The new diaspora (3)

Interesting article - especially as I was formerly a foreign student in the US and I became aware of the pressure put on African students by the African American students not to associate with white students like myself.

I notice you say 'Tanzanian born and American raised, Msia Kibona Clark is half Tanzanian and half African American'. Having talked about bi-cultural children I find the use of 'half' highlights differences and implies inadequacies. I believe it is time we stop referring to people's culture or identity as 'half' of anything. I feel strongly about this as my children are both Ethiopian and British and I hope that by both parents having told them this since birth, they feel they are complete people, who have the right to identify fully with both countries and both cultures if they chose to do so. Msia may be familiar with the term 'nusu-nusu' ('half-half') that is used in Swahili for mixed race children. We need new expressions to foster positive attitudes toward self and others in our multi-cultural world!