Zackery Barker Dance and Culture 1010 Summer Semester 2013

Life History Interview

I was able to do an interview with Eddie Freeman, a young man of the age of 22. Eddie is a Black American, adopted at the young age of 3 years old. He was adopted in California after being placed in foster care by his biological mother. He moved to Utah after living in California for a little while with his adopted parents. His adoptive parents are white. He has been raised as a christian and continues to live that lifestyle on his own will. He is of the LDS domination, he has served a Full time Volunteer mission for the LDS church In Ghana Africa. I chose to speak to Eddie because he is a close friend of mine and I was curious to see what differences and experiences he had lived, being adopted and of the Black Ethnicity. I was curious to see the differences seeing as he had grown up the most of his life with both white parents and in an extremely white populated city. I also was curious to see the differences he had experienced while living in Africa to see if he felt treated different living there as an American even though he is black. I really felt he would have a lot of really good insight about how people are treated according solely to skin color. I have known Eddie for only about 3 months. I met him at my church and we became close friends, I have always asked him these types of questions but it was good to simply sit with him for a moment and freely ask these questions. So as I sat with Eddie at his Familie's home kitchen and began asking questions. I could tell we were both already at ease because these were things we had discussed prior to this interview. I have always taken a particular interest in Eddie's life and his background. I realized that he and I although we seem to live very similar lives, we have great differences in culture. He has lived through so many things that I would never know what that is like. My main curiosity with Eddie was to learn about his adoption and what that

was like. So I began asking questions, for my own personal interest. I asked questions about how old he was at the time of his adoption, if he knew why he was placed up for adoption, if he knew his biological mother and what that was like. I was curious to see how he currently feels about his adoption and how he felt he was treated based solely on the fact he was adopted. Eddie was very open with me and expressed his feelings, I feel very honestly and well detailed. Eddie doesn't know his biological mother, he does have a couple of pictures of her but other than that he doesn't know anything of her or his father. He was in California at the time of his adoption, he said his adoptive mother was at the hospital as a nurse at the time of his birth and she had heard that he was being placed in foster care. So his adoptive mother fought with the foster care in order to take him. They lived for a short period of time in California, until he was about 3 years old. He doesn't remember anything of California except he remembers a little bit of disneyland. His family moved to Layton, Utah. This is where he has grown up his whole life. When I asked how he felt he was treated based on his adoption, he shared that it was really hard at a young age. Other children still didn't really understand why he was black and his parents were white. He wasn't necessarily teased in Elementary, but he did feel treated differently from the other kids. He didn't have many friends while in elementary school. When the other children began to understand the adoption in Junior High and High School things were easier. I asked a lot about what it was like being a different skin color than the majority of people in Utah. I emphasized my desire to know how he felt he was treated. I wanted to know if he felt unprivileged. He said that once again in elementary school, children and parents alike treated him differently just because he was black. He said he could tell there was a huge difference in the treatment of the other kids. He said there is still definitely, black and white. He knew he was being treated differently because of the color of his skin. He

said as soon as people met his parents and saw that they were white, they treated him differently. In High School and Junior High, the racism wasn't as bad. He said racism is still very real and alive today even in our society. I loved discussing his experience in Ghana because, I wanted to see if he felt he was treated differently there. Indeed he still was, for different reasons though. It was no longer because of his skin color or for the fact that he was adopted, now it was because he was american and because he was a missionary for the LDS church. He was able to see that there are huge differences in values and culture over in Africa and Ghana in Particular. The biggest value change over there is the value of work and money. They eat to live not live to eat. They have to work hard in order to make a living there. If they don't walk 2 miles to go get their water. They won't drink that day. Money and possesions becomes there life because it is what they need to live. He said when he came back he grew in his appreciation for the little things and comforts that we have here in the U.S. I took the time to ask about Ghana and some traditions that they have their as far as dance and food and daily life. In Ghana they eat what is called fufu which is a type of starch mixed with either yams or bananas or other things. They eat this with almost every meal, it is very filling and it is cheap. They eat it with all sorts of sauces and some sort of meat. They eat with their hands but you must use your right because the left is used for wiping your rear end. They dance often with ceremonies, whether it be a funeral, wedding, harvest event, a spiritual event, etc. he named one in particular that he participated. I am not sure on pronunciation or spelling but I believe it was the anbugyda. He said he never felt so much hip movement in his life. He really enjoyed the dancing. He now speaks 8 dialects spoken in Ghana 2 of which are the main languages twi and gha, but the main language in Ghana is English although they speak it mixed with african dialects. So it is a broken/pidgeon english. So when he returned to the states he had a difficult time

readjusting to the culture and he said especially the language. He said you can really tell those who were educated and uneducated just by the way they spoke. From this opportunity I was able to become much closer with my already close friend Eddie and learn more about him and his background. I grew greatly in my appreciation for him, his past and the culture he supports. I was able to learn that racism is indeed still alive today even in Utah. After doing the interview, I realized that some people still judge people just based on their skin color. It is crazy to me that we still treat people differently based on things like skin color or how people might speak or even the clothes people wear. One question and answer that greatly affected me and I realized is very true; I asked Eddie if he felt that when he walked into a store if he felt he was treated differently. He said he didn't think he was, he said if he saw someone with dark skin and dressed differently then yes they are treated differently but if he was properly dressed there was no discrimination. So I realized that we still discriminate based on class and how people dress. Which shows to me that there is still a privileged group that is very precise. Wealth and skin color are very influential in this privileged group. I was surprised to see how much discrimination there really is even in little ol Kaysville/ Layton Utah. I realize that I am probably a little nave to the fact that I am a part of this privileged group. I already knew with out a doubt that there is still discrimination and a privileged group but I was unaware to what extent. So I am grateful to have done this assignment so that I can now be more aware and also make sure, that I am part of a solution and not the problem. I am going to do my best in order to eliminate discrimination by not partaking in any form of it. I think also I will do my best to make others aware of it, it is something I now feel is very mportant.