African American & African Dysphoria Panel Discussion
HAMPTON- A panel discussion at Hampton Univeristy opened a wound Wednesday with the descendants of enslaved African Americans and recent African immigrants coming down on opposite sides of a painful division.
Going to the heart of the pain, moderator, attorney, and Nigerian native, Uzoma Eze apologized to the majority of African Americans in the room for how his ancestors were implicated in the betrayals that led to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
“ There are three possible reasons, Three possible relatively that happened,” Eze said of the moment a person was snatched and sold into slavery during the 17th and 18th centuries.
“One, brother A, who I would call my ancestor, saw brother B, your ancestor, being snatched. He fought, did what he could, was subdued, was injured, could not save his brother. His brother got taken. That was the honorable interpretation that I wish that were true,” Eze said.
The two other possibilities were that his ancestry fled rather than fight, or that he sold his brother into slavery.
“ I’m sorry for any role that my ancestors and by definition, my bloodline, could’ve played in the role, in the life, in the struggle, that you struggled in this country. Accept my apologies,” Eze said.
The audience grew attentive as each panelist- one African American and three first-generation African immigrants were asked about their beliefs about the other’s culture. The silence in the room spoke first.
“ Some stereotypes were, that, African Americans, were ghetto, not as, um, educated, or have that same type of values,” said Alexandra Kosisochukwu, a first-generation Nigerian American and President of the African Students Association which co-sponsored the program with the Scripps Howard Shcool of Journalism and Communications.
“One big thing from my family was staying on top of school. Like, my mother told me that the house comes first and the school comes second. That's just how it is.”
“ I honestly wasn't surprised at the stereotype that they had about black people being “ghetto,” said Trinity Polk, a Hampton University student.
“Even in America, we already grouped together, as African Americans were grouped together to other cultures and other ethnicities. So to white people, we were still “ghetto,”
Attendees said the panel had not gone far enough and asked for another to be held. For instance, they felt that many Black cultures were not represented in the panel or discussion.
“ We very much hear of the relationships between African and African American, right? We don’t often hear about often African- Caribbean, South African, and or like, South American Africans in South America, even Brazil Latinos. Like, there are many more continent complex and other contributions that can be made concerning the centrality of African Americans,” said Manuel Rodrigeuz, a Hampton University student.
A striking realization was that each group used the pronouns “they” and “them” for the other culture.
Moderator Eze immediately caught onto the change of language that was being used during the duration of the conversation.
“ We need to get out of here, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but our progression has to go towards “Us.” Because if you understand the history of this world, it's all about the “us” and “them” economy,” Eze said.
The discussion of “African superiority” and enlightenment opened another controversy.
“ Africans think they’re better than African Americans”, said Adaugo. “I just tested this question to someone upstairs earlier and was like “ What do we do in particular that would make you feel that way? Is it because we are too proud of our culture?”
Not everyone agreed.
“ I don’t think that they have too much pride, I feel like African American people don’t have enough,” said Craig Jermin, a Hampton University student.
