'The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion'. Tom Paine
27
Love this essay.
10
Bravo! If only I were rich I would be first to contribute. I imagine that once an organization is seeded/funded, politicians and major businesses would be “rated” on their support or lack off support. This isn’t a dream—to borrow the Jewish declaration for freedom and independence by Herzl or Martin Luther King’s message that freedom is possible.
3
Being a Peace Corps volunteer later in life, your prior background (grew up in Chicago) helps to illuminate and focus the insanity/inhumanity that was bestowed toward another (supposedly) inferior race. I visited Goree Island, off the coast of The Gambia, the departure point of the slavery trade from Africa. The prisons with the shackles lining the walls. The island museum is a must see. Why can't we all accept our differences and move on? I don't understand this. Why can't we see the person beyond his/her skin color?
10
There truly is no place like home. Cameroonian immigrant kid here. Its a blessing to know exactly where my place is in this planet. My fathers family is one of the founding clans of the city now called Kumba. My grandfather served as first mayor after colonial era. The street his house sits on has our last name. I Love America and all that it has given me but there is no place like home. Welcome back sister
9
White people are still the dominant racial group in Africa. In fact, I have never felt more like a member of a dominant racial group than when I had a vacation in Africa. I booked a mid-range itinerary and ended up with the full colonial overlord experience. There were people attending to my every need (affordable given the poverty), at the attractions (which were magnificent) all the visitors were white. Even the higher-level jobs such as airplane pilot or store owner were filled by whites (and the occasional Indian).
White supremacy does not end at America's borders; it exists everywhere in the world. Racial equality will not be achieved through vision quests, but only by the economic development of third-world countries (just compare how Asian-Americans were treated in the 1800s to today now that Asia is more developed).
15
Outstanding. Thanks for sharing.
4
I hope the author can reflect on what it means that she publishes this as Israel may be on the edge of another intensely asymmetrical colonial war against Gaza, a territory Israel has besieged for 12 years. Seeing the headlines next to each other is jarring. Birthright is propaganda of a highly militarized settler colonial state. African American trips to West Africa to learn about African history and society and about the history of slavery are so wildly different than this! It's hard to even grasp the strange translations the author makes in stating this comparison.
19
"Then it was my turn. “Hi, I’m Mercedes Bent. My name … well, it’s kind of like the car.” "
The car brand Mercedes was actually named after a person, the young daughter of the Austro-Hungarian consul in Nice, France, Emil Jellinek.
5
"There are many ways to nurture a healthy cultural identity, but a journey “home” — to a place that makes you feel that you truly belong — is an especially effective one."
Can't argue with the sentiment, but I would hope that the African Americans feel that they truly belong in the USA. Their claim to this land is as in no way inferior to those of the early settlers.
21
I lived in West Africa for three years. I'm glad Ms. Bent had a nice trip but she was no more than a tourist. Its politically incorrect to state the reality that Africans were brought and sold into slavery by other Africans and that such modern day slavery still goes on throughout West Africa by Africans against Africans. I note this because it is dangerously naive to believe that a birthright is based on country of origin from hundreds of years ago.
29
As sweet as « belonging » may feel (and we are all powerfully drawn to it), let’s never forget that this is really about tribalism, and like religion, it’s a mixed bag at best. Would that we could all feel connected to our neighbors, our colleagues and our friends ... and let go of these primitive instincts. Therein lies the possibility of peace.
13
Wow, a lot of these comments seems to break down along racial or political lines. People need to get over themselves. If this woman enjoyed her trip back to her ancestral home, then good for her. The fact that others may not, really doesn't matter. The fact that some want to nitpick, doesn't matter. This woman found her trip meaningful. That is what matters.
23
There is something important that this author, and probably most liberals who traffic in identity politics, don't understand. For a great many Americans, probably most of them white like myself, the United States of America is their *only* source of cultural identity. There is no "ancestral homeland" providing a source from which to better understand themselves, no wellspring of culture and history to draw upon outside the USA that leads to some kind of communal feeling with a tribe you didn't grow up with. On the one hand, we hear sermons on embracing diversity and how we are all Americans, and on the other we hear about these ancestral homeland longings that indicate a great many people feel an incomplete understanding of themselves, as if simply being American just isn't good enough. While you can't fault anyone for feeling these longings, it doesn't lead to unity in this country, at least not the sort of sentiments expressed by this author and her bent.
15
I also an eye-opening experience, though kind of inverse from the author’s, while visiting Nigeria. As a white man in America, I am used to not thinking much about my skin tone unless I am reminded of it. In Nigeria I was nearly always the only Caucasian in the meetings I attended and the hotels I stayed in. I was always made to feel welcome, treated like an honored guest. I came away with a strong sense of what it feels like to be the “only one like you.” I have certainly experienced this feeling as a gay man, but rarely due to my skin tone. It gave me a greater empathy (and sympathy) for the experiences of African-Americans and other so-called “people of color” who are treated as “different” and “other” based on immutable characteristics that have nothing to do with their humanity and value, and everything to do with fear in the racist’s mind.
5
It is annoying that many commenters feel the need to white-splain to this author about her own history and life experience. It's odd that slavery is even being brought up in the comments, since it is not a central element to the article. Instead, it seems like the comments on slavery are a thinly veiled, and extremely flawed, defense of the practice of slavery in America.
