Nigerian Twitter was on fire today after a user @Hoekage77, posted numerous xenophobic screenshots from ostensibly black American users, with the caption referencing Africans as the “n***ers of black people”. Multiple users would chime in, many with tweets garnering hundreds of retweets, with similar sentiments of being disdained by black Americans:
Just so you know. If racism was reversed and it affected Africans in africa DIRECTLY. The average black American would not give the slightest fuck. You’re welcome
— Loladè (@Lolade4PF) June 23, 2020
Black Americans fighting racism but discriminating Africans <<<
— Seekthelordfirst (@MorrisBaker_) June 23, 2020
Imagine fighting racism but discriminating Africans. it shows you just angry you’re not the oppressor. https://t.co/iRmzqBnIoo
— kaye 🇳🇬 (@kayechukwu) June 23, 2020
Black Americans don’t give a shit about Africans. The sooner you understand, the better.
— Chemical Brother 👌 (@chemicalbrodar) June 23, 2020
This sentiment would be echoed in various other tweets from users all claiming that black Americans either are indifferent to the situation of their African cousins, or worse.
Black Americans, we need to do better when it comes to xenophobia.
Firstly, it has been made abundantly clear that African lives, when on American shores are black lives and are treated as such, for better or for worse. This is a symptom of American racism: everyone from Missouri to Mozambique is labeled with the uniform moniker “Black”. Citizens of African nations and African immigrants, when in the United States, should not be in any sort of rivalry. On the contrary, the current oppression affects us equally.
Where we differ is in the legacy of oppression. A slaveholder has a different meaning for an African-American than for his Ghanaian counterpart. The legacy of Jim Crow. The redlining. The intergenerational trauma. These legacies unique to black Americans – chattel slavery, reconstruction – should never be downplayed. But the lack thereof should not disqualify Africans from any solidarity afforded to black Americans: 2020 sees us all in the same boat.
African Jews and non-Jews are, in fact, more connected to their African-American counterparts now than ever before, thanks to the proliferation of messaging and social apps. We should be leveraging social media and technology to foster new connections with the Continent as black Americans, not denigrating someone’s Wi-Fi connection.
Is there a problem with xenophobia in the Black American community? Undoubtedly. Is there a problem with anti-African-American sentiment in many African communities? Assuredly. And now that the divisions have been brought to light, we can begin to work on fixing them. Because ALL Black lives matter, regardless of which flag flies over them.
