And the heterogenity of the continent is another good point. Even American Blacks consider Africans just “Africans”. Latinos are considered a homogenious group because of language, and they all differ also.

Tutsis and Hutus have shown us that Africans consider even tribal differences in the same country significant – lethally so.

Americans are the lucky ones, although I wish they had more empathy for the oppressed in Africa.

Although I am Black American living in Africa, almost 90% (if not more) of the people I meet, assume that I am rich. They have a difficult time imagining that many of us are living in poverty in the US because our country is rich. At the same time, I see many Africans who are very wealthy (no debt, owning homes, world traveled with relatives studying in the US and Europe) who do very little to help Africans beggin right in front of them. As well, many of these people go to the US and associate with white counterparts because their ‘difference’ by being foreign born and often well off (traveled, etc.) allows them to be separate from Americas permanent black sheep-African Americans.

All the same, there are many Africans and African Americans who are sympathetic to each others cause. And “Africa” being the huge heterogenious continent that it is is just too much to digest for some of us-black or white.

The same question can be put in regard to our relationships with each other here. Take crime. I doubt if anyone would’ve heard of the woman in the Duke rape case if her alleged assailants had been black.

When you really think about how race and anything having to do with public issues defined by ethnicity mobilizes passion in the black community, and otherwise outside of it virtues & vices, personhood exist in something of an inchoate state of indifference– you begin to see what accounts for our community’s pervasive demoralization.

vashti

On the other side of the coin, too many African Americans that I know seem to feel no kinship with Africans. The view point is that Africans are simply black foreigners who are out of touch with the Black American experience.

It is too bad that a lesson in cohesion has not been learned from the examples of the great diasporas of overseas Chinese, Jews, or British…

A new program is afoot to teach them geography. I naively thought schools did that.

Most Americans have heard of Darfur, Rwanda, and some of Duane’s other entries above. Rage about them should be color-blind. African apologists like Candice and Justin act as if everything on the mother continent is fine. It’s not.

Pointing to those who escaped to this country and succeeded is hardly a testimony of how good things are.

AIDS abounds, not because Mr. Charlie is trying to wipe out Africans (here and abroad), but because they won’t wear condoms.

Kids hack off the limbs of elders, not because the white man at Wal-Mart is having a special on machetes, but because there are such incredibly inept central governments.

I think you have an overly negative view of black America. There are plenty of black Americans doing just fine. I’m proud that African can come here and do well, too.

If you personally feel no kinship with African, then that’s your issue. But others of us do. You should go to Africa.

We have to pick and choose our issues.

And we constantly pick the issues that only benefit US while ignoring our so-called brothers and sisters.

We raised all kinds of hell about aparthied but almost nothing about the crimes mentioned above.

Kudos to you and Candace for actually going over there. But to gloss over the fact that generally speaking, black Americans just are not that concerned about the going-ons in Africa where there is not a black vs. white conflict is simply nieve.

The average American, regardless of race, can barely locate many countries on the globe. Black Americans are misinformed about MANY things, not just African issues. We watch white news outlets to get news about our own selves, including Africans, which is quite distressing. We need to develop information streams that exclude white opinion. Then, we’ll be even more informed.

I’d say that it’s human nature to be concerned with what is going on locally before what is going on internationally. Plus, Africa is a HUGE continent. We have to pick and choose our issues.

You are really out of touch with yourself.