Africans & Blacks - Can We End the Beef?

We conclude our fourth and final installment in our Focus on Africa series on the blogspot this week by tackling the long and much overdue tension that continues to plague my beloved peoples, my Nigerian (African) lineage versus my African American (Black) community.

Our aim here on “My Omo Naija” is to not point the finger and stamp blame but to foster healthy discussions and embrace the importance of owning up to the blunders on both sides as a means towards progress.

Ok people; let me get focused…

By now many of you already know of “My Coming to America Story” here on the blogspot but If not definitely check it out. It is one of our most popular post visited and it has lots of good teachable moments for sure with many TRUTHS to offer. Funny thing is 20 plus years later, I see so many things the same but yet others remain a world apart.  

Ok, fact remains that it will take much more than just my blog or another post from someone else for us to eliminate the self-hatred, resentment and anger both sides display towards one another on a regular basis. Most of the animosity that exists amongst us in part is due to our own ignorance or smugness which impairs our thinking and limits the ability to have respect for one another.  

My world and life today is very much a mixture of the love and support I get from those in my Nigerian bloodline as well as my Black extended family. I definitely have more African-American friends than Nigerians and connect better at times on several hot button topics with the black community because I grew as a man “Being Black in America”. However; “don’t get it twisted” my foundation and core as a human-being has always been and will remain tied to my Nigerian ancestry and African roots.

So where am I going with all of this?

Well nearly 500 years later with an estimated number far exceeding 10 million Africans enslaved, it has become extremely difficult to measure where we have made progress at times. Here are some general observations and myths that still exist today:

·      African Americans (Blacks) in general don’t like Africa

·      Black people in America still believe “Africans walk around naked” with a large green leaf tied to their waste line

·      Many Blacks do not care to know what is going on in Africa

·      Africans that come to the United States think they are better than us and have some type of superiority complex

·      The Black people in America scare me. They are so violent and have no respect for human life. Look how they act on T.V.

·       People that go to Africa and help refugees, setting up camps, providing medicine, doctors, the majority are white people not Black Americans

·      Black Americans need to stop blaming their conditions on the impact of slavery and racism in America. Coming from Africa, I had less to work with and still turned out successful

After looking at some of these myths, let us now dive right into what I believe to be the basis for our divide and how we have jointly intensified the nature of our relationship over the years.

Slavery Still Binds Us – No matter how much we try to deny or pretend it never happened, this issue remains at the root of our problems.  Knowing that humans were sold by African leaders to turn a profit truly is a sign of betrayal that I have yet to fully see ownership or accountability from an African outlook and until this is better presented to the Black community or addressed from an African perspective the tension will never subside fully.

Black & Proud – If we are so united in our stance as being “Black & Proud” why are so many of us withdrawn from our ancestry and history?  Many Blacks have never been to Africa and are only presented the horrifying images of Africa through the white driven media that is comfortable portraying Africans in their bushes/jungles. They don’t show huge cities and don’t talk about the empires of the past often to balance out the hypocrisy in their news coverage or reporting to the masses.

Culture - I have heard both sides repeatedly attempt to make use of this lame reason as to why there is such a vast disconnect. My experiences in both worlds have only proven that there are very little to no cultural difference amongst us all. Besides language, food and clothing; Blacks and Africans are full of celebrating life, are family centered and have deep spiritual foundations. We must bring down the walls of nationalism, ethnicity, education and economics between us that create this substantial divide.

Knowledge is King – The stereotypes that we have enabled others to propagate about our respective communities is highly irreprehensible on both sides. So when we voluntarily give away the power to educate and influence but conveniently take issue with the end result that is a cop out. Look, if you only want to recognize Africa as a jungle full of bushes that is your choice. And if you only want to cast Blacks in America as a group of people who are lazy, carry guns and highly promiscuous then we all are just contributing to the facilitation of our own demise.   

Survival – For Africans or Blacks in their respective homelands or anywhere on this planet earth everything and everyday is an uphill climb. Why? Maybe in part because we devalue one another so much we don’t have the ability to see quality characteristics amongst ourselves. But wait, let someone of a European skin complexion appear be for us and it’s like we believe all of our ills will be cured. It is the Nigerian backwards way of thinking “Oyinbo na Oyinbo” mentality. Simply put “white is better”. Fact remains when you need help, you don’t look at the person’s skin color that’s providing the help.

Brothers Gonna Work it Out.