16
Thank you, Ms. Bent, from the bottom of my heart, for this remarkably moving and straightforwardly-written article.
It's just touched me greatly, as I sit here on a big and remote horse farm in North Carolina.....far removed from most folks' troubles, but glad to be somewhat connected (I hope) to them by your writing.
You're a fine teacher. I, at age 58, just learned a lot......
Sincerely,
David Terry
Quail Roost Farm
Rougemont, NC
7
My "heritage" is American. That's where I was born. I have no urge to go back to Ireland or Sicily and "connect" with people I have nothing in common with. We'll never get past foolish bigotries in America as long as people keep obsessing over where their distant ancestors lived. The future does not lie in the past.
26
It is good to get out of the US and see where our ancestors hail from. We are almost all from somewhere else, and that shapes each one of us.
8
I recommend the novel "Homegoing" by Yaa Gyasi to explore the terrible slave trade in Africa and its aftermath in the US. The depiction of the dungeons is horrifying.
3
Seems like a good idea for a charity to support fully paid trips for African Americans to visit the west coast of Africa
4
Is Nigeria a place African-Americans can be proud to be connected to, the way Jews are proud of Israel? The tragedy of Africa is how badly most of Africa is doing under native rule more than a half-century after liberation from European colonialism. It's like the tragedy of American cities like Baltimore, in which the fate of their black citizens just gets worse and worse under decades of corrupt black political control. I write this as a progressive Democrat who's totally on the side of justice for blacks everywhere.
18
Awesome editorial piece which has inspired me to trace my families roots and ancestry so we to can feel more of a connection. My hope is to plan a trip for my family so we can experience the beautifully cultured country that we should all be so proud. I love who I am as an African American and want to share the true essence of what makes us unique and passionate about who we are where we came from to share with anyone who will listen. Thank you for sharing and stirring up something in me to take action. Blessings!
46
As a white person who has spent significant time in Ethiopia, I always think it is a powerful experience for me to have the 'shoe on the other foot' for a change. On the street it's ME who is noticeable for my difference, at meetings, I'M the only white person at the table, etc. etc....and those moments of subtle and not-so-subtle discomfort and visibility serve to remind me how African-Americans and other minorities feel at home. Great article and great proposal....(Foundations!...are you listening?)
106
@spdfish I enjoyed reading your response.
4
@spdfish I agree. I spent a day in Kampala, Uganda. A 6 month old baby started screaming with fright at the sight of me. His mother explained that he had never seen a white person. I cannot imagine how frightening that must have been for him.
23
This is a beautiful essay. May we all be healed from disconnection from our ancestors. I don't know who I would be if I hadn't visited Ireland, both as a child and an adult and walked the land that my grandparents had left, economic refugees to America. In their lifetimes, three of the four returned to visit family there. They hadn't wanted to leave but were forced due to economics and oppression. They left a country they loved. When I visited, I had second cousins asking, how long I was "home" for. It tugged at my heart. I know where I come from and understand I am a settler in America. Because I know where I come from, I can also acknowledge that the land beneath me in America is stolen land from the First Peoples.
61
@A Stor mo Chroi And you don't think Ireland is "stolen from First People's"? Don't you think the Irish conquer that land that became Ireland?
World history is the story of conquest. No people sprouted from the land that they now inhabit. Not even the "Native Americans." A many people and tribes were conqured in the Americas before the dominant tribe declared the land theirs.
Who are "First People's"?
10
@A Stor mo Chroi: I don't object to your valuing what you value, but why do you imply that "disconnection from our ancestors" is something pathological for everyone else, requiring healing? Suppose somebody defines himself as a human being, and chooses to see himself as connected to everybody who lived centuries ago, not just the ancestors to whom he is biologically related. Why do you think that that is a wound that requires healing?
5
@Mark You are right. I should have written "May all who feel disconnected from our ancestors be healed." But also I think there may be some (not all) who don't even know they're disconnected and if that is the case, may they also find a connection. We're in a bit of a mess as a society lately, in my opinion. The Climate Crisis is bearing down on us. And, in my opinion, we need great wisdom to deal with it and again, in my opinion, wisdom comes from healing. We're the first generation in the entire history and prehistory of the world who is messing up our global home to make it unlivable. That's pretty drastic. Is there anything we can learn from our ancestors, our collective ancestors, the ones who didn't mess up the planet on a global scale? If so, let's learn from them and restore and repair what we have wrecked, if we can.
15
My grandparents left Hungary in the 1880s. I recently visited Budapest and was again reminded how lucky I am that they left. Indeed, I would never have existed or more likely been killed as a toddler. Descendants of slaves have every right to feel angry and bitter about how their ancestors got here and how they were treated. They however, should also be happy to be here now and not in Africa, where tribalism, mass killings and corruption on a grand scale continue to exist.
69
I was born a few years after WWII in the USA but German is my first language. I was taunted in school and descriminated against in society in general. Before I decided on doing some ancestry research I took advantage of a business trip to visit Bremerhafen and the Kolumbus Kai from which my German, Slovak and Polish ancestors probably left Europe. I sat alone in the drizzle of a foggy evening and cried for about an hour. It was bitter and chilling, but it changed my life. I felt reconnected with my family and empowered against the stereotypes of Anglo-American arrogance.
