Obruni, Take My Picture!

In the process of trying to unravel the stereotypes that are commonly held by the West about “Africans”, I think I should share some of the perceptions that Ghanaians hold about Westerners. Their perceptions seem to be especially present in their language.

First of all, obruni, means white person in Twi. People on the street will call you this just to get your attention. Or they may just call you ‘white’. “Hey, white!!” Haha. It’s pretty funny actually that they assume Westerners have any idea what that means. Children will especially start screaming “obruni!!!” It’s not meant to be taken offensively; it’s mostly intended to be a form of recognition that you are indeed different. In case you’d forgotten. I’ve heard that it’s actually not that inappropriate to respond with bibini (which means black person). Oddly enough, the term has come to also refer to any foreigner, so it isn’t uncommon for a black American to be called obruni. Being hardwired as an American, I find it incredible that the ‘racial tension’ is so nonexistent (or simply unacknowledged) that we can call each other out like that. Can you imagine walking down the street and greeting someone with “Hey, black woman!” It’s so incredibly bizarre how we avoid acknowledging other people’s ethnicity.

Another way they refer to white Westerners is by calling us all “Akosua”. Ghanaians, of Asante origin at least, are named after the day they were born. Akosua means a girl born on Sunday. They refer to us all as “Sunday” because when the white man came to Ghana, he forced the people to change their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. How interesting! Again, it’s hysterical that they call us that and assume it’s a name we should be familiar with. At first I just though everyone was trying to guess my name!

I’m sure this is the case in many African nations, a white man is either assumed to have a camera or a cross around his neck. I can’t even count the number of time that people have asked me what my ‘mission’ is in Ghana. “So where are you volunteering?” As if volunteering is the only thing for a white person to do here. I really can’t stand that! That assumption only cultivates the victim//hero relationship, which does nothing for genuine understanding. The weird thing is, there really are an astounding number of white people on some ‘mission’ here in Ghana.

Its no epiphany that people here generally think Westerners are tremendously rich, but an experience at Liberia camp the other day really put it into perspective. Frequently, when you approach a group of kids here, they will crowd around you, hold your hand; play with your hair, etc. These kids aren’t quite so enthusiastic. The only thing one of them said to me was “Hey obruni, take my picture!” It’s so funny to see how camera-toting tourists have formed their perceptions of Westerners in great part. No wonder they think we are all so wealthy! And when I really think about it, its incredibly ostentatious to whip out a digital camera that costs more than what many of these people won’t make in a year. Needless to say, I haven’t taken too many pictures.