Insights From a Black American: The Discord Between Black Americans and Black Immigrants

There is this (often unspoken) discord between Black Americans and Black immigrants. This is a topic that I’ve been wanting to write about for quite some time but hesitated due to the fear of offending people. But after a discussion I had last night with some peers, I realized that since I’ve started calling out my non-black counterparts in my daily life to evoke change, I need to call out my black counterparts as well. For the past 5 years of living in Florida, I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with Black immigrants. It’s been an exciting experience for me because they have different traditions and perceptions of life that I’m not accustomed to. I’ve enjoyed embracing various cultures and learning about people who come from countries run by black people.

As an African American, I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in a country where you mostly see people who look like you every single day. I don’t know what it’s like to see prominent black people running the country. I don’t know what it’s like to be born in a country in Africa and know exactly what tribe you come from and speak the native tongue. This is foreign to me. I admire it. I envy it. African Americans often feel confused as to where we belong. We’re Americans who are uncomfortable proudly displaying or waving the American flag due to the long history of racism and injustice we’ve faced in our country. Often times the display of an American flag causes anxiety. We’re uncomfortable going back to our roots (if we even know where) in Africa and relocating there because we don’t know where to go or where to start. So, we’ve created our own culture (black culture) and continue to fight for equality in America, our country. This fight ultimately benefits all people of color who currently reside in the US or who plan to move here from elsewhere.

I’ve dated Black immigrant men and it was made clear to me from the beginning that I would not be accepted by their family due to my heritage. That hurt. It was confusing to me because I didn’t understand what makes my heritage so bad that I can’t just be accepted as another black person. We are all black regardless of where we come from. In America, it doesn’t matter where you come from, you’re just another black person who experiences the same plight that the rest of us do.

In my discussions with Black immigrants, there a few common things that I hear them say. They say that the elders in their family warned them to stay away from or not date African Americans. They say that African Americans are lazy and ghetto. They say African Americans are uneducated and don’t take advantage of the opportunities that we have in America. They say African Americans cannot be trusted and that we are dangerous. Sound familiar? It fascinates me because these are the same things that I hear white people say about us. I never grew up in a household being warned about another black person whether from America or not. I was warned about racism and white supremacy. That’s the experience of most Black Americans. So, to hear that black people from other countries are warned about us baffles me. We are not the enemy. We are all oppressed but in different forms. Don’t get me wrong African Americans are not completely innocent either. We’ve been guilty of doing and saying culturally insensitive things about blacks from other countries by poking fun at their accents, languages, and attire etc. We need to do better at understanding where Black immigrants come from and the hardships and oppression they face in their own countries.

The disconnect between Black Americans and Black immigrants saddens me. We are all fighting the same fight. Last night, I had this very discussion with Caribbean people whose home I'd visited for a baby shower. They informed me that blacks from other countries are often not raised to be pro-black or have black pride, they are raised to have national pride. They proudly represent their country and display their flags. Since everyone around them are black there is no need to distinguish and claim blackness. They’ve never experienced racism or completely understood it until coming to America. The white people they encounter in their country are usually tourists who are there to have a good time. So, they have that same mentality when they come to America. Black Americans don’t understand that mentality because we have a different worldview and experience. Black Americans have experienced racism our entire lives. We don’t know anything different. My earliest memory of experiencing racism is when I was 7 years old. My white best friend was having a birthday party and brought invitations to school to pass out to our classmates, but she told me that her mom said I wasn’t invited because I was black. That crushed me and from that moment forward I started to view the world differently.

Black people as a whole need to unite in order to make progress. The way we treat each other is divisive and counterproductive. Yes, we all have different upbringings, cultures, and traditions, but at the end of the day we all are fighting the same fight. We need to understand our similarities and our differences. I get frustrated when I hear the ignorance said to me when engaging in this discussion, because it is apparent that there is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the history of the black experience in America. There is a lot of judgement and opinions said about Black Americans by people with very little knowledge about the history of the black struggle and where stereotypes come from. Many people think they know but they don’t. They are only aware of the watered-down history they were told.

We need to have more honest discussions like the one I had last night to learn from each other and grow. We must embrace each other as black brothers and sisters if we want to make progress as a people. Let's educate one another and hold each other accountable. My hope is that we all come together with love and understanding to live in harmony with one another.

What are your thoughts on this? Have you heard of or experienced this discord between black people? How can we fix this?