The 'Other' What . . .?

By J. R. Warren

I have been thinking a lot lately about why is that whenever we see shows about outer space whatever lives there is usually depicted as something weird, exotic, unknown or completely far fetched, like a planet that is actually some life form or some crazy looking alien. As I was pondering this rather novel notion, I questioned how come whoever lives in the far reaches of the galaxy cannot be human beings, with feelings, a job, families, cars, pollution, sickness and the rest that comes with our state of being. (Yes, there is Roswell but those aliens do have superpowers even though they look like us). How come what we do not know cannot be just what we already know? That does sound a bit strange considering how movies depict out worlders, as their outside of norm representation has become naturalized.

But as this notion ruminated within my mind, it transferred itself to the concept of the 'other.' You know outside of or 'other' than the norm. You may ask, what is the norm? Well, in this instance it is that which is fundamentally termed Eurocentric and/or Western. Thus, the 'other' (which is actually a rather old, clichéd term) is all that is not Eurocentric and/or Western. Then that brings on the next question. Why then is it that those who ultimately have control over these definitions (European-Americans, mostly male) designate everything that does not look like them, have their beliefs and related ways of acting and speaking as not 'normal' (whatever that really means), the 'other,' unknown, having to be controlled, taken over, obliterated, exploited? When you think hard enough about it is really 'far out,' for lack of a better word. For how dare they presume such absolute power?!? It totally boggles my mind sometimes. Need an example. Well, I am not doing the slavery anecdote. We all know about that on some level, even though it will be discussed in one of my upcoming articles.

What I am feeling right now is the way this idea of the 'other' has infected me. It is no secret that many Euro-Americans view people of color (Blacks) as having ideas and ways of working, thinking and being that are strikingly odd, sometime incomprehensible. Of course, we cannot just be who and what we are and treated with mutual intelligibility and respect. No, we have to be categorized as deviant, needing to be trained, tamed, or studied. That is unless, you can cross that color line to take on colorless attributes. There are classes, seminars, lectures and books touching upon multicultural communication (and I do workshops in multicultural education) and intercultural interaction that describe how to understand that which you are not. For me that immediately signals there is some fundamental difference that without having an education on will promote severe problems while attempting to interact with an 'unknown' individual. It also signals that I have to be more conscious of who I am outside of my own indigenous circle. That is the way this term 'other' has infected me.

Why is it that I have to be super aware of my own personal characteristics, ways of talking, interacting, dressing, living? But this is what Eurocentrisim has wrought. The control is over my mind. Even though I am an educated intelligent Black woman this idea of me being different, outside of the norm, haunts me. It does not immobilze me, however, just the mere fact that I have to think about such asinine aspects is a form of control, whereby I am drawn to try and figure out how I fit into this tapestry of Whiteness that blankets our world. Perhaps this is a symptom of higher education - a growing awareness of polarizing techniques and affects of existing in a system that is not acknowledged as being inherently my own. You know DuBois was right on when he talked about us (Blacks) having 'double consciousness.' Specifically, he offers:

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others (italics mine), of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness,--an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,--this longing to attain self-conscious [person]hood, to merge [t]his double self into a better and truer self. ... -W.E.B. Du Bois¹

When we are outside of folks who perhaps have our skin tone something 'takes over' some of us. Now you could say that is just a natural part of being 'on,' being in a space with people we do not know. We automatically put on a different persona. Well, I beg to differ. And for those of you who move within two worlds you should know what I am talking about. It is called the 'assimilation waltz.' This concept can be illuminated by questions such as: Do you make a conscious effort to perform in a certain way around your White counterparts that is markedly differently than when you are with your friends of color? Is it a way that is more acceptable to your White counterparts? If you answered yes to these questions, you got it, you are doing the 'waltz,' diminishing the uniqueness of who you are to fit into a controlling standard. I know as a student within academia, I have to deny parts of myself and perform in certain ways.

Let it be known that inside lives a radical Black woman that wants to shout to the hills that Francis Cress-Welsing is a prophet and her book the Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors (1991) should be required reading for all our children once they hit high school!! She posits that the ultimate control of Blacks by hegemonic White ideologies is due to a deeply etched inferiority complex that they are much in denial about (but it's okay, why can't we just talk it out?). However, thses ideas of inferiority have been transferred to African Americans, whereby we are made to feel inferior. According to Dr. Wesling² we are made to feel less than or outside of the norm through:

. . . cultural beliefs such as women and Blacks being inferior, media images which suggest that the closer to White skin and hair texture, the more attractive one is, and education and miseducation in the school systems which train youth to believe that there are no significant Black contributions to religion, technology, art, and other aspects of civilization. Quoted in Black Women and Mental Health

But Dr. Welsing is considered a quack within the minds of most Eurocentric academicians and to use her ideas, especially at the graduate level in a college that operates within a Eurocentric framework, is sure to obliterate a person of color's credibility. Thus, as a student/teacher I must be careful to use the ideas and theories accepted by the established tradition. A tradition that my folks have not had a voice in developing, although we probably cleared the land that these institutions were built upon as well as constructed the building.

I know I have digressed. But truly on a much fundamental and broader level, why are people who have melanin, especially Blacks, considered the 'other?' Why do we have to adhere to or strive towards a standard outside of our own inherent consciousness? Why do we have to put up with constraints that must be negotiated daily? Why must our validity as an intelligent beings be measured against a standard that does not include our voices?

You know those sci-fi flicks say a lot about how our society operates or would like to operate, especially the original Star Trek. Although it is slightly outdated, it contains themes of Whiteness that have endured time. The next time you are able to catch any science ficion movie, series, whatever, see if the alien does not represent aspects of the 'other's' existence. And if the extraterrestrial does not want to wholeheartedly assimilate, note if it is killed or worked over to the point where it has no choice but to accept being colonized. But I want you to bear in mind that these space battles are usually masked as a good versus evil struggle, so you may not be able to readily place yourself as the evil one. Do it anyway and see if you feel any similarities. You might be surprised.

Predator Image (an alien with locks) Courtesy of SciFlic.com
¹DuBois, W.E.B. The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Magnavision, 197?.
²Cress-Welsing, Francis. The Isis Papers. Chicago: Third World Press, 1991.

Besides freelance writing, Jennifer Warren holds a Master's Degree in Media Ecology and teaches Media Culture studies at The College of Staten Island and in the Film/Media Department at Hunter College. Additionally, Jennifer teaches computer literacy to elementary school students within the New York (NY) Public School Systems, as well as serves as a vendor to the NY Board of Education in Multicultural Education.