African/West Indian biases against AAs = sad

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

My family moved to the suburbs of Pittsburgh and me and my siblings all attended private schools and had anything we could ask for. But honestly, growing up in that environment from that perspective made me spoiled and unappreciative at times of things. And I really didn't value hard work because coming up I didn't really need to. I feel like people with less are harder workers and more appreciative of the little things. I could say I've "struggled"but really, I haven't compared to others. And now the older I get I find myself wanting to move so far away from that suburban lifestyle but I guess that just came from growing up in the suburbs.

I think I wanted to move away from that because of me being a first gen black american (my dad's Nigerian my Mom's from the VI) I always felt like I just didn't fit in that area. It was a predominantly white area and even though I've had my good times and had my friends, at the end of the day I always felt like it wasn't where I belonged. The older I get, especially living in NYC now, the more I realized how shut off from my own people I felt when I was younger because of my upbringing. And my family was kind of ignorant, stuck in their ways, and really had this strong cultural thing were they didn't want me and my siblings to hang out with black americans cause they were biased in a way as Africans and West indians (sadly) can be. I'm really realizing now how negative that type of thought process that was thrown on us.

 

[PicoRoscoe]

So youre a spoiled ass nikka that's mad cause other nikkas noticed youre a spoiled ass nikka?

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

So youre a spoiled ass nikka that's mad cause other nikkas noticed youre a spoiled ass nikka?

NAH...honestly it was that AG thread. It just really had me thinking. I just remember my family had that type of mentality and I realized how f*cked up and sad that shyt was.

 

[EA]

Only in America do black people look at West Indians/Africans as separate entities. If you're black, you're black. It doesn't matter where you were born.


Here in the UK, everyone just gets along together and prejudice only rears its ugly head when dating is involved

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

Only in America do black people look at West Indians/Africans as separate entities. If you're black, you're black. It doesn't matter where you were born.


Here in the UK, everyone just gets along together and prejudice only rears its ugly head when dating is involved

Considering I have family on my Dad's side that live in the UK and that I've been there several times...you're might have a point. It is completely different in the states.

 

[Rusty Kuntz]

Only in America do black people look at West Indians/Africans as separate entities. If you're black, you're black. It doesn't matter where you were born.


Here in the UK, everyone just gets along together and prejudice only rears its ugly head when dating is involved

In my experience, it's usually the other way around... I've met plenty of West Indians/Africans/Afro-Latinos that are fervent in the assertion that they are different from "Black Americans" and make no qualms about voicing their opinions aloud. They believe in some of the same stereotypes about B.A.s that "others" do.

 

[EA]

Considering I have family on my Dad's side that live in the UK and that I've been there several times...you're might have a point. It is completely different in the states.

I don't understand why it's different though. My dad's Nigerian, my mum's Jamaican and my girl's Bajan. Everyone mixes and matches over here lol

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

In my experience, it's usually the other way around... I've met plenty of West Indians/Africans/Afro-Latinos that are fervent in the assertion that they are different from "Black Americans" and make no qualms about voicing their opinions aloud. They believe in some of the same stereotypes about B.A.s that "others" do.

This. I have noticed this. And I'm not going to act like it doesn't happen either, I was actually trying to address that because I feel it hasn't really been addressed.

 

[dallastexas]

its not sad,, u have these ppl from poorer countries that do all they can do move here just to have a better life while starting from the bottom, focusing on education and hopefully going to school or their kids through college while going against the grains

and then you have the blacks in america that shyt on every opportunity they have in america while bytching about racism and oppression when despite it all the opportunities are there to excel in life but is squandered away living the black mans dream of a nice car with rims while living in an apt....

 

[Chris.B]

The africans that come over here usually made it here because they were "go-getters".

they hate seeing people being unproductive

 

[Rusty Kuntz]

This. I have noticed this. And I'm not going to act like it doesn't happen either, I was actually trying to address that because I feel it hasn't really been addressed.

I had someone call me a half-caste when I was younger... I was like "What does that even mean?" They told me that my blackness (and American Blackness in general) was diluted

 

[Elle Driver]

I understand your experience. My mother's a second generation Ethiopian American, and my father's side is African American, but my mother is so removed from her culture that I never really grew up around my Ethiopian side. My mother was culturally African-American, and her family had a problem with her marriage to my father. She would make a few comments here and there about Ethiopian culture vs. African American culture, which showed how different they view themselves. It confused me. I've always just referred to myself as an African American but I don't fit in, and out of the few times I'd be around my Ethiopian side I could tell that they thought they were better than me. I'm tired of seeking acceptance from that side so I just ride with being African American. At the same time, Africans (West or East) really need to act right cause they need to realize that it's because of African Americans they have rights in this country. There's a disconnect between the two groups of people because the African American experience is vastly different from the West/East African experience. Most of these Africans come from mostly homogenous societies and didn't have to deal with white supremacy on the same level that my ancestors had to. So they come here and think everything's easy, without understanding the 400 years of bullshyt we done had to go through, and then try to call us lazy and join in with whitey. But they don't hear me tho.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

The thing I don't like about it is that it's divisive. America's different. I felt seperated and out of place and that was because I just didn't feel like I was accepted by my own people. Growing up and coming up in that suburban environment I was usually the only black person in my group of friends. I guess it's because now I've grown up and realized how things in America are now and how I couldn't relate to my friends anymore. I think the thing about it that was wack is that there weren't people I could relate to growing up...that looked like me, were into similar things like me. I was always looking for that.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I understand your experience. My mother's a second generation Ethiopian American, and my father's side is African American, but my mother is so removed from her culture that I never really grew up around my Ethiopian side. My mother was culturally African-American, and her family had a problem with her marriage to my father. She would make a few comments here and there about Ethiopian culture vs. African American culture, which showed how different they view themselves. It confused me. I've always just referred to myself as an African American but I don't fit in, and out of the few times I'd be around my Ethiopian side I could tell that they thought they were better than me. I'm tired of seeking acceptance from that side so I just ride with being African American. At the same time, Africans (West or East) really need to act right cause they need to realize that it's because of African Americans they have rights in this country. There's a disconnect between the two groups of people because the African American experience is vastly different from the West/East African experience. Most of these Africans come from mostly homogenous societies and didn't have to deal with white supremacy on the same level that my ancestors had to. So they come here and think everything's easy, without understanding the 400 years of bullshyt we done had to go through, and then try to call us lazy and join in with whitey. But they don't hear me tho.

This.

I remember I was watching the video for Gangstarr's "Code of the Streets" (one of my favorite's) and Guru and Premier are trying to get a cab into Brooklyn from Manhattan. They go through all sorts of drivers, white, arab, spanish, and they all say no. And then Guru asks an African cab driver the same thing and he says no. And then Guru says to him "Why? We both black man". That's that mentality in a nutshell. I feel like West Indians and Africans in America strive to be accepted more by white American society (even if it means throwing shade on AAs) than African Americans and are times naive and oblivious at times to the harsh racial politics of America. As well, I see how there's an attitude of wanting to be seen as "better" than African Americans that's counterproductive in the long run.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I had someone call me a half-caste when I was younger... I was like "What does that even mean?" They told me that my blackness (and American Blackness in general) was diluted

I've had people (on SOHH) tell me that I wasn't black because I was Nigerian and West Indian.

I was shocked and I laugh about it now. Really...all my life I've been living a lie...wow!!!!!