Vienna Reflections: Culture, Identity, and the Emotional Labour of Being Black
An Evening To Remember
July-26-2024: 42% income tax. Austria. That was the figure shared with me by a highly intellectual Nigerian gentleman I had the privilege of spending an evening with.
I told him he is one of Nigeria's best-kept secrets—and I meant it. Easily one of the most brilliant Nigerians I have met in a long time.
PhD holder. Federal Government College, Sokoto alumnus. (If you think you know who I'm talking about… na you sabi.)
Our host that evening was warm, thoughtful, and deeply engaging.
I hope I'm able to write about the wonderful evening I spent in his palatial home in a manner that fosters genuine intercultural understanding.
But for now, I want to focus on what it opened in my mind.
Vienna: A Moment That Stayed With Me
During my stay in Vienna, I did not see a single person sleeping on the streets.
But I did notice one shirtless, unkempt man with jagged hair and no shoes walking briskly near St. Stephen's Cathedral.
I avoided eye contact.
Because he was black.
Since then, I've tried to rationalise it.
Maybe there was a camera.
Maybe it wasn't real.
But perhaps not.
What stayed with me was not what I saw—but what I did.
A Conversation About Civilisation and Culture
That evening, our conversation drifted into politics, culture, and the future of civilisation.
He was brilliant.
And I found myself listening more deeply than I usually do—taking mental notes not just of his words, but of the direction they opened.
At the centre of it was a provocative idea.
That perhaps liberal democracy has largely run its course.
That the United Nations was phenomenally successful in advancing that project.
And that perhaps it is now time for the world to organise itself more intentionally around the cause of culture—around respect for all cultures.
Perhaps we should increasingly pursue our aspirations on the basis of the things that unite us, and culture is surely one of them.
What Small Countries Reveal About Big Questions
Consider:
Austria: — ~9 million people
Switzerland — ~8.5 million
The Netherlands — ~18 million
Combined, they are still smaller than Lagos, Kano, and one large Nigerian state.
Each of these countries has a relatively cohesive cultural identity.
Nigeria does not.
Why, then, are we surprised that they are able to organise themselves around production and build infrastructure that serves their everyday needs?
Nigeria's challenge has been the far more complex task of building unity across hundreds of languages, histories, and worldviews.
And despite what politicians say, that is not a flaw—it is a reality, no different from gravity. Yet machines are engineered—organised precisely—with that reality in mind.
Gravity exists. The challenge is to design systems that work with it rather than pretend it does not.
Hospitality, Humility, and a Nigerian Moment in Europe
At the end of the evening, we called an Uber.
Our host looked at us as though we were completely mad!
"This may be Europe - but we are Nigerians" he said.
Then he called his son.
"Go and drop them."
(And it was in the biggest and grandest Mercedes I'd ever entered)
Nigerians! I love you all!!
Did I mention he was Muslim?
Moments like that remind you that culture is not theory. It is lived generosity.
Austria Again: The Quiet Discomfort
But back to Austria and its 42% income tax.
There were beggars.
A limbless man.
A man sitting quietly near the cathedral exit.
And again, I confess:
Though I wanted to, I gave neither of them anything.
I also avoided eye contact.
Not because they were black this time.
But because I am black, and they were not.
There were beggars.
A limbless man.
A man sitting quietly near the cathedral exit.
Though I wanted to, I gave neither of them anything.
Not because they were black this time.
Even now, I cannot fully explain that instinct. It was not logic. It was reflex.
And that is what unsettles me most.
The Emotional Labour of Being Black
The emotional labour of being black is rarely spoken about.
It is:
Constant awareness.
Constant recalibration.
Constant perception management.
Constant fear of reinforcing stereotypes.
Split-second identity calculations.
It is exhausting.
And often invisible.
Maybe one day I will fully understand my own reactions.
For now, I simply document them honestly.
Because sometimes honesty is not resolution.
It is the beginning of clarity.
Closing Thought
Austria gave me more than clean streets and high taxes.
It gave me a mirror.
A conversation about culture gave me a framework.
And personal moments of discomfort and gave me questions I still carry.
Perhaps the real link between all three is this:
How societies organise externally often reflects how individuals organise internally—around identity, perception, and belonging.
And sometimes, the hardest borders to cross are not national.
They are internal.
Don Kenobi
#CultureNotStructure
#ReCultureNotReStructure
Wendi & Mum
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