It was Friday, December 27, 2013 and I was waiting for a taxi in Washington DC to go to the “Oromiyaa Tiyya” concert to watch Oromo national artists Hachalu Hundessa, Jambo Jote, Abush Zeleke and Nigusu Tamirat perform live for the Oromo community in downtown Silver Spring. A gray taxi pulled up to the curb and I got in and told the driver my destination in English. A few minutes into the driving an old cabdriver with a funky hat blurts out in Amharic a seemingly innocuous question:
“Are you Habesha?”
That is a common pestering question many Oromians in diaspora who live in places with large Amhara concentration frequently face. I know you want to hear my response. I responded, “No I am not a Habesha? What is a Habesha?” The driver could not believe I could not think of myself as a Habesha and pressed me persistently in Amharic to get “Yes I am an Habesha response,” but that was to no avail. When I responded “I am Oromo from Oromia,” the anonymous driver was as infuriated as I was when he asked me the question he did. So, we got even at this point and my response, kind of, switched the man off and gave me the needed break to anticipate the Oromiyaa Tiyya concert and how the night would unfold until 1 a.m.The trip was so short and I had no time to educate the gentleman on the general tendency of Abyssinian elites and grassroots to impose their form of identity (Habesha) on any Black person or Oromo strangers they meet in the line of their duty.
This is such a common phenomenon that the Oromo people need to know how to respond to the question to dispel the ignorance Abyssinians are fondly holding onto. In the process of rejecting such a misidentification a few processes are important depending on the time and the rationality of the person asking you the loaded question.
Reject that you are not Habesha and say you are “Oromo from Oromia” or just “Oromian.”
Use this one as your favorite switch to turn off some further Habesha curiosities and move on with your day. Know that the Habesha person will try to get into an argument with you when you tell him this truth of your identity, which he/she finds irritating. That is exactly the desired outcome and you should be proud of that. You scored a point towards preserving your cherished eenyummaa.
It is a waste of time to try to educate them since Habeshas are uneducable to easily unlearn the wrong beliefs and hatred they have absorbed for centuries as to which nationality group the word “Habesha” refers to. But, if you have time and the patience tell them “Habesha” refers to ethnic Amhara and Tigire, and sometimes Guraghe, but not all other ethnonational groups in the Ethiopian empire. In fact, the word “Habesha” is one of the clues into the fact that Abyssinians immigrated from Yemen 1000 years ago, meaning that they had to travel a long distance to come and occupy a territory of indigenous Africans such as the Oromo. This place of origin also indicates the barbaric similarity of Yemen “maxxe” people with the people in the Arabian Peninsula with whom they share a genealogy. On a superficial level tell them the Oromo and other people of south are not Habesha as they have their own identities, nationality and citizenship of choice.
Distinguish between levels of ideological sophistication of people asking the dreaded question and tailor your responses accordingly, but never hide the truth or take the questions lightly. Amhara elites tend to know that this word represents Abyssinian group and deliberately use it to distort and confuse the identities of the Oromo and the south. It is a very coercive question if asked in a context of repression in Ethiopia.The Abyssinian intent behind this is to make Oromo and others to deny who they are whenever and wherever Habeshas can. The taxi driver falls in the category of Abyssinian everyday persons brainwashed by their elites into believing that everyone in Ethiopia and everyone with a black skin is “Habesha.” Average Joes and Janes wearing jingoistic nationalistic Habesha T-shirts and jerseys (masks) are also victims of the same ideological mobilization. On the top layer, of course, you will find hate-mongers and Abyssinian supremacists like Mesfin Weldemariyam,Getachew Haile, Berhanu Nega or Andargachew Tsige, for example,who make sure to confuse their own Amhara clans from Yemen with the blanket use of the term “Habesha” on other who are not. Habesha comes from the time when Abyssinians flocked to the Horn of Africa hungry and thirsty on camels back with their Arab incense, which they continue to use as airfreshners and as a tool of charming some evil spirits in churches now.
Of course, one of the identifying markers of being Habesha is speaking Amharic and being Ethiopian. Since you are not both if you are from Oromia, Ogaden-Somali, SNNP, Afar, Gambella, Benishangul, you should just go ahead and use either Afan Oromo or English when responding to such questions. By refusing to speak Amharic even when you know it, you will teach Habesha persons that you have no obligation to speak their language and accept the fictitious version of identity while they don’t want to speak your language. Imagine what impact boycotting speaking Amharic in rural and urban Oromia and other regions will have on the Abyssinians—it will be immense. Perhaps, the next step is to boycott Amharic in Oromia along with Bedele and Heinken beer products.
When you have finished the task of rejecting that you’re a Habesha and asserting that you are Oromian, then forget the silly question and enjoy your Oromo music and culture be it “Oromiyaa Tiyya” concert or other new year's events.
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