Here's my 2 pence on this whole chupidness of a debate going on between AfrAms & non-AfrAms. Plus some extra points for the latest ep of @TheGrapevineTV
1. African American is an ethnicity with its own unique culture. Put some respect on that please.
1. African American is an ethnicity with its own unique culture. Put some respect on that please.
"We are all Black" is a silencing technique and a poor one at that. Being proud of being American should be looked at the same way as someone being proud of being Jamaican. The struggle was real and they've earned it.
2. Due to Afr/Black American hypervisibility we feel we can emulate their experiences in complete accuracy. We cannot and there is no harm in accepting that.
3. The hypervisibility Afr Ams have received isn't necessarily crafted by them and so what we consume is not the entirety of the AfrAm experience. Learn about the Gullah and the variety of black cultures within the US.
4. Non-American black people have tirelessly supported the efforts of AfrAms and so that hypervisibility was not achieved in a vaccum in America. Non american Black people have supported AfrAms worldwide without qualm in cinema, music and more.
5. African American Actors have historically acted as other Black nationalities in films and have specifically worked in the UK a lot. It works both ways. Examples are Ira Aldrige, Denzel washington, Elizabeth Welch, Nina Mae McKinney, Paul Robeson, Forest Whitaker.
It's important to note that AfrAm/Black American actors did have a monopoly on Black roles in Britain for a period of time. Black British actors were thought to "lack the necessary experience and stature" to play roles in plays and movies in comparison to Black Am actors.
6. There's a classist misconception that all BB actors are classically trained and that AfrAm/BAm actors lack craft. Whilst it may be true on a singular comparison basis, a generalisation like this is false.
7. Black Brits have created their own and their efforts have been wiped off of TV etc. so the lack of opportunities in the UK is not for lack of trying but we must continue to build our own.
8. A small % of W. Africans sold their own into slavery and of that small % you must take into account coercion and murder. Many leaders were decapitated and WP employed many violent/manipulative means to get what they wanted.
Acting like all West Africans owe you an apology is asinine. What's more some countries in Africa had slavery also.
9. There's a dynamic that exists that depicts Black Americans as "cooler" that other Black Nationalities. That, times the hypervisibility Afr/Blk Ams have, results in commercialised representation of their culture being instilled in other cultures worldwide.
So much so that wypipo will call say "Girlfriend" or "Girl" to us when we're not even American. But by that same token so many of us do use AfrAm culture for flair hence why so many of us say the N-word when flipping that word into a positive is not our experience.
That being said, many Black/Afr Americans cannot fathom a Black experience that is not American. Therefore you can get narratives such as BBs are soft, grime is soft, non-Americans have no "sauce" and BBs live in a 'post-racial' utopia.
10. White American actors have had the same argument regarding non-American White actors coming to hollywood for work.
11. The 1st/2nd Generation Continental African American experience is not a rosey one. There is a lot of misconception that people must have been well off to travel to America to live from their respective countries, which is not always the case.
12. AfrAms deserve respect for the work they put in. Being a descendant of slavery in your respective country should allow you access to programmes to benefit those that paid the ultimate price for that country.
13. It goes both ways. Keep that same vim when American privilege shows its face when you travel for work overseas.
14. Hip Hop is not solely an African American creation. Many Black Caribbean-Americans were also pioneers in the genre.
15. Black Brits are often perceived as a more "palatable Black" when in the States. This is a classist privilege and we should not act like this doesn't exist.
There's more but I'm tired. I hope I've shown how complex this issue is and how much we need to learn about each other's (and our own) true historical experiences before even trying to have a discourse like this.
