At Trivia Night (the sequel), one of my teammates was a Brit whom I had never before met - he considered himself quite the veteran expert on Africa since he has been working here a few years.

He nonchalantly and matter-of-factly declared something I considered very controversial -

You can easily tell where someone is from by their appearance.

A semi-debate ensued. I did not refute that that may be true but simple stated the complication and potential dangers in operating with such assumptions. He thought my logic was interesting though very “liberal” and often besides the point.

My point was this: Why draw those conclusions about people? What is the purpose and usefulness of such prejudgments? How can you judge the accuracy of such? Can you really divorce your geographic designation from other preconceptions associated with that geography? Does your preconception and subsequent categorization change your behavior toward that person and your expectations of their behavior?

I presented him with some examples of confounded identities due to globalization. How do we “classify” these people? How do they “classify” themselves? I think the idea is much more complicated and problematic than he was making it out to be. Individuals are individuals. I told him I don’t want anyone to judge me, especially before meeting me - so why would I do that to anyone? He said that was interesting and asked if I was spreading this idea everywhere I went. No, only when I entered into this type of conversation. He said, “Well if you don’t like labels, never go to Sudan, etc. People scar and tattoo themselves to show what group they belong to.” I responded, “But that’s different. Self-imposed identification measures are chosen rather than ascribed by an outsider based on perceptions or judgments.” He conceded.

I tired of arguing. You can rarely convert people to your way of thinking. He appreciated my argument but will never agree with such a “liberal” way of thinking. It is interesting to see how I have grown, integrating influences from home and school. All I could think afterwards was John would have been so proud (plus Dr. Shefner) - if only he had heard me.