From the New York Times:
Ghana’s Uneasy Embrace of Slavery’s Diaspora
By LYDIA POLGREENGhana hopes descendants of enslaved Africans will think of Africa as their homeland - to visit, invest, send their children to be educated and even retire.
CAPE COAST, Ghana - For centuries, Africans walked through the infamous “door of no return” at Cape Coast castle directly into slave ships, never to set foot in their homelands again. These days, the portal of this massive fort so central to one of history’s greatest crimes has a new name, hung on a sign leading back in from the roaring Atlantic Ocean: “The door of return.”
Ghana, through whose ports millions of Africans passed on their way to plantations in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, wants its descendants to come back.
Taking Israel as its model, Ghana hopes to persuade the descendants of enslaved Africans to think of Africa as their homeland - to visit, invest, send their children to be educated and even retire here.
“We want Africans everywhere, no matter where they live or how they got there, to see Ghana as their gateway home,” J. Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, the tourism minister, said on a recent day. “We hope we can help bring the African family back together again.”
In many ways it is a quixotic goal. Ghana is doing well by West African standards - with steady economic growth, a stable, democratic government and broad support from the West, making it a favored place for wealthy countries to give aid.
But it remains a very poor, struggling country where a third of the population lives on less than a dollar a day, life expectancy tops out at 59 and basic services like electricity and water are sometimes scarce.
Nevertheless, thousands of African-Americans already live here at least part of the year, said Valerie Papaya Mann, president of the African American Association of Ghana.
To encourage still more to come, or at least visit, Ghana plans to offer a special lifetime visa for members of the diaspora and will relax citizenship requirements so that descendants of slaves can receive Ghanaian passports. The government is also starting an advertising campaign to persuade Ghanaians to treat African-Americans more like long-lost relatives than as rich tourists. That is harder than it sounds.
One of my dreams is to travel to Ghana and Goree Island in Senegal. I’ve always longed to see where it all started for my ancestors….to find a link.
The article about Ghana attempting to attract black Americans was interesting, but a couple of things unnerved me.
First, and I don’t know if the writer of the article did this or the Ghanian government, but the comparison with Israel is sort of off base IMHO.
The Israeli government is sitting on disputed land and inviting more folks to come and help settle. These people are joined by a religion. Therefore, the folks who are living in Israel now welcome newcomers with open arms because of a common cause.
Is there a common cause between black Americans and Africans? I’d like to think so, but the more I live around people from the continent the more my thoughts slide back and forth.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. About a year or so ago I met with a Nigerian man who owns a computer school here. I was interested in taking classes. The man, who was a “brother” remember, was amazed at how well-spoken I was “for a black person from America”, that I had a university degree and that I already had a wide range of computer experience.
I laughed and told him that he watched too much television.
I kept thinking to myself, “We’re both black. How can he say such things?”
But on the other hand, a have a close friend here who is a South African of Indian descent and she and I have more in common in terms of battling racism, sexism and the whole lot.
So that brings me back to the question. Is there a common cause, other than ancestry and skin color, that links black Americans and Africans? It seems that black Americans place more focus on the two I mentioned (ancestry and skin color) than people from Africa.
Is the Middle Passage impossible to bridge?
Comments (6)
To answer your question “is there a common cause, other than ancestry and skin color that linkes Americans and African?
No!
I say this with confidence that has been found after living in Europe for close to 5 years. I grew up in Africa idealising African Americans and wanting to be as cool as Cosby kids and young adult like in “Living Single”. Then I travelled to America and finally settled in Europe (for the meantime) and realise the only thing in common is the skin color.
I feel the the one fundamental difference is culture and history. And both parties most times do not interact with an open/willing mind and therefore a lot of conflict and “disappointment” is felt on both sides.
“Is the middle passage impossible to bridge”?
I don’t think so….. difficult…. yes…. frought with a lot of brusing and misuderstanding…. yes!
The question i find myself asking a lot is?
Is it necessary to have the middle passage?
My pastor at my old church in Chicago had this saying… “Everyone that’s the same color is not of the same culture”.
There are Black Americans that have the same color as me, but culturally we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. There are Africans who have the same color as me, but culturally we are on opposite ends of the spectrum.
It’s a reality of life. I used to long for some connection to the “Mother-land”, but I realize that my “Mother-land” is America (despite all its faults) and that my people are other Black Americans who share my history.
Once you get over that hump, you move a bit closer to a better sense of self… (well it was like that for me anyway…)
My people are Southerners. It doesn’t matter black or white. I generally do not get on well with Yankees.
I’ve lived in Canada for almost 9 years. When hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit Louisiana, and mostly black people died in New Orleans, I was collecting school supplies and shipping them to a mosque helping inner city kids relocated to Baton Rouge. Also collecting for animal relief.
I went to south Louisiana and did hurricane relief (I’m a veterinarian) for 14 days. Canadians were asking me why I was doing so much. My answer was, “Because those are my people.” They seemed surprised.
Erica - I’m getting to the point where you are. Maybe living in Europe, where I’m around many more Africans than I was in the States, has opened my eyes.
I’m increasingly having a hard time calling myself “African American”. Actually, I don’t anymore. I’m an American of African descent or a black American. To the Africans here, I’m American…point blank. There’s nothing African about me.
Kyla - That’s where culture comes in. When you’re from the South, there’s a common denominator that crosses the color line.
Ok, I have to clarify here. My wife Kelly started the school supply effort. She got the ball rolling, did most of the organizing, and arranged a special price with UPS.
I did organize boxes, have my hospital act as a depot, speak out on radio and TV for donations, and arrange to get more supplies on the truck with the vet supplies.
Got to share the credit there.
I think the steps taking by the Government of Ghana to encourage our African American brothers and sisters to return home and feel part of a home is in the right direction.I suggest they should be encouraged when they visit Ghana during emancipation week, as a matter of choice though, to live and share their stay with, and in Ghanaian family homes and not necessary in hotels. The feel and the experience will bring them much closer home.