Bridging the Gap: Intra-cultural Miscommunication Between Africans and African-Americans

NOTE: The following is about an intra-cultural discourse that has been going on for decades. Please do not hesitate to add to the discourse by commenting. Also, I would like to note that this does not discuss the disdain from Africans to African-Americans. Please share your experiences.

“You know what? I don’t really like Africans.” That was what my teacher said the very first day of class. Considering that my parents are Nigerian, I was rather offended, especially since my teacher is an African-American male from an educated background.

However, hearing something like this from African-Americans was not new for me. Yes, it was unexpected since it was from an educated man who is an educator, but I have heard this from African-Americans of varied backgrounds, regardless of the level of education. Personally, when I reveal that I am ethnically Nigerian to anyone who is not African-American, sometimes there is a sense of curiosity in the questioning about the Africa as a continent and Nigeria as a country. Contrarily, with some African-Americans, sadly there seems to be this sense of prejudice toward and resentment of Africans (directly or indirectly towards me), rooted in ignorance. I have been discriminated against because of my ethnicity by people of every racial/ethnic group, but nowhere close to the discrimination by African-Americans.

Having this first-hand knowledge and experience, several questions have come to mind. Where did this resentment of Africans from African-Americans come from? Why does it exist, especially since Africans and African-Americans are anthropologically identical? How can this resentment be eradicated? What steps can be taken to begin cultural relativity between Africans and African-Americans? The disdain of Africa and African cultures is rooted in the myths of Africa portrayed in American media, especially during slavery, to cause African-Americans to disassociate themselves from the continent and have European-Americans maintain systematic social control over slaves and (in the past and presently) freed African-Americans. American media usually does the following when referring to Africa: disseminate propaganda, lack diverse imagery, misinform and omit information.

Notorious for disseminating propaganda (and ever still permeates many facets of current media) would be blackface minstrelsy. Blackface began around the 1830s. The minstrel show would usually be advertised as a glimpse or a “peep” into plantation life, claiming to show the true nature of black slaves and were traveling shows, so they would have shows anywhere in the country. What is not discussed in the discourse of blackface too often is how it portrayed Africans. The 1938 Warner Brothers cartoon “Jungle Jitters” showed “Africans” in typical blackface representation as cannibals. Even though cannibalism has occurred in parts of Africa (as it has in every inhabited continent on the planet), it is not a cultural norm in most African cultures, as it is projected in the cartoon. Images like the cartoon contribute to the ignorance of many African-Americans of Africa and, since blackface was an institution, helps reinforce the myth that Africans brought to the United States were saved from savagery, as stated in one of the documentaries we watched in class. A commentary from the Grio even quotes Washington Post correspondent Keith Richburg (an African-American) saying: “Thank God my ancestors got out, because now, I am not one of them. In short, thank God I am an American."

Lola Adesioye, respected social commentator and writer for several print and online publications such as the Guardian, wrote a commentary for the Grio in regard to the rift between Africans and African-Americans. One point in her commentary was that the misperceptions of Africans by African-Americans is mostly shaped by Western discourse, “which often presents a skewed picture of Africans as a primitive people stuck in the grip of tribal conflict, HIV, poverty, famine, civil war and corruption.” I found examples of these several media productions, including the applauded 1988 film Coming to America. Even though Coming to America is a comedy, like blackface minstrelsy, it makes the audience relatively comfortable with false imagery. One may argue that because Zamunda is a fictitious country in Africa, it doesn’t harm the image of an entire continent. But when limited information of Africa is distributed via news media, similarly to that of blackface minstrelsy, these false images shape in one’s mind the “reality.” While deconstructing the opening to Coming to America, one may notice the vast jungle (most of Africa is grassland or desert) void of any human life, and then the palace in the distance. As we approach the palace, wild animals are frolicking about the entrance (wild animals are never that close to any developed area, unless confined to a zoo or reserve).

The lack of diverse imagery (especially in news media) perpetuates broad generalizations of Africa. Earlier I mentioned Washington Post correspondent Keith Richburg. Professor Funwi F. Ayuninjam, formerly a professor at Kentucky State University and now at University of Nizwa in Oman, illustrated in his journal entry Intercultural Miscommunication: Perceptions and Misperceptions Between Africans and African Americans, various moments in which Richburg has an agenda to “vigorously expose Africa’s dirty linen,” Even though Prof. Ayuninjam agrees this exposure is sound, he also stated how Richburg should equally show the “remote causes of the economic dislocation and social morass.” The professor goes on the show that Richburg does not tell how many of the corrupt governments in Africa are supported by the foreign policies of the United States, in which is “largely dictated by its strategic national interest.” Richburg is a part of perpetuating only one image of Africa (primarily negative), without considering the causes and neglecting positive things happening in a continent rich in resources and culture.

The ignorant comment of my teacher deeply offended me, but ironically prompted me to construct this paper. My hope it that one day, the bridge between Africans and African-Americans can be easily crossed and differences can be embraced and similarities can be understood. In order for this to happen, both sides would need to become culturally relative and think as the other as an individual who happens to be a part of a group, not the other way around. They also need to realize the root of the problem. Blackface was used to not justify the mistreatment of African-Americans, but also to show African-Americans the “barbarism” they were “saved” from in Africa. Omitting information and misinformation leads to ignorance, which is why there is a rift in the first place. Becoming media literate helps to understand all of this; not taking news media at face value garners more knowledge.