Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

As we gear up to celebrate the 5th Annual Africa Fest under the subtheme:"Embracing Cultural Diversity Among People of African Descent", I thought this article might be of interest to you. There is the need to work together as one people with one destiny.

 

Enjoy it and feel free to make your comments.

Thanks.

 

Joe Brewoo

 

NATIVE AFRICANS Vs AFRICAN AMERICANS:
THE BAD-BLOOD, THE BATTLE AND THE BENEDICTION

 

By Rudolph Okonkwo

 

TWO HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW, A NEW GENERATION OF BLACK men and women will inhabit the earth. They will roam the streets of this world, from London to Lagos, from New York to Johannesburg, from Cairo to Rio de Janeiro. They will look back at this generation of ours and most likely proclaim us as those who lived in dark ages.

Among the things they would find baffling is how Whites who constitute only 13 percent of the world population control virtually all the continents of this earth. They will shudder at the reasons we the Black people of this age give for our inability to come together and reclaim our rightful place in the family of humanity.

They will look with shame at the Central African country of Zaire, a country ten times the size of Great Britain and five times that of France, with enough mineral resources to ground up to a third of the air power of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), were it to decide not to export cobalt. They will look at African Americans of today – arguably the most privileged group of Blacks – and wonder why in spite of living in the most powerful nation on earth couldn’t chart the path for the rest of the Black world.

They will weigh the excuses we give today against the fact that there are twice as many African Americans as there are Jews throughout the world. Yet, only a fraction of Jews, the American Jews, influence the United States policy towards the Middle East. If American Jews could find enough reasons to make America to give over two billion dollars in aid to Israel each year, African Americans could easily lay their hands on a million reasons why such favors should be extended to Africa, if they tried hard enough.

They will look at Nigeria, the so-called giant of Africa, and cry. A country that has one in every six blacks on earth, a country with enough crude oil reserve to dictate how much the price of a gallon of gas would cost anywhere in the world. But, the giant is there, flat on its stomach. Also, they will check the records Blacks hold across the world, the millions of untapped Black talents wasting away in several parts of the world, and wonder. The biggest question they will find very difficult to answer is why it was so hard. Did anybody really try?

I don’t think we want the generations yet unborn to walk away asking, why couldn’t our forefathers get along with their brothers around the world? Why did they keep to themselves while the rest of the world exploit the labor and the resources of Blacks? Why was it so difficult for them to understand each other?

When I was in Africa, I was bewildered by the enormous problems confronting Africa and I found no other viable solution but to look up to Africans in the Diaspora. Since I joined Africans in Diaspora I have come to appreciate more the degree of the problem facing Blacks around the globe. Irrespective of the fancy theory that the intellectual class proposes, there are visible cracks in the relationship between African Americans and native Africans, which is derailing very effort to establish political, economic, and cultural ties among all Black people. Misunderstanding and mistrust continue to thrive, despite wider exposure of people to other cultures and ways of life. A great proportion of the blame goes to the media that tend to perpetuate myths and unsubstantiated innuendoes.

Meanwhile, a frightening development is taking root. As African Americans embrace Islam, Kwaanza or any other concept associated with Africa, Africans in their romantic picture of the western world are letting themselves become Americanized. These contradictory trend and the shameful exploitation of the vast material and intellectual resources of Black people ought to be our concern. Instead, what we have is a myriad of characterizations promoted by some paranoids.

Some of these characterizations on both sides are insulting and unprintable. One thing is however common: both sides mistrust and misunderstand each other. In public there is a blatant denial of this disgusting dichotomy. So what shall we do about this? Talk, of course. Which was exactly what I did. I went out and walked to a cross section of Black people in an effort to find out why we are so divided. Here are some of the responses I got.

I asked an African (he pleaded anonymous) to describe the state of the relationship between Africans and African Americans. He answered, “There is no relationship. We have nothing in common with them except the color of our skin. Whatever we had in common was wiped out during slavery.” When I confronted him with the fact that de-Africanization of Black America is moving at the same speed with the Americanization of native Africa he said, ”They cannot be Africans in America. They should accept their American heritage and stick with it.” When asked why some Africans feel so detached from their African American brothers and sisters, he gave an unprintable answer.

Just when I thought that the African in question, a computer science senior at Norfolk State University, has got a chronic misconception of African Americans, I met an African American who felt that anyone expecting anything good to come out of Africa is wasting his or her time. “We, the African Americans are the best Africa has to offer. What was left of Africa after slavery was the scum of the Black world. That is why two hundred years after the beginning of industrial revolution Africans are yet to feed themselves have remained wretched of the earth.”

Kelly Willis, a Mass Communication major at Norfolk State University, who had met many Africans in his native state of New York, had a moderate view of the problem. He perceived the relationship between native Africans and African Americans to be good though he saw room for improvement. “I try not to look at the negative comments,” he said. He however conceded that there are differences in attitude, which he attributed to the different political and economic experiences both sides have had. Africans, he observed, should learn from African Americans the tact needed when one is dealing with European Americans, “Only trust to a certain point.”

In the same vein, Dominique Lancry, a Texan of Panamanian origin, decried the attitude of Africans whom she said carried themselves about like royalties and joined Whites to look down on African Americans. “I don’t want them to judge us,” she stated. “I want them to learn our heritage before they judge us.” Hitting the same note, Thaddeus Freeman, a business major at N.S.U lamented,” Everyone who comes to this country see the Black people as the people to do the work… They don’t give us the respect we deserve.” Mr. Freeman specially abhorred the attitude of some Africans whom, he alleged, had nicknamed African Americans “akata”. In his opinion, we all should work together, “Unite Africa and take over the world.”

Victoria Mckoy, a hair stylist refused to be drawn into any feud. “I try very hard not to judge people,” she pleaded. “We are not different from Africans. Even if I experience a negative my attitude is to overcome it. I can’t judge people. If I’m constantly talking about Africans, Jamaicans, Asians, what does that say about me?”

Such sentiments could not dissuade Dewitt Webster, a Norfolk based Public health expert, who had traveled extensively in Africa and had lived in Nigeria for more than five years. He described the relationship between Africans and African Americans as “improving”. He blamed miscommunication for lack of understanding being experienced in some quarters. He noted that Africans who associate with only European Americans and let the biased media influence them, only experience one side of the American life and tend to pick up the attitude of European Americans about African Americans. “African Americans,” he said, “see Africans as arrogant but when I went to Africa I understood that it is about having self confidence. Having an understanding of who you are and where you come from - they are the key to having a strong personality.” He called for a more realistic look at Africa, noting that there is strength in our diversity. “We need to realize that in spite of how far away we may be, or how long ago we had left, there are so much of Africa that are part of us and vice versa.”

Mr. Webster warned that Africans must be taught to hold on to their culture, while African Americans on their part should learn perseverance, respect for elders, and collaboration with Africans. “These are things we used to know,” he lamented. African Americans, he noted, are the wealthiest blacks in the world and should join the rest of the world to explore the business opportunities in Africa. He advocated that African Americans should learn at least one African language, put in extra effort to understand the politics and economics of Africa so that they will take the lead in the area of transferring appropriate technology to Africa.

Irrespective of what differences exist between African Americans and Africans, and how Blacks all over the world perceive each other, the destiny of all Black people are intertwined in their common African Heritage. There is truly only one way to go - either for all Black people to unite and regain their rightful place, or to remain disconnected and continue to be other peoples’ pawns in this game of life.