38
This is a naïve perception of life in Africa. Yes your skin color may be the same, but tribal differences, inequalities and warfare are real and dominate the lives of people there in many countries. Just replace "race" with "tribe" and you'd have a more realistic experience that included the tensions and challenges and dangers that are real and have created a life of misery and violence for millions there. A misery and violence that far, far exceeds the slights you may bemoan in America. Remember that in the history of slavery, it was often one tribe selling off another.
117
@SL Yes, of Course! Much better to be a slave in White Amerikkka than face all that uncertain "tribal' stuff. Not.
22
@SL
Geez, have you traveled all over the continent and seen these tribal wars and violence? And I mean taken your eyes and senses and a little more education to Africa to actually see the place beyond these tired stereotypes?
Idealizing any society is naive. But please drop the alarmist and primitivist lens. Those who would exploit so called race or class or ethnicity in the United States for their own political ends are the same ilk operating in Africa.
And if you ask these millions of people they are not very likely to tell you their lives are full of misery and violence, save if they live in a war zone, and last I checked there are two countries at war - Sudan and Somalia. There is unrest and violence elsewhere, but the same is true for the U.S. and Europe.
39
Thank you for the very nice article, Ms. Bent, and the interesting conversations it has prompted. However, the article does seem a bit on the tourist side to one who has spent several years in that region. For a more substantive experience a multi-year commitment to a place that is not the former capital and economic center (Lagos) - such as Peace Corps - would be much, much more valid IMHO. For a more substantive consideration, I strongly suggest reading "Home Going" by Yaa Gyassi -- a brilliant, highly reviewed, and very readable treatment published in the past year or two.
38
As a teacher in New Orleans, several colleagues and I planned a service-learning trip for a group of African American high school students to Ghana that included a tour of this site. As a person of European descent, I’m sure I can’t grasp the full meaning this experience had for them, and I’m not sure how it has played out in their development into adults (it was the summer before Hurricane Katrina, and many of us were impacted by the disaster, moving away, losing touch). But I am heartened by this piece that the challenge of getting 10 kids over there was worth the effort, that they could start to get the magnitude of their heritage and appreciate its complexity, know themselves better and to use that as a foundation in their journeys. Thank you for this piece and the inspiration for others to do the same.
53
Wonderful write-up. Thank you Mercedes.
Half a century ago I was a Peace Corps Volunteer assigned to a small village in Niger -- where we had a 10 mile hike to the nearest dirt road.
No Westerner had ever lived closer than 60 miles to our village. After being in Souloulou for several months a very strange feeling overcame me that never left.
"This is home. This is where my deepest roots really are."
Both sides of my family can trace their heritage back 1,000 years to Viking Norway. Hardly 'Africa'.
But that deep feeling has never left me. We are all African -- maybe some of us from way, way back in time -- and, yes, we are different shades of 'African'.
But we are all African. Humanity might be best served if we acknowledged our commonalities, not our differences.
The local folks in Souloulou named me 'Dogon Daji' -- 'Tall One of the Bush' -- and we felt a strong shared common bond.
Now retired, several of us are assisting an innovative school program in Niger providing academic education (including computer lab) coupled with job skills training for orphaned street children, Albino children, and child mothers.
We are all African! Mercedes, thank you for sharing your own wonderful experience.
133
@The Alamo Kid As a young person, an Irish American, I backpacked around the world - Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, India and Kenya. I was in awe of each place I visited for its beauty and diversity but the only place I felt a sense that I was "home" was Kenya. Mama Africa of us all.
26
@The Alamo Kid: I don't want to contradict your comment but by all reasonable metrics we are not "all African". It's similar to when folks say "we are all immigrants". These kind of statements render the operative word useless.
9
Even though I’m a middle aged white guy, I really enjoyed this personal story.
I don’t think most people realize that for the descendants of enslaved people, their history doesn’t exist. No records were kept of births and family relationships during and well beyond the slavery years.
Yet another indignity done to African American people.
DNA testing is now providing some precious knowledge of origins, as the author points out.
I’m glad that it’s possible to connect in a meaningful way with the past, even without the detailed family records that should have been your birthright.
60
I look forward to the day when we quit exaggerating the importance of our genetic or ancestral links to places with which we have no real connection. I'll wager that the author, who I assume was born and raised in the U.S., is more culturally influenced by, say, the old "I Love Lucy" show than much of anything in Africa.
We regularly receive lectures about how everyone is the same on the inside, except when we're told that every culture and genetic tribe is special and unique, and that these cultural and genetic differences result in each of us being different on the inside.
The past produced us all, and it can be fascinating. But that past has already done its work. I think it's best to focus on "the now" and wherever you are, not "the then" and where your great-great-grandparents were, because those former realities are irrelevant.
151
I think that it must be a powerful and liberating experience to live in an African country and not having to worry about the color of your skin. The past is the past but it still affects us every day. How else do you explain the systemic racism and unjust in America? I am glad the author could have this experience.
157
@Cary-Cary, may I suggest that the most important day to look forward to is the day that the US Census Bureau ends use of a system created by 18th, 19th, and 20th century racists and catalogues us entirely on the basis of SES data - economic status, educational level, etc.
On that day we will all say as I do, I am an American citizen and in my case I am also a Swedish citizen. Those statements tell you very little about me. I have my BigY genome results from familysearch and am using them in a Swedish national research project designed to show in detail where members of different groups came to what we now call Sweden when the great glacial ice sheet vanished. We all have the same basic genome but that genome also tells every single one of us that the details arose as a result of mixing.
