Do Africans Feel Racism?

Toheeb ponders the Second Coming of Blackness for African immigrants in the West.

On a hot Thursday afternoon, I was mindlessly doom-scrolling Twitter when I came across a very interesting tweet. A Black lady had been racially abused by a white co-worker at her workplace in the United States. She was in a conversation with said co-worker when the latter said something along the lines of “you must be out of your cotton-picking mind” and everyone present froze in silence except the Black woman, oblivious to what had just happened. The white coworker walked away as her other co-workers came around her table to apologize and ask her to report the incident to the HR department.

“What for?” She asked.

It was at that point the other co-workers explained what had transpired and it dawned on her: she’d just experienced racism.

“...when the latter said something along the lines of ‘you must be out of your cotton-picking mind’ and everyone present froze in silence”

If you’ve made it this far, you must be wondering why this lady did not understand what had happened. It’s simple: she’s an immigrant. Born and raised in Africa, racism is viewed through a very different lens where she’s from, if at all. For most people with similar roots, picking up on racist subtext and lingo is quite hard as we just aren’t wired that way. It’s more recognizable if you’ve been battling racial prejudice all your life but this is not the case for a lot of Africans. Most of us come from countries where everyone else looks and talks the same, so racism is rarely on the agenda. Tribalism, maybe. But with less abject physical differences, it just doesn’t manifest the same.

Her experience is definitely not an outlier. There are a lot of Africans who have lived through similar encounters without realizing, at least not until much later. Some may see it as being thick-skinned but it isn’t. It’s just limited cultural awareness.

I asked a couple of African-born/bred friends currently based in Europe and North America if they had experienced racism in any form and only a few could answer. Some had no idea what was happening, and the few that did mentioned feeling somewhat helpless in the moment (one in particular said he knew what he would’ve done if it was in Lagos) and melancholic in the grand scheme of things.

For the Africans with this metered cultural barometer but especially those at home, the white man is considered a good example of what can be achieved with good leadership, so there is typically some form of unearned respect doled out to any and every white person they come across. As such, racism becomes an unprecedented phenomenon. Only through personal affliction or proximity can they truly relate to the plight of millions of other Black people around the world who are subject to both experiencing and being aware of this inhumane prejudice. In chasing greener pastures, the newfound trauma that awaits them serves as a rude awakening.

Finally, wedged between rampant corruption and racial discrimination, they can see exactly how the other half lives and the cost of that privilege.

credits

words — toheeb oladeinde

design — karina so.