How I was ripped in face by a Ghanaian woman. It is often common for all to quibble about white racism. But the worse of bigots among us are actually minorities. It is very common for immigrants in Canada to scratch each other in the face with obscene racist commentaries. This morning I visited a local coffee shop in Calgary neighbourhood to get my morning dose of caffeine. I happened to meet a friend I knew a long ago in Ontario while in school with his girlfriend. My long time friend yelled my name Abdul!!! as soon as he saw me. I turned and we exchanged greetings and pleasantries. My friend introduced his female companion as his sweetheart. We all joked and laughed as many Ghanaian do when they meet. All in the Ashanti Language. Suddenly my attention was drawn by the shop attendant because it was my turn to be served. But I could still hear my friend and his female companion talk in the background. She obviously didnt know I was an Accra born and raised and that I some spoke Ga, the Accra language. Even as it is not my ethnic language. She started by asking my friend in GA where he knew me and how we became friends. My friend told her that I am from Nima, in Accra and we were both in Ontario in the early 2000s. She ignored what my friend had said and caution him to be wary of people of my name and my community. Check if he is not a Kobolo before you give him your phone number, she retorted in the Ga language. In the GA language, a Kobolo can be translated as a vagabond or a thug or someone who does not follow social norms. My initial feeling and reaction was angered and despair. My heart told me to turn around and rip his lady with words she never heard nor contemplated. But somewhere in my head is a voice of restraint. I turned around and said goodbye to my friend and ignored his female companion. I am sure my friend knew I overheard their conversation because his response to me was timid. As I walked home with a cup of large Tripple-Tripple coffee with cheese croissant in my hands, I tried to make sense of what I had heard from a Ghanaian woman probably born and raised in the region of Ghana as myself. My conclusion was that my friends sweetheart epitomizes the society that we came from. Whiles in our part of the world comments such as hers is not regarded as bigoted, she is just a random sample of how some Ghanaians turn to view people from Nima and other Zongo communities across the country. She is no different from some senior journalist who so often sit in radio stations and make disparaging remarks of people from Nima. And when there is any violence in Accra it is always the Nima boys that caused or did it often without any evidence. Finally, I am happy I did not cause a scene in the coffee shop I often visit. My only regret is that I did not use that as an opportunity to jokingly advice her that some Nima boys are actually capable of obtaining PhDs from reputable Universities of the world.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 20:16:53 +0000
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