Focus on the now, yes: I am a member of the only race, the human, but who I am is partly rooted in the details of my genome and partly rooted in where and how I grew up - and when.
For a glimpse of this process, read Jesmyn Ward's Cracking the Code essay in the book she edited, The Fire This Time. She will never be the same person she thought she was.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
28
@Karen B.
See my comment above. African society alienates people in a different way. Shadism is a thing. The pressure on women to have smooth, straight hair is definitely a thing, and both classism and sexism (especially sexism) is palpable.
This story is very moving but Africa is not a utopia, even for African Americans (or African Canadians).
58
What Ms. Bent says is true. I have always noticed the difference between all but a very few African-Americans and people that I have encountered that were Africans born and raised in Africa.
The major difference is the absence of a sense of culturally-induced inferiority. The legacy of slavery lives on in the minds and circumstances of life for America's African-Americans and whites. You can even notice the difference in people raised in Canada or Mexico.
I refer to color only as the common vernacular. I do not believe in blacks or whites as races. I do not believe in the concept of race. However, if you are raised in a culture where such notions predominate - you can't avoid the sad influence.
I have a multi-racial, multi-ethnic background, yet most people judge me by my skin color and other features which are usually taken as Anglo or German (I laugh) although my father was Mexican. I am also part Native American and even a bit Malian (which I take for the Moorish influence in Spain).
Compared to most African-Americans I have it comparatively easy. It's one less thing to worry about.
If you look into someone's eyes and see them as a person, not a race, and also see them as your complete equal it can be a transformative and long overdue revelation.
The shock is that for most people in America that is an exception and not the rule. I certainly hope that succeeding generations will overcome the sins of their forefathers and embrace people for what they are - people.
33
The hightened sense of identity with another country and culture only sharpened the author's resentment of having to live in the U.S., where she must put up with off-color remarks (there is no sexual harassment in Africa?) and subtle racist comments. Overall, did this journey enhance her life experience as a member of American society, or further alienate her? This is my concern with "identity politics." It seems that we are all being pushed further apart.
31
@PL We all benefit from a past, a context, a shared experience. Rather than alienating us, it makes us more whole.
@PL
You criticize Ms. Bent for finding a sense of connection in the land of her ancestors; a place where she is not subjected to racism.
Nevertheless, you express absolutely no outrage towards those white Americans who kidnapped and enslaved her ancestors.
Where's the anger directed at those who currently try to dehumanize her because of her race???
Who is playing the game of "identity politics?"
8
With all the vitriol directed at new arrivals, looking around for who I, a new American citizen, could look to as an authentic American I first dealt with the reality of the horrors faced by the first nations. And then, using as a criterion to identify the "real" American, those who have been here the longest, I decided it was the "black" Americans (those of African descent whose forbears came at the earliest 180 years ago) who are the "real" Americans, and the others, like me and the masses who have come in through Ellis Island and so on, all new arrivals. It gives me a little peace.
2
I whole-heartedly agree with you that people benefit from a tangible connection to the past. “Home” is one the most powerful words in our language. For those that have one it provides a connection, understanding, meaning and context. I have benefited from visiting the birth home of my grandparents on a different continent. It’s comforting to know where you come from and appreciate the journey and sacrifices that have occurred to put oneself in their current situation. I applaud your efforts to organize and encourage others to make this journey.
9
I had a friend who travelled to Dar es Salaam,Tanzania with the same intention of a homecoming. The locals were critical and judgmental of her dreads and couldn't believe that she would have any interest in leaving Canada for Tanzania.
She was definitely not welcomed as a sister, a long lost relative or like someone who belonged.
She came home heartbroken 6 weeks later from what was supposed to be a 3 month trip.
It's a lovely sentiment but I imagine it's a highly curated sentiment as well. You can't just drop in and expect to be received in the same way as described in the article.
94
@A.K
From my experiences traveling abroad--yes, to the countries where our ancestors lived-- it's best to simpy try to blend in, and only tell your full story to people with whom you've formed a closer bond. I'm very sorry your friend had a bad experience.
9
@A.K Tanzania wouldn't have been part of the Atlantic slave trade, and this does not figure in its tourism. Ghana, on the other hand, lacks the landscapes East Africa has, but does possess some of the few relics of the slave trade, such as the forst in Elmina and Cape Coast. They only exist because their original purpose was to store gold. Normally slaves were not kept in such lavish surroundings and security...
8
@A.K
I have travelled to Tanzania. I can say without equivocation that nowhere did my wife and I have such an experience. Tanzanians are exceptionally welcoming as most are muslims and greet all strangers with the utmost respect and humility.
5
"Through it all I reflected on what life would be like if I lived in a nation where I was part of the dominant racial group."
Those of us who are Jewish and don't belong to the extremely insular ultra-Orthodox groups go through a similar sensation every day, too. It's less obvious, being White, but it's there, especially for those with surnames associated with Jews.
BTW, Mercedes always was a woman's name. Daimler took the name of a dealer's daughter, Mercédès Jellinek, at the beginning of the 20th Century.
18
We don't get the paid Birthright trip, but members of my Arab-Muslim family have traveled to Jerusalem to explore our family roots in that City and elsewhere in Israel. Even though our sense of identity with those lands has been fractured, the trip was still meaningful.
