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Africa and Afro-American
Identity
Problems and Possibilities
By
Everett E. Goodwin
One afternoon last summer, while
walking along a crowded, dust
smogged street in Accra, Ghana,
I overheard an exchange between
two young Ghanaians and a fellow
Afro-American. Upon spotting the
Afro-American, the Ghanaians
shouted out, “Hey, Negro!” The
other took a few more steps,
then whirled about and retorted
angrily, “I’m a Black Man, not a
Negro. Don’t call me Negro.” The
Africans, while they recognized
the term as pejorative, could
not know the full extent of the
distress they caused. The
Afro-American was left trembling
with anger and frustration. This
was only one of the many
misunderstandings between
Africans and Afro-Americans
which I witnessed and heard
reported to me while in West
Africa.
Afro-American Identity
The Black American’s history in
America can be thought of as a
long struggle for identity as
well as survival. While Blacks
are deeply enmeshed in American
society, they are not simply
White Americans in Black face.
They have succeeded in retaining
and creating a strong variant
culture of their own. Dr. W.E.B.
Du Bois was the first to point
out the “two-ness” experienced
by Black Americans. He felt that
the dual realities of their
being both Black and American
were never wholly reconciled.
In recent years young
Afro-Americans have attempted to
resolve this troublesome
“two-ness” by emphasizing their
Blackness. In addition, they
have chosen to identify
Blackness with their African
inheritance rather than with
their peculiar American
experience. Their enthusiasm has
sparked an African explosion in
the States. African names,
costumes and symbols have
proliferated. Efforts have been
made to transplant African
life-styles. Thousands are
looking to the “Motherland” for
renewed pride and confidence.
It is only in recent years that
numbers of young Afro-Americans
have been able to find
opportunities to visit the
“Motherland.” Because of the
intensity of their emotional
involvement with their ideas of
Africa, most of those who travel
do not regard themselves as mere
tourists. They expect to be
greeted by Brothers not only of
skin but also of spirit. They
anticipate near instantaneous
communion and relationships free
of exploitation with their
African kin. They believe that
they will be entering countries
where Black People are in
control of their own destinies
and where their own aspirations
for influence and
self-determination are
resounded, even realized.
Largely because of their soaring
expectations and lack of solid
preparation, many young
Afro-Americans who go to Africa
are experiencing frustrations
and coming away discouraged.
Unfortunately, nothing can
diminish the fact that all
communications between those
held captive and the
“Motherland” were severed when
the slave ships set sail.
Distance and darkness were set
between the captured and the
roots of their own culture. The
hostile circumstances of slavery
forced the enslaved to make many
cultural adaptations. Those who
remained in Africa had no way of
following the plight of their
Brothers. While Africans today
exhibit a great deal of
enthusiasm for Black American
entertainers, such as Louis
Armstrong, Ray Charles, James
Brown, and heroes such as
Muhammad Ali, they lack even
minimal information concerning
the average Afro-American’s past
struggles, present challenges,
family life, etc.
Africans and Afro-Americans do
share a basic heritage. Neither,
however, understand the
significance of the past 300
years of separation of how that
separation can now be bridged.
Economic Differences
There are several sources of the
problems which disrupt
communications between Africans
and Afro-Americans. One of these
is the economic distance which
now exists between them. Much to
their dismay, many
Afro-Americans traveling in West
Africa find themselves regarded
first of all as Americans
with money. They are
victimized by what one might
call a “rich American syndrome.”
Prices for craft items and taxi
service escalate as soon as they
appear. Tradesmen gives them no
slack in the unfamiliar
bargaining processes. Many
Africans approach them but with
economic benefit rather than
affirmation of Brotherhood in
mind.
For many young people,
especially those who go to
Africa on limited budgets, this
aspect of their encounter is
particularly distressing. They
can attempt to remind Africans
that Afro-Americans have long
been the economically depressed
people of the United States.
Africans are, however, generally
quick to point out the fact that
these tourists have sufficient
resources to purchase transport
across the Atlantic. They
obviously have a great deal more
money available to them than do
the vast majority of Africans.
