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Eh, overall black Americans are as normal and friendly with immigrants as anyone.
But the sentiment isn’t without truth, because some members of African immigrant communities find the traditional “urban black” culture to be distasteful.
That tends to breed a level of animosity between the groups.
Very true
I think they’re just tired of being lumped all together. A black American whose family has been here 5-10 generations and lives in the city or suburbs just is a totally different culture and group than an immigrant from Africa who lives in an immigrant enclave somewhere. I’d be annoyed too if everyone assumed I was part of a given group based solely on my skin color.
I wouldn’t say so. The only issue I’ve ever seen is Black Africans don’t like to be lumped up with African Americans, because they don’t share the same subculture or history. They may be Nigerian American for example, but they are not African American. They know the meaning behind the usage of the word and rather not be mixed up with people who share different histories then they do.
Other thing I’ve seen is Africans (usually their parents) don’t want them to date non x(African) people. So if they are South African, they want them to date other South Africans. If they can’t find another South African, another African nation is fine but not preferred. Not because they hate other cultures (they don’t), mainly because they want their kids to have the same specific cultural relationship that they had, and that’s harder to do with someone from a different nation.
This isn’t to say all people from Africa are like this though or care, but from my talks with some from Africa, this is the general consensus that I’ve heard.
Some Africans do not like when Americans refer to themselves as “African American”, because 99 percent of the time, the American has never been to Africa or know much about what it is like.
In college a girl told me “I’m African, you’re black. We are different.” She then went on to list ways that black Americans are less than/inferior to Africans. As if any racist would care if we’re black Americans vs African. I’ve only experienced it that blatantly once. Other than that I’ve heard a handful of small comments from African friends, but nothing nearly as bad as that interaction.
There’s a lot of conversation about this right now on social media. I think it’s more common in older generations but there does seem to be an attitude/fear towards black Americans and black American culture.
Not black, but from what I’ve observed and read on the subject the two groups are not cohesive at all, from a macrolevel perspective.
Keep in mind that Africans and Black Americans share very little in common in terms of recognizable heritage. Furthermore, Africa is a continent, so when you’re talking about “Africans” you could be talking about any region of Africa, who have a different experience regarding heritage, history, etc. So it’s not an even comparison, if we’re being pedantic about it. ~~Moracco~~ *Morocco* and South Africa really have about as much in common as Italy and Finland, which is to say they don’t share much besides a common ancestor thousands of years ago
So in that context, the comparison doesn’t make sense. Even the black revival in the 70’s is, respectfully, a cheap copy of what they thought ‘African’ looked like because they had no idea due to having that heritage been forcibly forgotten. Really it’s comparing the relationship between two incredibly different ethnic enclaves
There tends to be a thing where some African immigrants look down upon American born Black people. It’s not much different than what happens with some non-Black immigrants, but it stands out more. Same thing with Dominicans and other dark skinned Latinos.
Very generalized statement. I’d bet there are plenty of Black Americans that like Africans. It’s probably also true that White Americans don’t like Europeans, like fucking Albanians or Serbs.
I’m JK but…my best friend was of Croatian heritage and had nothing but hatred for Serbs. He’s now dead, but was so adamant against Serbs and I think Albanians.
In general? No.
But I will say each group may have some stereotypical assumptions based on what people see in movies.
Like many new-ish immigrant groups, Africans want to hold onto their ethnic culture (whatever that may be) and tend to live and socialize together. Some may have absorbed negative stereotypes about American black folks, and don’t know anything much about institutional American racism. Many are from very patriarchal, or very religious cultures. (Like many immigrants) so there is sometimes cultural dissonance. That doesn’t mean general dislike, necessarily. But the differences can make it hard to find common ground sometimes.
https://youtu.be/tbGjJn-XHXo
Watch this.
The correct question should be – is it true that no one likes them?
The most blatantly racist person I’ve ever met was a Somali. He HATED african americans.
There are some classic conflicts between the two, because African immigrants tend to be more conservative, prioritize education and hard work, and tend to be very successful in America, and were more accepted by White Americans at times.
Africans think that Black Americans are the stereotypes that they see on TV, and may look down at them, and there were conflicts between the two growing up, and would hurl insults towards each other.
I think nowadays with the popularity of movies such as Black Panther, and Black Americans visiting African countries, and there was the year of return, I think this sentiment has died down, especially with the younger generations(late Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z etc) don’t hold the anti-black American sentiments as much as the African Boomers did and influenced their kids.