17
We have within us tribal genes. They express themselves in the importance of identity and belonging. As a 99% Northern European (Scots/Irish), I learned that about 3 years ago through 23&Me. Prior to that, as an adoptee, I didn’t know. It was worthwhile finding out. For individuals who are not members of the dominant ethnic group it would be even more important, I should imagine.
The outsized Identity Politics of today is understandable but also subject to the zero-sum-game politics which has been played for much of human history. Punishment almost never results in ennobling behaviors, particularly when the perpetrators of injustice are long dead.
A far better perspective is to recognize that throughout human history, the reigning Power Elite, regardless of ethnicity, has set the rules and games the system to its advantage. European civilization played that game more effectively not because of inherent evil but rather because of better technology.
Identity is important. It can also be employed for the same-old-same-old dominance games that characterize human behavior.
12
So beautiful. Thank you for sharing your experiences. It's powerful and healing to connect with one's heritage. So glad you had that opportunity and really hope it can continue to be made possible for more and more people.
19
Elegant and balanced; mature and wise. A solid read. We need identity, and exploring an ancestral line is a way to find it/create it. I hope Bent expands this into a longer piece.
6
Gratitude, Ms. Bent, is an insufficient word for which to express my happiness to have read such an article.
I had a sister who, before she died in 2014, had spent years trying to trace our ancestry back through the generations. The last point she arrived at was at a woman who was a slave and the foremother to our paternal grandfather, born in 1882 in the Geechee country in South Carolina.
It must have been liberating indeed, to walk about; to stroll without tension; to speak to strangers without the fear of hearing what is all-too-familiar in the United States: the verbal insult or the subtle physical assault on one's person because they are "other."
Your plea for a foundation for those who cannot afford to journey to Africa reminds me of Dr. Martin Luther King's words to the effect that "well-meaning whites are generous with their words--but little else."
Finally, I was moved by the welcome that you received from people in Africa. You didn't feel the need to justify; to explain; to awkwardly dodge uncomfortable subjects because the majority culture simply isn't interested in what you have to say. It's almost as if their own arrogance should suffice for the second-class citizenship that they and their forbears were only too happy to bequeath to us.
I hope many thousands will not only read your article but will earnestly begin to invest in the expensive journey to a place that will, from all appearances, be the only home where African descendants may find a true welcome.
15
It's great to get outside white supremacist and anti-Semitic bias and find one's roots, for sure. Women can get out of male supremacist biased culture, too. There's no "country" we can travel to, unfortunately. But I started with a Women's Studies minor in college 30 years ago - which taught me the true history of women's accomplishments. Then I went through a year long initiation to become a Wiccan Priestess. You can't imagine how it changes you life to celebrate the sacred without "God the Father's" patriarchal leadership. I also found many amazing, strong, accomplished female elders in the field of ethnic dance. Honestly, I've had so many inspiring crones throughout my life that, at 53, I welcome my elder years and am always puzzled reading all the op-eds about women who are struggling with aging. There seems to be so much self-loathing among women. I applaud Ms. Bent's journey to experience her racial roots. I understand well the benefits of stepping into a world in which you are honored and remembered.
16
I was deeply moved by Ms. Bent's article, and I'm grateful to her for sharing the unique experience of a sense of belonging. As a Jew born in a German D.P. camp, I experienced a sense of not belonging anywhere. There was, at the time, no country that was majority Jewish. Today, I'm grateful for living in a time when Israel is an existential reality rather than just a memory and a longing. I shake my head in wonder at how many people in the world can't abide the existence of one tiny strip of land where a Jew can feel what Ms. Bent described. Nothwithstanding the existence of over 100 Muslim majority countries, and Arab countries, there are those who insist that one Jewish country is too many.
27
@Esther Goldberg
People can't abide the mistreatment of the "other" people who live in Israel and the occupied territory. It was not a land without people. Palestinians have been exiled from their sense of place and history.
4
@Esther Goldberg
Thank you for what you said and saying it so well.
2
@Esther Goldberg. Regrettably, this “tiny strip of land” already had other people living there, who have ever since been subject to a campaign of ethnic cleansing. Almost everyone would abide a more just version of Israel wherein all ethnicities and religions are accorded equality and where “ birthright” is extended to ALL with roots there. The insistence on a Jewish majority is the root of the problems.
4
Wonderful article! Last year we took our kids on a trip to Israel, and the year before my Mom took me to Belarus, where I was born but left when very young. Both "birthright" trips were very meaningful. They helped me connect to parts of my history and heritage that on the one hand were mine, but yet out of reach. It made me feel more complete, and that's what this is about- connecting to all the pieces that make you who you are.
11
The grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse here in Columbia are (1) beautifully landscaped and maintained and (2) dotted with statues and memorial plaques, some of which are appropriate and some of which most definitely need to be changed out.
By far the most striking of the memorials is the African-American Historical/Memorial site, designed and constructed on a prominent spot just off the east side of the Statehouse in the late 1990's.
Every element of it is pitch-perfect and, taken together, those elements memorialize the history of African-Americans in South Carolina from their arrival via slave ships to the hard-won but still very relative steps toward equality to the many and varied ways in which the African-American community as a whole and individuals in particular have made formative contributions to the life of our state, our country and our world.
