I was reading a story about the top 10 black characters in science fiction the other day. The real fun in articles like this comes from the comments. The author states their view and the commenters weigh in with choices of their own – debate ensues. Only, as I trolled the comments nodding yes to some and raising an eyebrow at others, one comment stood out. Why do we need a black list?

This question, in one form or another, is one I imagine many of us have heard before. Why do we need black colleges? Why do we need black charities? Why do we need black ________ (fill in the blank).

I don’t think the folks who ask these questions are totally blind, they know why, they just don’t want to accept it. In any place, where one is a minority, the majority population becomes the standard. This is why in the U.S. 95% of tv, movies, and books feature the majority population. And consequently why in Nigeria, Nollywood movies feature, you guessed it, primarily Nigerians. With me so far?

I do think the majority group loses out when they neglect (either via insensitivity or purposefully) to give sufficient billing to the other groups that make up their society. How sad a world it would be if the only stories we ever read, the only food we ever ate, the only movies we ever saw, only featured one race. We aren’t there yet, but we’re darned close.

So this is why we, probably like Asian, Latino, Indian and Pacific Islanders, celebrate when we see something of ourselves made available to the masses. It is because of the rarity (and also history), that things like black colleges, black lists and black organizations, were born. Maybe one day that need will cease to exist, but we certainly aren’t there yet. And maybe we shouldn’t be. After all, what is wrong with a list citing the best books by black authors? I certainly wouldn’t shun a list of the best Italian restaurants – I love Italian food and would greatly appreciate someone doing the legwork for me.

Because the majority still rules, often with scan inclusion of the minority, we’ve sometimes decided to do our own thing. This, is why we still need black _____ (fill in the blank).

In my trolls of the African diaspora blogsphere, I came across an excellent blog post on Bernos about an African American woman dating an Ethiopian man.

She chronicles quite an interesting tale of the challenges of dating a black man from another country. I really suggest you read it, the comments are particularly enlightening. The post did make me think about how differences in culture, regardless of skin tone, do have to be taken into account. In the quest for a united African diaspora, our similarities and commonalities are obvious, yet we cannot overlook our differences. Pretending they don’t exist is akin to not telling a dear friend their zipper is open – you may not want to address it, but still the zipper issue remains.

The key is to acknowledge and discuss our differences. The goal should not be one of conversion to one side or another, but to recognize each individual’s right to embrace their own culture. Learning about each other’s beliefs, customs, food, etc. is the fun part. Once we’re past that, then the healing can begin.