I wouldn’t say we generally dislike each other, but we are different and that’s okay. Black people are not a homogeneous group. An American black person is different from a black person from Africa, and both are different from a black person from Latin America. However black Americans are often mocked for not knowing their background. I just wish people would respect the differences and keep it moving.
Africans tend to think that we have it too easy, and get irritated when we complain about things. Also, despite moving to another country, they act in the exact same way as they did in their old country, and don’t really try to understand that things are different here
In simple reddit terms: it’s not that we don’t like each other… it’s that our distinct cultural differences and language barriers clash.
No, that’s not true. Now, we will make it clear the dividing line between us, but we definitely like each other
I grew up and still live in a very multi-cultural area, and from what I’ve observed over the years, it’s the African immigrants who dislike black Americans, but I know first generation Africans who were born and raised here that are friends with black Americans.
I’m Black, not African. I’m in a mostly white city, like can’t walk the streets at night and have had customers tell me to my face they’re sad slavery is gone or else they’d buy me, so we have to stick together and share the same spaces- because we’re lumped together. My PWI just views us as one, no difference between us. We do so amicably, because we have to, and I’ve had some awesome discourse with my African peers. It’s a pretty awesome group, and we have come to the conclusion that both groups are different and while experiences might be similar, they won’t be the same and nothing is over the other in any way. But that was after *YEARS* of debates and arguments, and on top of that, we both branched off into our own respective spaces and come together in that one shared space. I think we’re just tired of being seen as a monolith- we have vastly different experiences. My ancestors were taken centuries ago from Africa, my friend came here of his own volition from Africa. We have wildly different experiences, but we’re seen as one in the same. At the end of the day, in the US, no matter your origin, you are viewed as Black or African American, period. And that wipes a part of your identity away if you don’t consider yourself that and maybe don’t particularly wanna be included and viewed with all the stereotypes and the dominant Black culture. The culture is different, and it’s comparable to lumping all of Latin America together- like telling a room with a Puerto Rican, a Dominican, a Mexican, and a Panamanian that they’re the same because they’re all considered Latin or because they all speak Spanish. Very different cultures and scenes and when one is washed over by a more dominant culture, I can see why animosity can burrow in.
I want to preface that I am not black,
So I can in now way speak for a black person’s experience. I had a bunch of African as well African American friends at the University of Kansas. Everyone always seemed to get a long on a huge campus of around 30,000 people. I had several African born (Ghana, Zimbabwe, Lybia, Kenya, DRC, South Africa, and many more) and African American coworkers, and there was never a problem that I could ever recall. I can’t speak for the rest of the US, but this was in Northeastern Kansas where people just accept each other, and move on with their day. I’m not saying it didn’t exist, but in all my years there, I never saw any animosity between native born Africans or African Americans. Of course systematic racism exists in the US, but that’s not what we’re discussing.
There seems to be an “expectation of solidarity” based solely on skin color among Black Americans which simply doesn’t hold up in real life. At least not for Africans.
Some White Americans have a similar experience with Europeans, where they will assume they’ll “click” at some level with Europeans based both on “being white”.
You know, not realizing that if the history of Europe has shown anything, it’s that Europeans are perfectly willing to exterminate each other based on absolutely minute cultural differences.
Not really, but I think this comes from descendants of African immigrants, often a product of slavery, going to African countries to “go back to their roots” with little knowledge of the cultures in the region nor what culture their ancestors were a part of.
Africans and African Americans are very different in terms religion, political beliefs, and culture.
Majority of African Americans are baptist Christian, although in some specific areas, ie southern Louisiana, where slaves were often brought in Haiti and brought Voodoo along with them. African countries are a mix of Orthodox Christian and Muslim.
As a result of British and Arab colonization, most African countries are conservative, in contrast to the highly democratic African American population in the US.
I have a Jamaican and Ghanian friend, and both have told me that they don’t care for Black Americans.
And BTW, yes, I know Jamaica is not in Africa.
I don’t find the dislike to be mutual, really. As a Black American, I have no issue with Africans, Afro Caribbeans, etc. However, I do find that some of them are prejudiced toward Black Americans. Obviously, not all of them are like that, but it is something I’ve noticed.
