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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~