Of the several elements that make up the site, however, none is as moving as the four touchstones embedded in a huge stone block at the entrance---each one obtained from one of the four African countries that were home to most of the African-Americans originally brought to South Carolina as slaves.
I have watched as African-American men and women approached those touchstones and, with tears in their eyes, gently moved fingers up and down those smooth rocks. Many lingered, as if wrapping heart and mind around the fact that "this is home, this is where I'm from."
Sacred moments. Holy ground.
30
@Rusty Inman yes, Holy ground indeed.
2
True, this is an experience every African-American should have. One thing they might discover is that, though they are black in America, among West Africans their other roots - white, native American, whatever - show too. On a trip to Ghana years ago, I had no trouble identifying the Americans on tour, and it wasn't because of the way they dressed.
The other side to a visit like this is that the people who remained in Africa were, in some cases, the people who sold the slaves to the Europeans.
Our histories are a complicated business.
33
@S North Ah yes, the obligatory back-handed negative comment about "Africa". Africa is not a country besides the way. Be specific.
I assume you are talking about West Africa, when you refer to slavery. What do you mean by slavery? And did this slavery happen before or after Portugal, Spain, France, England, Sweden, and Denmark/Norway demanded the slaves at gunpoint?
2
Enjoyed reading this. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin in the early 90s. Although I am not part of the African diaspora, it was meaningful to me to live, learn and work there. Until some philanthropist steps in to fund a birth right trip, please consider the Peace Corps, actually living there for two years and really getting to know the wonderful people there is a priceless experience.
22
It should be remembered that the overwhelming number of Africans were not “captured” but sold to Europeans by other Africans and Muslims. Most African slaves were “captured” by other Africans. Acknowledging this fact is the big taboo in America because it spreads the blame around when it’s easier just to have the story be good vs. evil.
94
The fact that some African slaves were captured and sold by their countrymen does not change the indisputable evil that was the slave trade. Nor does it relate at all to the sense of belonging and homecoming that this writer is hoping all minorities could experience. By focusing on the complicity of the slaves’ fellow Africans, you seem to be trying to dilute the blame and lessen the shame of being directly involved in the slave trade. Does it make it less wrong to purchase a young Thai girl for sex if her mother sells her? Of course it does not. Our country bears the burden of the slave trade to this day and has a long hard road ahead to heal the wounds it caused across generations. Finding more people to blame in the story only widens the horror, it does not diminish it.
12
@DSD On the other hand some people would dearly like to 'spread the blame around'. That's not really possible though. The buck stops with those who knowingly traded in human life for their own financial benefit. Yes, others contributed to the suffering, but lets accept that that in no way reduces the culpability of white Americans (and Europeans) in the slave trade.
9
@DSD
I made this exact point in a class just the other day -- but note that while the slave trade shows the great capacity of people to do harm no matter whether black, white, Christian, Muslim, etc. - the victims in this trade were Africans. It was Africa that suffered for this trade.
5
Birthright Israel has to do with a nation created for a people persecuted over 2000 years and who returned to their home. This is not analogous. Former slaves were given their own country - Liberia -- apart from a choice of over 15 African countries where they can go. If you went to Liberia that would be analogous.
Visiting places of slaves shipment is more like Jews visiting Auschwitz, but even then its different. Slaves lived to create 34 million black Americans. 50% of the world's population of Jews were murdered.
Enjoy your personal journey, but please, be precise and learn about other peoples' history of suffering.
21
@Allan H.
I found your comment to be dismissive, almost angry, at this heartfelt column by Ms Bent.
Through history, all people - other than the particular elite at any given time and place - have, to paraphrase Hobbes, lived lives that have been nasty, brutish and short. Many, many have needlessly died at the hands of other through war, slavery, repression and genocide.
It is not a contest, Allan, to see who has suffered most and then can wear it like a badge of honor (or chip on their shoulder). Rather, its what have we have learned to identify what makes us alike as opposed to what distinguishes us by using self-created constructs.
83
As a Karuk and Yurok American Indian who was the privilege of knowing and living very near where my people are from, despite the best effort of this country’s history and policies, I understand the importance that connection can have for ones understanding about their place in this chaotic world.
I find it disheartening that some feel the need to play the Oppression Olympics at all times. The lady who wrote this piece gave credit to those Jewish friends of hers whom have had the opportunity, and the privilege, to return to the homeland of their ancestors and she was inspired by the impact it had for them. Yet your comment were unable to show any sense of empathy at all for her situation. You just want your suffering to be worse than any other people’s suffering and to what end?
Wouldn’t it be a better world if we recognized and acknowledged the suffering that so many people have felt and then work to create understanding and connection, to encourage healing and compassion.
I could list out all the atrocities that happened to American Indian people but I am sure it would fall on deaf ears. Besides, I’m more interested in sharing this women’s story of hope and healing.
29
@Allan H.
It's quite analogous in my opinion, but I see your point.
I've led many birthright trips as a Jew that moved to Israel from USA. Birthright is far from perfect, but it is beautiful.
The challenges birthright struggles with-- including palestinian narratives for example, will have analogous situations for Mercedes.
Let's not throw stones, they will work that out when the time comes :)
They will have interesting issues to tackle for sure, just like we do.
Mercedes this is a brilliant idea. Support!