They would expect to spend money
if they were touring elsewhere
and they should hold no
different expectations for
Africa. Of course, these mild
forms of profiteering are not
peculiar to Africa. It is just
the fact that traveling
Afro-Americans often have such
lofty expectations of their
encounter with Africans that the
appearance of the same old human
tarnish brings them such acute
disappointment.
Attitudes Toward Whites
Another source of
misunderstanding between
Africans and Afro-Americans lies
in their differing attitudes
toward white people.
Afro-Americans know that they
have been grossly mistreated in
the United States. They are also
aware that the peoples of Africa
have been exploited by whites
over the course of centuries.
Black American scholars and
activist have written and spoken
much about the common cause
existing between Africans,
Afro-Americans and others of the
Third World. Many young
travelers assume that they will
find Africans sharing their own
negative evaluations of white
people.
The fact is, however, that the
African’s experience with whites
has been significantly different
from the Afro-American’s. The
European has always been in a
minority position in Africa. In
West Africa, he always had to
bully or bribe African chiefs
and dignitaries into his camp
before he could carry on with
business. Most Africans outside
of the coastal areas knew of the
European primarily, if not
entirely, through African
middlemen. Later, when the
Europeans were entrenched as
administrators, they usually
handled themselves adroitly. The
British, in particular, usually
managed to maintain a correct if
distant relationship with their
African subjects. Many Africans
still venerate European
life-styles and standards.
Afro-Americans often display
shock when they see what they
consider overly deferential
attitudes toward whites being
assumed by Africans. On one
occasion I even overheard an
Afro-American berating a
Ghanaian university student
because the student had
associated with three visiting
young white Americans. The
student was left dumbfounded. He
simply could not relate to the
strident tones and harsh content
of the Afro-American’s race
conscious rhetoric. Africans
have their own race and
revolutionary consciousness.
They exhibit a growing sense of
indignation toward exploitations
by Europeans and other
foreigners among them. They are
increasingly able to affirm the
values of African art and
culture. Obviously these
developments in Africa have been
encouraged and enhanced by
concurrent developments in the
States. African young people
respond to the message of “Black
and Proud.” Africans feel
themselves strengthened by the
successes of Black people here.
But theirs is a different scene.
Their own struggles for unity
and power must take different
forms. The Afro-Americans cannot
expect to transplant the
American racial reality to
Africa.
Ideas of Social Relationships
Another cause of
misunderstanding between
Africans and Afro-Americans lies
in their differing concepts of
appropriate social
relationships. Visitors without
an African orientation tend to
react with indignation when they
find relatives of their hosts
serving in some of the same
capacities as domestic help.
They do not realize that any
African who has acquired wealth
and position also has been
awarded a multitude of
additional responsibilities by
his family and fellows.
Relatives with fewer resources
generally feel free to send
children to him for maintenance
and education. If he is to
remain in respect of traditional
practices, the wealthy one
cannot refuse the poorer ones
even though his household might
grow to unmanageable
proportions. On accepting his
additional charges, he gains
only some increased authority
over them. He must require that
they make some contribution to
his household in return for
their upkeep.
Visitors to Africa will also
find that the relationships
between employers and employees
are much more diffused than in
the United States. In Africa an
employee frequently is called
upon to assume multiple roles.
For example, a skilled worker
coming to the home of a wealthy
African to repair the
air-conditioner might find
himself detailed to running to
the store for some beer or
assisting the lady of the house
with her groceries before he
takes his leave. To Westerners
steeped in the ways of modern
industrial society where lines
of specialization are adhered to
strictly, such practices seem
strange. While it might appear
to the visitor that the employer
is taking advantage of the
worker, this is not the
understanding of the people
involved. Of course, salaries
and fees paid in Africa are only
a fraction of those paid here.
Many workers feel the need of
securing for themselves sources
of financial aid or influential
backing for times of difficulty.
They are, therefore, eager to
ingratiate themselves with
wealthier, better established
individuals by serving them
beyond required limits. While
the employer might receive the
extra benefits initially, if the
relationship continues, he will
eventually find that he has
built up a fund of obligation he
must honor.
