Life is variety and variety is the spice of life. What makes life all spicy is how different each of us is. We all can’t think same just like we can’t belong to the same place. The beauty of life is in its diversity. Earth would have been such a boring place to live if we all were same!
We are first of all human before any other trait divides us into races, ethnic groups and what have you. We may not be related by blood but being human defines relationship better than any other. As long as we all fall under the big umbrella of humanity, it is very unfair to disregard others because their ethnic belonging differs from ours.
In the difference of others is variety. How unique others are from us is what makes life exciting. Variety will always spice up life. Diversity is the new cool!
No one determines where they are born. No one chooses which skin color they are born with. It is, hence, utterly petty to discriminate against another man because his mother tongue is different from yours. If you can’t stand the smell of racism, don’t dish out morsels of tribalism to another!
You stereotype others who don’t belong where you do. You cringe when others treat you less of a human because of your skin color but you despise others because of their tribes. You hoot at racists… but you’re darn tribalistic. Clap for yourself!
Shoving others aside because of their tribe should remain in the Stone Age, not this modern technological era. If all you can see about another human is their ethnic belonging, you’re overly petty indeed. Another’s tribe should not be the reason they’re favored or disfavored. Where someone comes from should not be the reason they are denied any opportunity.
It is only in this part of the world that we allow ethnicity to tear us apart. As if politics hasn’t done worse, we form skewed thoughts about others because their ethnic divide… and allow such divide us. Tribalism is a nation killer!
We hold ourselves back because of some petty social division we call tribe. We overlook skills and focus instead on the tribes of others. We excuse character and pettily pay attention to where others come from. Many have walked past people who were carrying the keys to their breakthroughs because they were busily paying attention to their tribe.
Thing is, we prevent our sons and daughters from having the free will of choosing their partners because of our tribalistic ego. We stand in the way of their happiness because all we think about is ourselves. If you despise someone’s tribe, don’t expect others to tag along. People choose their spouses because they need life partners… not tribal partners!
We deny others life-changing opportunities just because they don’t belong where we do. We reserve the choicest places for others just for their ethnic belonging sake.
Don’t be blinded by your tribal sentiments. There’s more to life than it. Those who may give you a life-saving hand when you badly need it may not necessarily belong where you do. Those who may lend you a shoulder to stand on to reach your destination may even be strangers. In life, we respect people today because we never know when and where we may need them tomorrow.
You may belong to a tribe but, first of all, remember you belong to a bigger divide called humanity. If we want others to treat us as humans, we ought not to treat others any less human. It’s inhumane to treat another human any less just because they uniquely belong elsewhere.
Every man is a stranger. It depends on where they find themselves. Every man will someday belong to a minority depending on where he finds himself. Every man will someday need an opportunity elsewhere where little may be known about him. If we never would want to be discriminated against, we should not discriminate against others. We shouldn’t pass silly comments about where they belong. As we do unto others, so will others do unto us.
Tribalism is suicidal. It slaughters dreams. It tears nations apart. It sets an unending tug of war among people. Remember how thousands of Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus during the 1994 Rwandan genocide? Tribalism makes man an enemy of man instead of attacking the enemy called poverty!
I have met elites who have an inexplicable bitterness for others because someone from their tribe treated them badly in the past. They would do everything to get even with anyone who bears a name from such a tribe. You see, it’s absolutely harsh for someone to pay for the sins of others they may not even know.
Respect the variety of others because they are, first of all, as human as you are. If you wouldn’t smile at another despising you because of how different you are from them, respect others for where they belong. Respect lies in doing for others what we expect them to do for us.
If you assume your tribe to be superior to others, Earth is not where you belong. Here, all humans are same regardless where they come from. All humans matter; none inferior, none superior. We have the same red blood running through our skins of different colors. This is what makes the diversity of life a beauty to behold.
Give me an opportunity because I deserve it not because of my tribal identity. Allow me access into your space because I have the qualification to. Don’t do me a favor because of my tribe. I am human. That’s all I know. I know of no tribe because I am “tribeless”!
By Kobina Ansah
The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), a writing company based in Accra. His play, TRIBELESS, is on Saturday, June 16th, 2018 at National Theatre.