Folks, the title of my forward is African-American "Attitudes" Toward Africans, By Baba Galley Jallow. Chi Jaama Joe Sambou >From: Joe Sambou <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Date: Wed, 3 Apr 2002 21:52:18 +0000 > >Baba Galleh, thanks for narrating your experience/observations of the >African-American "Attitude" towards the African. In the interest of >balanced reporting, could you also please narrate your experience or >observations of African "Attitudes" toward African-Americans. This way >your >readers can decide whether the perceived attitude is one sided or coming >from both sides. I look forward to that read. > >Chi Jaama > >Joe Sambou > > >America's Black Enigma > >The Independent (Banjul) > >COLUMN >April 1, 2002 >Posted to the web April 1, 2002 > >Baba Galleh Jallow >Banjul > >I can never cease being fascinated at what I would call America's Black >Enigma. The complex question of the black presence in America, how black >and >white America are struggling with the very thorny question of integration, >and how blacks treat blacks, particularly how most African-Americans treat >or behave towards their African cousins who are becoming more of a greater >presence in the United States from day to day. > >Personally, I have had quite a few interesting, sometimes rather unpleasant >experiences as an African in America. Most of these experiences, I must >hasten to say, occurred during encounters with fellow black people, >African-Americans. In my earlier discussions of black to black relations in >America, I had suggested that there exists noticeable black to black >racism. >I had suggested that most African-Americans display a noticeable level of >spiteful condescension towards their African cousins. Indeed, they are >almost always quick to make it clear that they are Americans, lest they are >mistaken for Africans. > >This is quite understandable, even if particularly fascinating and even >nauseating. Africa is hardly known in America and the very little knowledge >that goes around is gleaned from television coverage of military atrocities >around the continent. Gruesome footage of the bloody genocide in Rwanda in >1994, gruesome footage of Sierra Leonean babies, children, men and women >amputated by the rebel RUF; gruesome footage of the never ending war in >southern Sudan accompanied by unimaginable scenes of wretchedness and >material depravation. These, among many other negative images, are the >African food from which the average American mind is fed. So that once you >are identified as an African, something clicks in the mind of the person >you >are dealing with, and if you are adequately observant, you notice immediate >changes in behaviour towards you. Generally, such behaviour is >condescension >or even outright contempt. > >The other day, I walked into a CVS pharmacy to buy a bottle of Tylenol >headache tablets. The African-American lady behind the counter smiled and >asked, as they always do, 'may I help you sir?' I gave her the items I >picked from the shelf. 'Do you have a CVS card?' she asked. 'Yes I do?' I >replied, giving her the small red card that entitles customers to a small >discount at the store. 'You are from Africa,' she said, smiling. > >I replied that I am, and surprisingly, she continued smiling at me and >looking quite pleasant. She did not, like most African-American >salespersons >do, suddenly wear a serious cat face and keep mum or try in some way or the >other to make me feel 'the difference'. 'Oh I would like to go to Africa,' >she said. 'Which part of Africa are you from?' she pursued. 'I'm from The >Gambia,' I replied. 'The Gambia? Where is that?' Being used to that >question, I simply said it was in West Africa. > >Very few Americans, particularly African-Americans, know where Africa is, >not to say The Gambia. 'Oh I really would love to go to Africa,' she >repeated. An old, well-built African-American lady standing adjacent me at >the counter said to her: 'Oh baby you gonna waste your life like hell in >Africa.' Then turning to me the same old lady asked, 'Can you cook fufu?' >Presumably, to that old lady, being African meant at least being able to >cook fufu. I had to confess to her though, that I was not privileged to be >able to cook fufu. I was fascinated that that was the only thing she could >think of asking me. Others would ask, can you speak Igbo? Or are you from >Nigeria? > >My experience with that CVS lady was an exception to the general rule. > >Mostly, sales persons would start out saying the automatic, pleasant, 'may >I >help you sir?' when you go shopping in a store. Once, however, you speak >and >your accent tells them that you are an African, you generally notice an >immediate change in their demeanor. Often, you notice that they suddenly >assume an air of pious aloofness, or recoil into themselves and try to have >as little to say to you or do with you. Or, they wear a cat face and >pretend >to be really serious. If you are particularly lucky, they would try to make >you feel that you are not an American, or conversely, that although they >are >black like you, they are clearly Americans, not Africans. > >You go into a bank to cash a check. If you are lucky to find a white >cashier, you generally get a quick service. I have noticed that white >people, in most cases, are much nicer to Africans. If, however, there is an >African-American cashier, well, you might be in for a little suspicion. I >have on a few occasions had the sobering privilege of standing there, >enjoying the drama as an African-American cashier would cast suspicious >glances at me, peer skeptically at my ID, go into an inner office to >consult >a superior officer, come back again, and, I'm sure, secretly wonder... > >It is appropriate, at this point, to indicate that there are many thousands >of African-Americans who earnestly love and adore their roots, and who are >always eager to discuss matters African and proud to identify themselves >with the continent. There also exists a gamut of Africa-oriented or >pro-Africa organisations run largely by black people, such as Africa >Action, >the Constituency for Africa, and TransAfrica among many others, that are >committed to the advancement of the African people. It is also important to >note that United States law forbids any form of racial discrimination or >profiling. The problem of black to black racism, if we may call it that, is >highly individual. > >Finally, America is plagued by a sickening culture of suspicion, >particularly suspicion of black people; particularly if you are a black >person, not wearing a well-pressed suit with tails, ties and a pair of >shining black shoes to match; particularly if you are an African, not >having >smooth cheeks and wearing a well pressed suit, with an air of dazzling >sophistication around you, with a smart Will Smith accent. As I am not in >the habit of wearing suits just for the sake of demonstrating my >sophistication, or assuming a fake accent, I often face similar situations >of suspicion. Such suspicion, I must say, is understandable considering the >high rates of crime, particularly among black people in America. Not that >white America is above crime. > >For the African in America, the choices are clear: Either develop a thick >skin, remain who you are, refuse to feel ridiculed and make those who try >to >ridicule you into study subjects. Or, go all out to pretend that you are an >African-American and in the process, learn to speak through your nose, >incur >mountains of debt, go bankrupt or wreck psychological damage on yourself. > >Of course, what I call - inappropriately perhaps - America's Black Enigma, >is too complex and varied to discuss in an essay of this length. > >If we are lucky, we might be able to examine other aspects of this >fascinating subject in subsequent discussions. Meanwhile, I am learning to >cook fufu so that if I encountered that sweet old lady again, I could shout >a resounding YES to her very pertinent question: Can you cook fufu? > > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface >at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html >To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: >[log in to unmask] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~