Stories of Encounter, Choice, and Identity
Aine McCarthy
I'd been in Senegal for about a month and had learned a lot. In addition to a different culture, way of life, language and new types of friendships, I'd learned it all from the experience of being a complete outsider. That's why it was odd when this impacting encounter was one where I became, while a white foreigner in Africa, an insider and had pushed someone else outside.
I had climbed up to the top of a rocky beach lookout with Bamba, my friend and mentor in this foreign country. We'd come to the capitol city for the first time since my arrival and so I was also seeing tourism and wealth in Africa for the first time. The beach below was crashing with waves and we looked out onto the Atlantic Ocean where we sat happily discussing Senegal and America and the prospects of connection. While we were talking, a white man (only the second I'd seen in Senegal) walked over to my side of the bench and specifically spoke to me. He asked if I was French and when I told him I was American, he told me he'd been here for a couple of years and very much hoped I enjoyed the country. He left as quickly as he had come and I didn't think too much of it. Immediately after he left, though, Bamba spoke up. He couldn't believe that in this country, where greetings are of the utmost importance, someone would insult him so harshly by not saying hello. I hadn't thought too much of it at the time and regret not taking any initiative. This man had insulted Bamba by deliberately not speaking to him and opting only to greet to me, the white girl, instead.
I was shocked that even here, where I felt so often an outsider, I was capable of excluding and insulting someone else. I'd spent so much time, often with Bamba's help, immersed in this incredible and welcoming culture, yet here I was reminded of the racism and exclusion that still impacts our lives. The moment passed very briefly, and Bamba soon changed the subject, but I won't forget the realization of how powerful my own capabilities of inclusion and exclusion are and how easily a simple conversation can hurt.
