Well known French Ethnologist was asked about Identity and this
was one of his answers:
Actualmente predominan en la vida social las tendencias
provenientes de la defensa del multiculturalismo, posturas que despiertan
ciertas sensibilidades sin duda necesarias, pero que también dan lugar a nuevos
conflictos. ¿Cómo ve la convivencia entre lo “políticamente correcto” y esas
otras costumbres largamente arraigadas?
Creo que hay que llevar a cabo algo más que el
multiculturalismo para crear otro tipo de diversidad, lo más importante es el
multi-individualismo. Tengo siempre una dificultad cuando me preguntan por mis
orígenes, ya que mis abuelos eran de Bretaña, Cataluña y Burdeos; de la misma
forma, en Francia 1 de cada 4 personas tiene al menos un abuelo que es de fuera
del país. Es decir, personalmente conozco algo de Bretaña, pero no puedo decir
que mi cultura adquiera su significación de ahí, mi cultura tampoco es
parisina, aunque he vivido siempre en París, también he vivido en África, por
lo que también tengo elementos de cultura africana. Lo que quiero decir es que
cada individuo tiene experiencias culturales de vida diferentes y no tiene por
que ser encerrado en una cultura, incluso una cultura que corresponde a su país
natal, aunque está claro que puede reivindicarla si quiere. Pero al nivel de
una organización, mi preferencia es que tenemos que tratar con individuos, no
con culturas, porque las culturas también pueden ser un instrumento de
opresión. Podríamos tener todo un debate sobre las nociones de tolerancia, de
relativismo, que son nociones ambiguas, pero ¿qué es la tolerancia? Que yo
piense que tú tienes derecho a equivocarte y que esto es recíproco. En
realidad, no pienso como tú, pero creo que tengo razón, claro que también puedo
equivocarme. Sin embargo, no puedo decir que se puede pensar cualquier cosa y
no tengo respeto hacia ciertos aspectos de algunas “culturas”, ya que, por
ejemplo, para mí una mujer es exactamente igual que un hombre, a nivel teórico
no tengo ningún respeto intelectual por las posiciones que dicen que hombres y
mujeres tienen su puesto. Está claro que no voy a hacer la guerra, pero podemos
pensar que tenemos que hacer un esfuerzo. En este sentido me siento más cercano
al siglo XVIII que al siglo actual. Mañana la moda intelectual puede cambiar y
lo importante me parece el individuo. La cultura se puede reivindicar por parte
de los individuos, diría mejor “las culturas”, en esa mezcla que hay siempre,
pero no hay que partir de la cultura, sino que hay que tomar al individuo como
punto de referencia».
Trends in defense of multiculturalism currently dominate
social life pose certain sensitivities certainly necessary, but they also give
rise to new conflicts. How does the coexistence of "political
correctness" and those other long-established customs?
I think we should carry out more
than multiculturalism to create another kind of diversity, the most important
is the multi-individualism. I always have a difficulty when asked about
my origins, because my grandparents were from Brittany, Catalunya and Bordeaux; in the same way, in France 1 in
4 people having at least one grandparent who was born outside France. That is,
I personally know some of Brittany but I can not say that my culture acquires
its significance there, my culture is not Paris, but have always lived in
Paris, I also lived in Africa, so also I have elements of African culture .
What I mean is that each individual has different cultural experiences of life
and not have to be locked in a culture, even a culture that corresponds to his
native country, although it clearly can claim it if you want. But the level of
an organization, my preference is that we have to deal with individuals, not
with cultures because cultures can also be an instrument of oppression. We
could have a whole debate on the notions of tolerance, relativism, which are
ambiguous notions, but what is tolerance? I think you have a right to be wrong
and that this is reciprocated. Actually, I do not think like you, but I think
I'm right, I can also be clearly wrong. However, I can not say that you can
think of anything and have no respect for certain aspects of some
"cultures", since, for example, for me a woman is just like a man,
theoretically have no intellectual respect for positions that say that men and
women have their place. Clearly not going to make war, but we think we have to
make an effort. In this sense I feel closer to the eighteenth century than to
the present century. Tomorrow intellectual fashion can change and how important
we think the individual is. The culture can be claimed by individuals, better
to say cultures in the mélange we already have but it must be based on culture,
but you have to take the individual as a reference point. "
I have just left Cuba and arrived in Miami. It
is an interesting trip, in that in the short distance and the minutes it takes
to cover by air travel (39 minutes), one sees clearly and understands what Marc
Auge was talking about.
