Should We Be Embracing the “African” in African American?
On the flip side are the migrant Africans, from various parts of the continent, who are either unfamiliar or ambivalent with the past and continued struggle of American blacks. In some cases, these native-born Africans carry some of their own prejudices, which too have been perpetuated through the media. For example, believing that African-Americans are too racially ambiguous to be considered “full-blood” Africans or believing that Blacks harbor a deep-seated “chip on their shoulder” syndrome about slavery, which has prohibited them from fully taken advantages of the land of opportunity.
The result is that many native-born Africans and African-Americans have become ignorant to each other’s complex realities, choosing to maintain a separate identity and not fully capitalizing of each other’s various strengths.
However, while cultural differences remain, our shared future in a country, where racial discrimination and intimidation still exist, have a greater power to unite both sides of the same black coin. In other words, while we may continue to divide intra-racially, there are others, who only see “black” and will react accordingly – just ask the likes of Amadou Diallo and Sean Bell.
To bridge the divide, there must be a collective effort to develop a mutual respect and understanding of one another’s struggle, strengths and triumphs. Our people, collectively, have to understand that colonization in some ways was no different than slavery and its impact of how we view ourselves, and each other, is all relative. Perhaps we are in need of another “Back to Africa” movement, like what was started by Jamaican-born Marcus Garvey, in which the primary focus is on educating, outreach and reconciliation of all people of African descent worldwide.
One could hope that African Americans and Africans alike will someday realize the importance of economic, political and cultural linkages with our brothers and sisters and embrace the term “African” no matter where they may reside in the Diaspora.
Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.