As it is, both the tradition of
extended family responsibility
and the overall economic
situation encourage the African
to accept relationships of
authority and dependency which
are practically unknown here. To
the Afro-American who is aiming
at achieving equality in all of
his relationships, whether with
parents or employers, these
relationships appear demeaning.
He sees in them shadows of a
past he would prefer to forget.
Unfortunately, number of
visiting Afro-Americans have
voiced profound distaste for the
habits of their Brothers before
they learned much about African
society. When this has occurred
it has served only to increase
estrangement.
Styles of Speech and Dress
A fourth factor complicating the
exchange between Africans and
Afro-Americans is their
differing standards of dress and
speech. In the area of dress,
young Americans have a penchant
for wearing blue jeans. Not only
do they find them comfortable,
they also feel that wearing
jeans identifies them with the
plight of the common man,
presumably African as well as
American. Regrettably, Africans
do not know of their symbolic
importance. They cannot believe
that rich Americans would wear
such coarse clothing at home.
Instead, they believe that the
Afro-Americans who appear in
them are dressing down to
meet their poor cousins or
ignorant people of the bush.
They sometimes view the wearing
of blue denim as a direct
insult.
Likewise, the low-cut tops,
bralessness and brief skirts or
hot pants worn by many American
girls for comfort, and also as
symbols of their liberation from
earlier repressive codes of
dress and decorum, are not
appreciated by Africans. African
parents fear that the influence
of young Americans will
precipitate a decline of morals
among their own youth. While
there are some in Africa who
wear little clothing, they are
not so many as the National
Geographic would lead us to
believe. Most Africans today
feel that the body should be
covered.
It was the British rather than
the Americans who set African
standards for the use of the
English language. As a
consequence, many
English-speaking Africans show a
marked distaste for any but the
proper British English. When
they hear Black Americans using
such idioms as “dig it” or
“groovy” they are sometimes
amused. Often they regard it as
clear evidence of lesser
breeding.
Americanisms
Americans have never been noted
as gracious tourists. Coming
from the richest and most modern
of countries (in term of
hardware), they are often
impatient with the
inconveniences and
inefficiencies they find
elsewhere. A vociferous people,
they do not hesitate to let
their dissatisfactions become
known. Too readily they conclude
that some deficiency in the
other people is responsible for
their lack of achievement and
assume an air of moral
superiority. As tourists,
Afro-Americans display many of
the same virtues and vices as
other Americans. They also
complain about lack of hot water
or difficulty in finding a good
hamburger. They also allow their
personal discomfort to be
expressed as impatience with any
nearby person who might be held
responsible.
Europeans and other frequently
visited by Americans have had
their own sense of pride in
their traditions and
accomplishments to shield them
from the criticisms of
Americans. Africa, however, has
been described as “the follower”
continent with relation to other
parts of the world. Africans are
painfully aware of this and are,
with justification, extremely
sensitive to any kind of
criticism.
It is easy for Afro-Americans to
make tactless comparisons
between Africa and the States.
Hot water is scarce,
transportation erratic and dust
thick. Few Americans are
immediately, if ever, able to
show enthusiasm for African food
with its generous spicing of
pepper. Few can show unqualified
enthusiasm for African tastes in
popular music, which includes
American country and western, a
form still linked in the minds
of most Afro-Americans with the
most virulent white racism. Many
Afro-Americans feel compelled to
say something about the ways in
which the real Africa fails to
meet their grand expectations.
Probably they do not intend
their comments to be hurtful.
Most Africans could, however,
appreciate a bit less honesty
and a bit more diplomacy.
With Resistance
One final block to
African-Afro-American
rapprochement is white
resistance. I have never met a
white individual in the States,
Europe or Africa who was
anything but skeptical about the
possibilities. The
white-controlled media insist
that Africans and Afro-Americans
are wholly distinct as peoples.
White academicians tend to
require complex scientific
proofs before giving any
credence to cultural bonds.
White people feel that their
attitudes reflect only the
realities of the modern world.
