A Very Good Gesture!
Nigeria’s president paid tribute Wednesday to a colonial-era burial ground for blacks in lower Manhattan, a visit he said was intended to unite blacks from Africa and America who “have been separated in spirit for far too long.”
“We share the pains of the past and hopes of the future with our African-American brothers and sisters throughout the Western Hemisphere,” said Olusegun Obasanjo, the first African head of state to officially visit the site. (full article)
Make no mistake about it, Most African-Americans see first generation Africans very differently. However, it is going to take more than a wreath to bring the two groups together. What separates us is our lack of a world view. We (African-Americans) find it very easy to identify with other Africans in oppression, but we easily drop that connection when Africans see economic success at a higher rate than most African-Americans.
If you have ever taken a trip to Europe, it is not uncommon to see African people intermingled with other European people. Did you know that one of the largest churches in Russia is headed by an African pastor?
We as African-Americans miss out on so much when we only relate to people groups that are victims of oppression (usually other dark-skinned races). Any well-traveled person can see the influences of African-American culture throughout the world. However African-American culture here in the US is greatly internalized (I know that this can be applied to Americans at large, but I am just speaking about US). Outside of the limited knowledge of Africa that we obtained from a documentary or a college course, most of us (especially our children) no absolutely nothing about European, Pacific island, Slavic, etc culture. I believe that buried deep in our minds we feel that “white culture” (regardless of origin) will always have an element that hates black people.
I think in order for us to see the dream of MLK come to pass (that we are not judged by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character), we as a people have to begin to practice this with other races. If we do not, then our lack of world view will always keep us crippled as a people.