2
Thank you Mercedes for this article. I was born in a former British colony in South America and am a descendant of African slaves. I was under the impression for many years that my ancestors came from Ghana. My sister notified me recently that our origin lies in Nigeria after receiving results from an ancestry test. My feelings were quite conflicted after this discovery.
5
@Nic
Thank you. The constant focus on one particular nation to return to seems based on colonial and linguistic ties,not blood lines. Most of us aren't from present-day Ghana.
2
@Nic Many people in Ghana are descended from the Kingdom of Benin formerly based in Benin City, Nigeria. The movement supposedly happened in the 13th century.
So I would not be concerned with the country but rather a region and with the culture in which you can relate.
5
What a heartfelt and genuine article! I am surprised at the number of negative and skeptical comments. Ms. Bent's suggestion to encourage African-Americans to visit Africa has great merit. No one's visit to another culture is exactly the same, but travel abroad rarely fails to educate and enhance the lives of those who go with an open mind, a desire to learn about their host country, and a humble willingness to respect and esteem others.
35
Dear Mercedes, I enjoyed reading your article and I agree that a birthright trip is a great idea. Traveling abroad can be very illuminating. I’ve had the good fortune to travel to the “land of my ancestors” and what I found illuminating is how completely out of sync I was with the people for whom I share my distant DNA. In my case it was Ireland, a country that previous to my visit, I had romanticized as some green grass, Celtic-harp, lyrically folk, whimsical land of keen, friendly and witty individuals.
I could not have been more wrong. I found it to be cold, damp, gray and the people were witty but relentlessly sardonic. After three weeks, my whole sense of “identity” switched from the actual Irish to identifying with my ancestors who left.
I realize that Mercedes ancestors didn’t have the actual choice to leave their homeland and so our experiences are not exactly analogous. But, even still, what my Irish “birthright” travels revealed was not how well I related to the “homeland” so much as a new found admiration for my immigrant ancestors who came to America.
66
For all that slaves suffered in the earlier decades, a trip to Ghana or Senegal can enlighten them in an unexpected way.
Would they like to have been born and raised among poorer folk in these countries?
Would they like to be the street vendor or the prostitute approaching the tourists?
15
@Inveterate
It would be surprising if anyone, from anywhere, would want to be poor in Ghana, or Senegal, or in Switzerland or Connecticut for that matter. The location has noting to do with that difficulty.
You are entirely missing the point of this beautiful article: it is wonderful to feel connected, and “part of”. There are many enlightened possibilities.
1
Do you truly believe that most Senegalese fall into these narrow categories? Perhaps we foreigners should view Americans as serial killers and drug abusers?
2
@Inveterate And perhaps without the theft of blood and treasure over the centuries, "these countries" might be different today. Counter-history sure is fun!
2
Approximately 80% of the Black Africans who were brought to America as slaves were *already* slaves of other Blacks in Africa. The foundation of the trans-Atlantic slave trade was African Blacks selling other African Blacks to Whites. The United States fought a Civil War in which six-hundred-thousand Whites died fighting *each other* to put an end to slavery. Meanwhile, in remote regions of Africa to this day, Blacks continue to enslave other Blacks. As has been pointed out by other commentators here, the African Blacks who were so welcoming to Ms. Bent may well be descendants of the African Blacks who sold Ms. Bent's ancestors to Whites. I question the hard, cold, rationally calculated value of Ms. Bent's "homecoming."
50
@S. Richey Oh please, Ms. Bent knows all of the facts you present, but she still felt a strong connection to the places she visited. Her feelings are her own and it is mean spirited to denigrate them.
Most people in the US came to America because their situation was miserable at home. Many came as indentured servants which is almost the same as slaves. Yet many Americans love returning to Europe and visiting the land of their ancestors -- rich or poor. Why shouldn't black people experience the same?
African tribes who won out over enemy tribes sold the members of the conquered tribe into slavery from the king to the lowliest laborer. So even descendants of African slaves in the US could have been kings or washer women.
Why try to pop Mercedes balloon?
5
The author fails to address the million dollar question:
Who has the best jollof rice, Nigeria or Ghana?
27
@Jordan
If you’ve lived in Africa you know the most prized rice is that imported from the States.
There is a formal Birthright Africa program. It was written about in the New Yorker last year.
9
Mercedes Bent. What a great name! Straight out of a Toni Morrison novel. Mercedes is actually a Jewish name is it not?
I am glad that new worlds are opening up to you with your trips to Israel and Ghana. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., has narrativized his own experience of returning to his homeland. Gates’s final takeaway was his overriding sense of difference from Africans. You cannot go home again. Culturally, he felt overwhelmingly American.
Black Americans are very different from Africans and are distinguishable not only through different cultural practices but phenotypically. On the African continent and on many of the islands there is still significant color prejudice and a lexicon of complexion.
Toward the end of his life Harvard-educated W. E. B. Du Bois joined the Communist Party and immigrated to Accra, where he finished out his days--rather unhappily. Marcus Garvey’s back-to-Africa dream was ill-fated.
Harvard and Stanford? America still remains the uber-land of opportunity.
15
@JD Mercedes is a Spanish name.
9
@JD Mercedes is a Spanish name (originally Latin) meaning Mercy / Mercies.
8
@JD Okay, Garvey and Gates weren't happy when they returned to Africa,but Ms. Bent felt very connected to the African countries she visited. She is not required to have the same feeling as other prominent black Americans. Different strokes, etc.