It seems more likely, however,
that the roots are deeply
embedded in the psyche. Perhaps,
despairing of their own ability
to reach and understand Africa
and Africans, white people feel
jealously and anger when
Afro-Americans suggest that they
might have some special basis
for success. The attitudes could
also proceed from residual
racism and accompanying fear
that Black people united would
represent a sort of “Black
Peril.”
Whatever its roots, there can be
no doubt that white resistance
has hurt Black cohesion. Whites
still control most of the
world’s resources and
institutions. They feel that
they can, therefore, control how
many of these resources are
allowed to assist Africans and
Afro-Americans in their efforts
to improve their communications
and cooperation. White people
have been able to place
themselves in positions of
authority as teachers, preachers
and entrepreneurs throughout the
Black world. Using these
positions they can easily
disseminate their messages of
skepticism and cultivate
distrust among Black people.
Identity Reconsidered
The problems involved in
relating to Africans seem to
force many young Afro-Americans
who visit to arrive at
conclusions about African
significance for them which are
unnecessarily restrictive. Some
come away admiring only the
“primitive” in Africa. They feel
that the traditional culture
alone is legitimately African
and dismiss as unworthy and
clearly tainted by Western
influence the efforts of
urbanized and educated Africans
to improve their lot. Others
come away impressed only by the
fact that Black men do control
the political structures in many
African countries or that
progress toward modernization is
being made. They neglect
exploration of the fantastic
depth and fertility of the
ages-old culture. Some return
home completely disgruntled,
claiming that they found nothing
of value. They communication and
the deprivations which one must
encounter when traveling in
Africa to submerge their
sensitivities.
It is lamentable that barriers
do exist and inhibit
understanding between Africans
and Afro-Americans, for our
kinship is real and not so
difficult to discover. Visit any
African spiritualist church or
village celebration and see if
shades of the Fifth Baptist
Church are not evoked. Ceremony
and spontaneous dancing and
singing are interwoven. All are
free to participate, and
sometimes the offerings of the
“least” are appreciated above
those of the most dignified.
Africans are also keen at
observation and skilled at
detecting the humor in social
situations. Their penchant for
open debate in the chop bars and
markets reappears in our barber
shops and pool halls. Their
debate, like ours, is often
undertaken as much for the
enjoyment as for the
edification. Respect is given
the man with the agile tongue
and the ability to sway his
audience. Go to any party given
by Africans, sophisticated or
not, and see if, while the
language might be different, the
feeling is the same.
Someone once told me, “Everytime
you find four Afro-Americans
together, there’s a fifth and a
party.” The same is true in
Africa, although the fifth might
be replaced by a sizeable
calabash of palm wine. Africans
do not come together to engage
in trite conversation but to
enjoy.
In addition to their affinity of
culture and character, Africans
and Afro-Americans share the
reality of being Black in a
white-dominated world. While
this reality might confront each
a bit differently, it
nevertheless exists for both.
Both have been consciously
excluded from critical social,
political and economic spheres.
Both must now gain access to and
overcome severe accumulated
technical deficits. Each can be
strengthened in efforts to deal
with these momentous problems if
he will pool wisdom and
resources with the other. We
must express our solidarity with
African peoples now.
Experience of Africa is
essential to the Afro-American
who wants to enlarge and enrich
his identity. A trip there is
necessary step in his coming to
understand himself as part of a
vast, energetic, complex and
wonderful people. Only
interaction with Africa and Her
people can illuminate the roots
and full significance of many
aspects of Afro-American
culture. Coming to grips with
the full extent of the
exploitation, deprivation and
potential in Africa must deepen
the Afro-American’s sense of
what it is to be Black in
today’s world.
While she can make substantial
contributions, Africa cannot
provide the answer to the
Afro-American’s search for
identity. While we are an
African people, we are not
Africans, nor are we white
Americans. There is no reason
why we should want to merge with
either of these identities. Our
own experience has provided us
with much that is unique and of
great value. Our particular
challenge is to create and live
an identity which recognizes our
total heritage
Everett E. Goodwin, both of
“African and Afro-American
Identity: Problems and
Possibilities,” is a resident of
Washington, D. C.
Source: Black
World •May 1973 •
Vol. XXII No. 7 • Chicago, IL
60605
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posted 16
March 2009 |