Just like americans lumping “Asian” into one group even tho Asia is enormous
I can’t speak for them but one of my black friends has parents who are from Jamaica he hates getting called an African American. His heritage is Jamaican and he’s proud of it
There’s a cultural separation that nonblack people do not understand. But there is not like inherent beef going on in the current generation. I am Nigerian American, born to two immigrants to the US and my aunts and uncles are definitely harboring a lot of racist ideas and feelings about Black Americans. I had one uncle who actually told me not to be like an BA when my bedroom was messy in middle school, which I understood to make no sense. I have an aunt on the other side of my family who thinks that cops will treat her differently if she gets pulled over and they see her last name is foreign. I understand this line of thought to be delusional. The two sides of my family actually do not get along at all but they would wholeheartedly agree about their preconceived notions of BA. I don’t understand if and neither do my siblings/cousins/pretty much anybody in our age range. I am actually careful to overstep and speak for experiences that are not my own. My sister and I were at Christmas yesterday talking about how we are shocked in a negative way to see an Igbo woman producing the new Emmet Till film because maybe this will cause feelings akin to stolen valor among BA who have that shared history of persecution in the US. All of this said, I still face regular racism from nonblack people. Much to the contrary of my aunt’s delusion, (most) people do not know you are “different” like you think you are upon looking at you and most do not care that your ancestry is recent in the US. Whatever negative stereotypes people are willing to project onto Black Americans, they are just as ready to project onto African Americans because it’s all the same to a racist. So yea, I still get followed in stores and stuff like that.. I really love BA culture and music and food, but I don’t pretend it is a shared experience because it’s not. I grew up with different food and music and cultural rules of conduct. I’ve never understood this weird separation that some AA’s assume. I truly believe it is some sort of egotistical desire to feel higher on the totem pole than somebody, no matter how baseless and nonsense that feeling is.
I’m white but I’m also the only white male at my work with the rest being black women.
My African American coworkers do not like the African coworkers. They think that Africans think that they’re better than African Americans, im not exactly sure why but they have something against it
In my experience the natural born Africans specifically hate those that talk about the motherland (Africa), wear “the clothes”, and speak super highly of Africa and purity but have never set foot in the country.
But keep in mind everyone is human, some people go to the extreme and others couldn’t care less
No, not at all. The situatioan has been explained to me as each group having very different experiences, and having ome different expectations when meeting one another, but nothing that can’t be solved with conversation and cultural outreach. The will to reach consensus is there.
Black American here. I don’t hate Africans at all, I just don’t care for how some of them berate our culture and history while using it the same time. I also don’t like how they leverage knowledge of their ancestral history over ours as if it’s our own fault we don’t know.
We managed to accomplish a lot despite what society and the government continues to throw at us and we deserve a little more grace in my opinion.
With that being said, I absolutely do not side with, nor support the ADOS movement, Hebrew Israelites, or any Black American who distances themselves from their Afro-descended roots entirely. I find that to be xenophobic and unproductive. As Black Americans, we are the descendants of those who survived and thrived in the face of unspeakable horrors, and that’s a source of pride for me, personally.
TL;DR: As a Black American, I’m cool with any African who respects my history and culture.
“African” is an extremely broad term, Africa has more countries, cultures, and IIRC a larger population than Europe.
Albeit, I know jack beyond that. Black Americans are about as alien to any African culture as any other American is. Especially the ones in the United States. Brazil, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, etc. are majority black and they have some unique connection to their roots. We in the US don’t, anyone that tries I either a civil rights leader or a hotep conspiracy theorist. No in between.
It’s also the reason we have a joke about how nobody is any more racist to African-Americans than Africans in America
Im white so I feel qualified to answer this.
Actually I’m white *but* worked extensively with African immigrants as well as black Americans, so I feel sort of qualified to add my input from that perspective.
To add to this one of my mentors at this job was from Ghana, and one of my close peers was from Liberia. And there were dozens of other Africans I interacted with daily; and there were dozens of black americans as well. I did this for 3 years.
The African people were just fine with black Americans, *but* they did clown on them for how they dressed; likewise the black Americans would clown on the Africans because they would do shit like wear a sweat suit with Oxfords or leather sandals. It was all in jest though, they got along fine.
The thing that got me though was the older Africans would fuck with the younger Africans, hard, because they would try to emulate black American culture and generally do a poor job of it, and the older Africans thought it was funny. Which it was. Imagine someone learning how to be a black American by watching BET or Madea movies, it was like that.
There was never animosity between the two groups that I saw.
Honestly that job was, by far, the most diverse environment I’ve ever worked in and that aspect of the job was so much fun.
All the Africans and Islanders I know like me (African American) but it does not not them immune to saying some very silly and borderline xenophobic comments about African Americans. I correct them and keeps moving. I have cut out both African Americans and non African Americans out of my life because they continue to say the sickest shit about the other group.
We’re by and large indifferent to Africans. We don’t really deal with them on a personal level, or talk much about them.
Black African immigrants are usually elite educated professionals. Completely different classes
I do want to note that the experiences of first/second generation Africans in the US and those who have been for 5+ generations are different