wider community; in a period where blacks discriminate amongst themselves based on who has a lighter skin colour, in a time where people are discriminated against or looked down on based on their skin colour, Michelle feels, “The darker the more beautiful it is to me”. She believes we should appreciate who we are and extend that appreciation towards others who are not the same as us. Transracial has been compared to transgender sparking some controversy. Many psychologists believe that people should be free to choose to identify with the group that makes them happy. Transracial is a broad group with Jud and Michelle in that end of the white race spectrum leaning more towards other terms like transcultural.