In Cuba, there are three distinct racial groups
and a false one (Tainos who do not exist culturally): White, Black and Mulatto.
Everyone identifies
as Cuban and speak the same language, share very similar food and drinks
throughout the island. Cubans are mostly secular but if religious they either
follow Catholicism or Santeria: one from Europe and the other from Africa,
regardless of their racial identification. There are minor Christian denominations
introduced by American Missionaries. Religion does not play an important part
in the life of an ordinary Cuban. Interestingly enough, the DNA studies show
that an average Cuban, if he is white, has chances of having African DNA and
vice versa. It is where one can say that DNA does not prove ones culture. The
False Tainos of Baracoa and other “Indians” of Cuba may well have Black, White
or Indian DNA but that does not prove anything, from a cultural point of view.
Like their Puerto Rican and Dominican counterparts, they are mainly mulatto or
Black in their culture. There is a very
high amount of mixing of the races in Cuba, much more so since the Triumph of
the Cuban Revolution.
Just crossing the brief Straits of Water, one
arrives in Miami, where the population is predominantly White Cuban, but here
they have another identity they can mark: Hispanic
It is an interesting nomenclature which has no
cultural meaning at all. Here is the definition:
The U.S. Department
of Transportation defines Hispanic as,
"persons ofMexican, Puerto
Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central or South American, or other Spanish or Portuguese culture or
origin, regardless of race."
I can
assure you that Cubans who are in Miami are predominantly White, Mexicans who
are in Texas or California are predominantly of Indian origin, Puerto Ricans
and Dominicans have a fair share of African Blood. Argentines, Chileans are
mostly White, Guatemalans, Peruvians and Bolivians are predominantly Indian.
So the
term HISPANIC is an insult to the idea of “cross culturalism” or multiculturalism
( a concept which is in the throes of its disappearance), instead of diversity,
they want to unite diverse group into an unifying nomenclature.
While
doing research for lectures on Identiy, it was interesting to discover this: A
Black Cuban is Cuban first and Black second in Cuba but if he migrates to USA,
especially to MIAMI ( the USA officials in La Habana advises of potential black
Cuban migrants about this and recommend that they go to some place like
Nevada!), he is Black first and Cuban second!
USA is a
very large country and it is the most diverse country on earth. I am told of
one particular street in Queens, where more than 130 languages are spoken.
There are language communities large enough to support their own newspapers!
But there
is a huge difference between USA and say Europe or Great Britain. In this
regard USA resembles closer to Australia or New Zealand than to Britain.
In the
USA, you are welcome to join the Nationality Club. Legally anyone can become
American but there is no pressure to do so.
While in
France, the diversity is disguised into French and Non French, and recent
lessons learned have showed them that this lack of division is probably an
insult to the culture of the multitude of races which inhabit France.
In the UK
on the other hand, one can aquire a British Nationality but can never become
English, Welsh, northern Irish or Scottish. So we have Black British but never
Black English or Black Scottish. Jacques
Derrida would have had a field day deconstructing these nomenclatures behind
which we hide our intolerance, racism and phobias.
Marc Auge
is futuristic in his vision. Travelling frequently between Cuba and the USA, I
see the importance and significance as well as importance placed on Individualism in the USA and solidarity with
the society in Cuba. (solidaridad) with less emphasis on the individual.
What Marc
Auge proposes can be accomplished by a combination of both the above, which
never happened to the Cuban immigrants to Miami, where they quickly became
individualistic and were forced to adopt and construct an universe of
anti-cubanism, just for survival or monetary gain.
The future
would be something like this, if you have a Spanish surname;
Surname Spanish origin
Race White
Black Asian ( Cuban White, Africans from Equatorial Guinea, Filipinos ) or Mostly Native Indian (Mexico, Central or
South America)
The
diversity would be furthered even more, when children of Bosnian Roma immigrants
to Argentina begin to migrate to the USA!
If any
country has a chance to fulfill the futuristic notion of Multi Individualistic
Diversity with loyalty to the country of residence, it would be USA. Australia
and NZ also stand a good chance of coming ahead in this race. (no pun intended)
Cuban Faces
an american may look like any of the below
