Métis/Mulâtre, Mulato, Mulatto, Negro, Moreno, Mundele Kaki, Black

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P1: GIG PB371A-06 PB371-Hintzen-v1.cls July 13, 2003 12:47 Char Count= 0 106 . Jean Muteba Rahier Jean after my father, he would consent to their choice of a middle name. Of course, given the colonial context in which I was born, my mother and her parents were not allowed to file my birth papers in the absence of my father. When my father returned from Belgium, he objected absolutely to the name of Jean Muteba and filed my birth certificate with the name Jean Rahier, omitting the middle name. After hearing the story I promised my grandfather that I would put Muteba back in my name. Before I left Kinshasa, in January 1994, my grandfather—in a brief ritual during which he used a chalk to trace signs on my arms and legs—gave me the protection of my ancestors. Kalonji wrote the words in my diary: Esika nionso oyo yo okokende nzambe abatela yo na bakoko, asunga mosala na yo etambola malamu. Yo na libota na yo nzambe abatela bino. This means: Everywhere you’ll go, I ask that God and the ancestors protect you, they will make your work prosper, they will make your work be better. God will protect you and your family. In February 1994, a few weeks after my return to the United States, when my grandfather felt that the end of his life was near, he requested of his wife and daughters to be buried in the shirt I had given him as a present. Here are some passages of a long recorded conversation I had in Bumbu with Mama, my grandparents, and Kalonji: Jean Muteba: How did the grandparents and the other Baluba of the region around Yuki react when Monsieur Rahier asked to take Mama with him? Muteba: My father had already said, way before Monsieur Rahier made his proposition, even before Monsieur Rahier came in the region, that Muswamba, because she was very pretty, would surely end up with a white man. At that time, white men were looked at as being superior, in a way. Because she was very pretty, my father thought that she could not have but the best. Mbelu (my grandmother): Muswamba’s grandfather was saying at the time that he had given various women to Baluba men. With many of these unions, there had been problems, so he welcomed the idea that a white man was interested in Muswamba. Jean Muteba: What kind of problems happened with Baluba men? Mbelu: There had been complications after some of the marriages that he had allowed to take place before Monsieur Rahier came by for Muswamba. Some of the Baluba husbands had repudiated their wives, and other problems. That’s why he was saying that if a white man insisted on taking Muswamba, he would allow it to happen. Jean Muteba: What did Kokoyamwasi, “Grandmother,” say when the white man asked for Muswamba? Muswamba: Monsieur Rahier did not come asking for me right away. At first, he was coming in your grandfather’s store as a friend, just to chat and spend
P1: GIG PB371A-06 PB371-Hintzen-v1.cls July 13, 2003 12:47 Char Count= 0 Métis/Mulâtre, Mulato, Mulatto, Negro, Moreno, Mundele Kaki, Black, ... . 107 some time. His goal was more or less hidden. (Laughter) One day, he came by and asked for water to wash his hands. I filled the dish with water and brought it to him. He was outside. When I was near him, he gave me a ring, a necklace, and some cloth to make a wrap-around (pagne). I still have the necklace. Jean Muteba: After that, what happened? Muswamba: (Laughter). There are things that you may not ask your mother to talk about....(Laughter) Monsieur Rahier had a good relationship with my sister, Mala. They were friends, in a way. At the beginning, he used her to communicate with me. Mbelu: Monsieur Rahier wasn’t the first white man to try to seduce your mother. There had been another one who had tried before. He was an agent of the state. Kasadi, your great grandfather, did not allow it to happen. That other white man was the guy in charge of making the census. To make the census, the white man with his Congolese soldiers arrived in a village and asked everybody to regroup in a central area. On that day, while he was making the census, he said: “That girl (pointing towards your mother) should not marry a black man. She is too pretty for that!” At the end of the census, the white man called your grandfather and asked him to be shown the woman with whom he had had your mother. When your grandfather showed me, the white man refused to believe that I was her mother. He thought I wasn’t pretty enough to be your mother’s mother. (Laughter) At that time, your grandfather had a lot of things. He had many goats. The white men of the area always came to his store. After that, the conversation went on to another subject. During my stay, Mama found a way to tell me that when she was sent back to the Congo, in the early 1960s, she was not crazy. She said that my father had sent her back because he wanted to get rid of her. She also said that my father and his brothers had lied to her. She remembered making a deal with my father: although their three older children—Philippe, Annie, and Guy— would remain with Monsieur Rahier in Brussels, the two younger ones— Yves and I—would leave Belgium with her. She said that when she left the institution where she was kept, they gave her pills (probably Valium) that “made her feel tired.” When they arrived at the airport, she said that she was escorted to the plane’s cabin, where she had been told Yves and I were waiting for her. She said that when she realized that we were not going with her and that the plane took off, she had felt profoundly wounded. She explained that it had been terrible for her to live without any of her five children for so long. In August 1994, I arranged for Mama to come live with my wife, Nadège, and me for a while in Baton Rouge. She helped a great deal by taking care of my daughter, Nadège, during the day. We took care of her in many different ways, with her health and well-being in general. She stayed in Louisiana, in my house, for four years. To live with Mama was the source of great pleasures. We, of course, both learned a lot about one another, and I am very glad to have been able to have this experience with her. Her presence also allowed
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Métis/Mulâtre, Mulato, Mulatto, Negro, Moreno, Mundele Kaki, Black

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