Meghan Crosby's May 19 column, The same roots
but two very different worlds unearths the historical and current struggles and debates going on in black intellectual communities. There continues to be a divide between the usage of the words African and black, as manifested in her article. It is important to point out without waging war on anyone that morphologically, the word African denotes the origin and continent of certain group of people, hence the use of the term continental African. Black, on the other hand, denotes the complexion of certain race of people, usually people of African descent.
Therefore, trying to create an identity divide using these words needs critical evaluation. The use of the term African-American to distinguish persons of African descent born in the United States from continental Africans is a divide-and-rule strategy devised by the imperialistic tendencies of the white race. Whereas the usage of the term African-American has attracted intellectual debate and criticisms, it is important to note that the term black also conveys the same level of criticisms. Therefore, Meghan needs to revisit the etymology of the terms African and black for their appropriate usage. Using African for people from the continent and black for Africans in the United States is an extreme dichotomization of our identity. To me, color is just a microcosm of our identity, but the term African goes beyond the color to include cultures, beliefs and norms.
Whereas Africans on the continent are struggling with their adulterated culture, Africans in the United States are also grappling with the institutionalization and assimilation of the very substance of their selves. The kind of scientific racism, discrimination and denigration that Africans face in the United States are not different from the pain and anguish that the continent faces as a result of the direct precipitation of European colonialism, global capitalist exploitation, the ruthless extraction of resources especially in the name of debt servicing by international finance houses and the imposition of maniacal leaders by the west to reinforce western imperialism. Africans need to understand the sameness of our origin and purge ourselves from the ills of division and give way to unity, a necessary vitality to community-and nation-building.
Of course we do read about the hostilities Africans in the United States have been going through, but we are also made to believe that our brothers and sisters are in a safe haven with a rosy life. But what do you see about Africa anytime you turn your television to Discovery or the Travel Channel? Nothing but a disjointed, petrified and dislocated part of the world resided in by poverty-stricken men and women, presided by political thugs, ramshackle gangs and military adventurists torn apart from the global system. Such faces of Africa have not only betrayed the continent in the sight of outsiders, but also left us in the hands of our brothers and sisters of African descent who look at us as dirty, barbaric, aggressive, disorganized and dangerous. This mediated image of Africa has disjointed us from the rest of the world to the extent that the African born in the United States has failed to identify himself/herself with the continent, let alone refer to the continent as home.
Reaching each other, to me, is not a problem to the African from the continent. At least African students in Ohio University have demonstrated their willingness to embrace all Africans in the United States in their small community organization. African Students Union (ASU), the only organization that serves as the mouthpiece of Africans and their associates, has had a number of Africans born in the United States on the executive board. ASU has continuously expressed her proclivity to unite all Africans regardless of one's place of birth. Additionally, there have been instances when ASU organized programs dubbed Bridging the Gap where all Africans from the continent, the United States and the Diasporic communities come together to find a common ground for unity. How many ASU programs has she attended? What about our meetings? Putting all these together, it is important for Meghan and all Africans to note that a visitor cannot force himself into your house without opening your doors. A sense of hospitability and welcomeness is a necessary condition to begin any dialogue between the Continental African and African born in the United States.
-Atuahene is graduate student in the College of Education. Send him an e-mail at francis.atuahene@ohiou.edu.
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