Black people have a common root; a common origin, and common ancestry. Despite the fact that we have become stretched across various continents, and countries thereby forming a significant aspect of that countries history, we still remain the same.
We have suffered various cases of discrimination, persecution and even death as a result of our skin colour. However, that is not the bone of contention here, as the issue here is far more pressing. We are talking about black-on-black discrimination. We are talking about the fact that most black persons in American and Europe and other developed entities, view blacks in Africa as being inferior.
The reason for this obviously springs from the fact that Africa as a whole appears to be less developed than America and most countries in Europe. Hence, the dilapidated state of the African environment manifests itself in the life of the Africa man. With this at the back of their minds, why should you count, as an African in Africa?
Why should you count, when you cannot afford the type of articles of clothing they wear? why should you count when the system works perfectly well for their benefit, as a ‘significant minority’? why should you count when their ‘ancestors’ had to pass through slavery to ensure their ‘place’ in the world today? Of course, you do not count.
And to prove that you really do not count, that is why you get single nomination for any entertainment award as an African (BET, Oscars), whereas other blacks get to be nominated across other categories. You get signed on a black record label only when you must have completely dominated the African market, whereas they get signed with just one hit song. Non-African Black celebrities only visit Africa in cases of humanitarian services, or just to show they care. It becomes a bragging right for you when Ancestry.com ‘proves’ that you have a certain PERCENTAGE of African origin in you; how can you not decide that we do not count? lol.
But why would you blame them? They were the ones that came as slaves; they worked the earth, and finally got ’emancipated’ only to face racism. Yet they kept pushing and finally, they are ‘here’. Do you not think they deserve to treat other Africans the way they do? Of course, they do. In fact, we should be grateful that they show us some sort of interest, like listen to Afrobeat, talk about real African culture (not the usual “we came from Egypt” story), wear African prints.
Africans, on the other hand, is not doing badly for themselves. Most black graduands from Ivy league universities are African students. In fact, African-Americans do not come up to the same quota of graduands as do African students. CNN recorded that Nigerians are the most qualified professionals, with 53%, as against other minorities in America. Why? Because the fact that we come from a less developed society, motivates us to be better. Most African immigrants tend to be more hardworking and dedicated than the black citizens in these localities.
And so the struggle continues. Who holds dominance? Who should be seen as being relevant when issues bothering on black people generally come up? To answer that question, let us go back to the first paragraph where we stated that we are all one and the same. no matter what may have happened that led to us being apart, we are still one. And for that reason, we should really consider one another as being relevant.
Forget the geographical differences, for at the end when two black people stand together, their respective locality does not count, rather the fact that they have the same colour will take prominence. We should learn how to carry each other along. For, in the end, we are all one and the same.
