The story about poor, contemptuous and exploited Africa.
I am black, why do you stigmatize my colour? Why am I stereotyped as poor and indigent? On my side of the Atlantic I am deeply oppressed. There is a metamorphosis of the fetters of slavery by Europe's neo-colonizers, and their enablers- Africa's sit-tight bigwigs and overlords. The colonizer who connives with the complicit African task master says regularly to me, "In as much as you are naturally endowed with so much to eat, you must take the crumbs, whilst I have the chunk for a better life in my homeland. You are always welcome to share in this better life if you are privileged to cross perilous deserts and seas." With a slavish mentality, I dream of the prospects of a better life in this wonderland built and sustained by my own valued and exploited resources. An elusive wonderland indeed! A land easily accessible to their African enablers and their privileged posterity. When I try to go there legally, I am told that my neo-colonial inflicted penury disqualifies me from getting to my wonderland of dreams. When I take the more audacious alternative, I am branded an illegal immigrant fit to inhabit a squalid asylum. My asylum claims are often discarded as 'economic opportunism.' And when I finally gain access, my dreams of economic prospects are simply translated into pejorative menial tasks, fit only for an African. I am told by racists and far-rightists to go back to Africa. I am disdained for coming to seek a better life for me and my relatives. I am ridiculed for coming to eat good food at a cheaper cost, I am ridiculed for coming in pursuit of a better lease of life. Back home, I register my complaint as an oppressed African by protesting against neo-colonizers and African accomplices. When I do so, my voice of dissent is deemed undemocratic, because I must continually be exploited. The 'best' for me as an African is to remain exploited. The 'best' for me as an African is to remain impoverished. The 'best' for me as an African is to keep crossing perilous seas and horrendous deserts with my audacious instincts. The 'best' for me as an African is to drown in the boisterous seas and die in the unpleasant desert, where my carcass is exposed to the elements. The 'best' for me as an African is to remain a permanent migrant to Europe where I am treated disdainfully. Do my African overlords and colonizers mean well for me? If my African overlords still do not mean well, I might be tempted to support the wave of mutiny orchestrated by military putschists. If my European neo-colonizers never seem to mean well, I will constantly knock on their doors like a liability, seeking for succour."
I can't say that I "feel your pain," because I am lily white blue-eyed blonde northern European for 90% of origin although there is some African blood in me from New England whalers a couple of centuries ago.
Most psychologists know that dark (black--like in the cloak of night) is bad and
light (white--like in the reveal of bright sunlight) is good. Something that is culturally beat into us from the time we were born and maybe in our genes where it cannot be behaviorally removed by education.
Psychologists have used a simple experiment with dolls to easily prove that young children will pick a light-skinned doll over a dark skinned doll every time the experiment is tried. Probably why Barbie is such a success in the box office worldwide. But thankfully, there are alternative successes like Black Panther and spinoffs.
During my 33 years at predominantly Afro centered higher education institutions designed to be separate and unequal (largely by funding), I had a lot of time to engage with both Americans with a slave heritage and Africans with a colonial heritage. I found that both had a different perspective on life.
Those that had a slave heritage were still fighting for their freedom from the oppression of both slavery and the Jim Crow attitude that still pervades much of the United States population. While those professors from Africa or students from Africa were much more self-assured and willing to take on both academic and economic challenges that living in the United States entails.
I thought of that comparison quite interesting. But we have always been a melting pot in the United States and I believe that in the future most of us will be blended both by race and ethnic origin. And it will be a good thing.
I believe I understand your frustration about not being able to come to the United States through the legal process. But the quotas that were established in another era are still there and may need to be changed in favor of more equitable way of selecting who can come and who cannot. We can't take in everyone who wishes to come to United States because billions do.
The One Week Writing Workshop shows you how to write a book step by step through a series of motivating writing activities. Working with your own creative ideas, you’ll learn a 7-step novel writing method to use now and on your future novel projects.
The One Week Writing Workshop shows you how to write a book step by step through a series of motivating writing activities. Working with your own creative ideas, you’ll learn a 7-step novel writing method to use now and on your future novel projects.
The One Week Writing Workshop shows you how to write a book step by step through a series of motivating writing activities. Working with your own creative ideas, you’ll learn a 7-step novel writing method to use now and on your future novel projects.
