First Generation American

It's amazing who you meet and what you learn wherever you are. Last night, I went Salsa Dancing with a friend. First time, but I was up there shaking my tail feather with the rest of them! :) Unbelievable fun! This guy and I got talking, and it turned out he was from Houston, Texas. A tall, handsome black guy with a booming voice and a personality to match. He was asking me where I was from, and so on, but when I asked him if both his parents were from Houston, he said no no. haha They're expats. That's it. No elaboration. Nothing. Suffice to say, I knew something wasn't quite right.

Anyhow, he introduced me to this annoyingly bad dancer called Winston, who tried to latch on to me for the night. Thats the good thing about Salsa, you can Salsa away from people! On another note, why have all the [two] Winston's I've met in my life been annoying? And more importantly, why do people make the rational decision to name their sons Winston?!!?

Winston let slip that Kenny, the Texan, was half American half Nigerian. You should have seen the look on his face. He was embarrased. I asked him which one of his parents was Nigerian? Both, he said, I'm first generation American.

First Generation American. No Generation Nigerian?? Is American the nationality you hide behind when you want to forget your own? When you're embarrased of where you've come from? When you feel that its in your best interests to ignore where your parents came from, to ignore their story, to ignore your roots?? It struck me as strange, and somewhat sad, that he would choose to gladly shout from the rooftops that he's from Houston. That he's from a country who's public policy has resulted in the destruction of countries, lives and races of people. That he's from a city that can claim to be home to the money-hungry vultures that supported and orchestrated the illegal and unnecessary war on Iraq. That he would choose to deny the rich history of his parents land, albeit a history of recent violence, bloodshed and unrest. That he would be content to accept the measly few hundred year history of America, a history that that is both short and not very impressive. That he would choose to pledge allegiance to a country that once forcibly took men from his homeland and used them as slaves. More importantly, that he would be embarrassed to tell people where his parents are from. I'm not saying that Nigeria is better than America, its a matter of opinion, and seeing as I have lived in neither country, it's an opinion I feel I am in no postition to hold.

I don't know about you though, but I'd prefer to say I was from Nigeria.