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Why Africans and African-Americans Don’t Get Along
“Black people are cursed with petty differences” — Marcus Garvey
It seems to be a ‘crabs in a bucket’ mentality.
Which really pisses me off because we’re inherently the same. Not in a monolithic sense, but due to the fact that we have many things in common.
As an African living in North America, I’m astonished and disheartened by the animosity exhibited in the black diaspora.
The predominant population of Black Americans are descendants of Africans. But over time, the two communities have slowly severed any meaningful connections to the point that we no longer recognize each other.
Yet we as the melanated-skin community don’t seem to want to rebuild it in any way, shape or form.
Instead, we divide ourselves even further.
To understand the friction between us, we need to investigate the culprits behind it.
White Supremacy
This belief has caused more damage to us than we care to admit.
If it were not for the disruptive events of the transatlantic slave trade, many African Americans today would have remained in Africa.
The role of white supremacy in America is well-documented. Captured Africans were forced to endure multitudes of hardships for hundreds of years; slave labour, discrimination, brutality, and even the retitling of their own names.
The damage it did to the African continent was significant in its own way. Colonialism made African colonies dependent on European powers and completely diminished any economic potential they might have gained.
It forced Africans into slave labour on colonial plantations where they also faced racial discrimination and brutality.
Now we’ve found ourselves at the bottom of the barrel. (According to Western perceptions and worldviews)
