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An African-American family talks about race and culture
By Brandt Williams
Minnesota Public Radio
February 4, 2002

Metro State University professor Daniel Abebe took his wife and two teenage children to visit his home country, Ethiopia, for two months in the summer of 2001. They traveled to his home town, Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, as well as smaller towns outside the city.

Lalu Abebe
Lalu Abebe.
(Photo courtesy of Daniel Abebe)
 

This evening the family is in the kitchen of their St. Paul home. Daniel is helping his children with their homework while Jody is preparing baked chicken for dinner. Daniel asks his kids to talk about their trip to Ethiopia.

It was the first time his kids had been anywhere in Africa, but Abebe says he doesn't think they fully realize the impact of their experiences just yet. But that doesn't stop him from urging his children to embrace their African heritage. Lalu and Omari say they really liked their trip, but aren't as enthusiastic about talking about it as their father.
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Omari said some of the food he ate in Ethiopia made him sick. Lalu says the food wasn't all that different, because their aunt who lives in town makes the same kind of Ethiopian cuisine.

Omari Abebe
Omari Abebe.
(Photo courtesy of Daniel Abebe)
 

Omari says in many ways, his Ethiopian cousins weren't very different from American kids. They listen to a lot of the same music, and many of them wear the same clothes. Lalu found some differences between Ethiopian youth and American kids.
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Both Omari and Lalu say, when people ask them what race they are, they say they're African-American. Lalu says some people who don't know her wonder if she's Mexican or Arabic. Omari says nobody really asks him that question.

He says his school is pretty diverse, and he associates with kids of various ethnic backgrounds at school. Omari says there are also African students at his school. He says he notices a difference betwen how the Africans and African-Americans act. Lalu agrees, but says she sometimes has a hard time telling Africans and African-Americans apart.
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Jody Abebe
Jody Abebe.
(MPR Photo/Brandt Williams)
 

Jody has been to Africa before. She spent time in Senegal in 1983, and has been to Ethiopia a few times. Jody says she enjoys visiting Africa, but finds it overwhelming to be an outsider, in places where everyone around her is black.

Jody says she tries to support both kids, as they choose how to identify with themeselves. She recognizes that as a white person, she can't understand some of the things the kids go through. Jody's eyes fill with tears as she explains why it's important that the children are culturally-grounded.
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Lalu and Omari says they would like to go back to Ethiopia someday, but they'd like to wait a few years for that return trip.

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