2
We the white people of America should consider setting up a foundation for all black people to experience what you have.
We owe them that much as a country built on slavery.
10
This country was NOT built on slavery. It was built by usually poor, but focused individuals who desired a better life. That is the American Dream and it still exists. In terms of who will pay for the Foundation you mentioned, I think if you make a large donation, maybe others will follow you. But I doubt it.
12
@Patrick Turner The US Capitol itself was built in part by slave labor.
https://www.aoc.gov/art/commemorative-displays/slave-labor-commemorative-marker
1
@Kev & @ Patrick Turner,
Like most truths, our nation's origins are more nuanced and complex...hope and greed...liberty and oppression and many other polemic motivations "built" our nation. Single narratives are always oversimplifications.
Lovely article.There is real peace and strength that can come from connecting with your roots. As a Amerasian Korean adoptee I have recently done the same via Youtube, media attention,and reading about the land of my birth. I also hope to revisit in person some day, and also wonder what it will feel like to be one of the majority and belonging in a way that is sometimes elusive here in the west.
11
@Nate
Una lives in Canada.
@Una
Good luck to you. Just a suggestion- You’ll find out more about your ancestral country if you spend significant time there, a year or two. You’ll learn about the assumptions, the worldview, and the personal politics and workplace politics of the place. The things you can’t learn in a short visit where everyone is being polite and welcoming.
Like many, you might find that you’re more American than you at first thought. That where you “belong,” where home is, is where you grew up. There’s a lot of self-discovery involved.
10
@JD - numerous Canadians have reminded me that they too are "Americans" ;-)
1
In the 1960s I was a Peace Corps teacher in an African country where most of the inhabitants are clearly African but of a much lighter shade than most American blacks. Many of these light-skinned Africans of varying ages and education levels discriminated against my fellow Peace Corps volunteers and staff who were black, sometimes even calling them the local equivalent of the "N" word (the same word they called members of tribes with pronounced black skin color).
I grew up and went to school and college in California, where all of my classes were integrated from kindergarten on, so it came as quite a shock to me to see Africans discriminating against African-Americans.
I enjoyed Ms. Bent's article and was happy to learn that she was so warmly received by her distant relatives on her travels to Africa; and no, the country I served in was not on her itinerary.
Unfortunately, discrimination can sometimes appear even where it is least expected, and is by no means limited to whites.
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@Monray, as a dark-completed, foreign born (South American), I was severely discriminated against by African Americans. I was able to go to college and studied why they behaved they say they did and was able to stop condemning them.
A journey to connect to a larger past may be useful, if you've enough of a singular ancestry to make the connection worthwhile. Descended from Europeans I can claim, with one ancestor on my mother's side who married a Native American. But the range of European, from Poland and Hungary in the East to Ireland in the West (with other ancestors coming from points in between) is so diverse over so many generations that I consider myself more of an American "mutt" than anything else.
But if such a journey can be helpful, by all means go for it.
3
I enjoyed reading this article and am delighted that Ms. Bent had a wonderful cultural experience. Over the years I have learned that we are not monolithic in the African community. There are countless ways to be Black today. The diversity within the race is dynamic.
I believe that every Black person globally should venture to our ancestral homeland. We are financially able to do whatever we please, such as attend expensive professional football games and wear expensive designer brands. Travel must become a priority for Diasporean people.
I often say that the only difference between a Black person born in Mississippi or Jamaica is a couple of stops on the slave ship. My hope is that one day we will unite as the honorable March Garvey suggested. Africa is still for the Africans despite where they were born. Pan-Africanism allows each of us to celebrate local heritage while remembering and appreciating our ancestral heritage. Unity simply implies working together for common goals. We do not have to agree on every premise, but respect all thought processes.
6
I did an ancestry kit and discovered that
5/8 of my ancestors are European.
Alas, the cultural may not match the genetic.
6
I enjoyed the article but think it is wasted in this forum. It would have carried far greater meaning if published in one of the better Afro-American newspapers. A cursory review of the comments detects a Euro-bias that one would expect in this forum.
Of course, all readers can come away with something of value from the article. However, I suspect the writer would find a more enthusiastic and understanding audience if she published the reflection in a more appropriate newspaper.
4
@roger
Why not both?
9
@Roger
I disagree, I think that's precisely why it belongs here.
It might expose the bias and ignorance of the average NY Times reader, but it's not helpful to continue in our silos, be they racial or political.
There just needs to be more innovation in digital media to encourage exchange and conversation that is meaningful and can educate readers beyond exposing their ignorance and bias.
13
What a wonderful idea - a foundation to provide Birthright trips for African-American children! I do hope that someone takes up Ms. Bent up on this. In addition to the benefits to Americans, it would also benefit many of the African nations by providing tourism dollars, as well as the potential investments that Ms. Bent alluded to. And, perhaps, greater ties between Africa and the US.
15
Sorry to dampen the spirit of the essay but I’m compelled to note that the host family who baptized you are most likely descendants of the people who captured your ancestors and sold them to white slavers.
24
@Frank So they should not have welcomed her in this generous way, and she should not have accepted? Not sure what you point achieves exactly.
9
@Frank
Some of us, hopefully most of us, reject intergenerational guilt.
11
@Frank: We should note also that people's descendants aren't morally responsible for their actions, just as white people today aren't morally responsible for the actions of white slavers simply because they have the same skin color.
17
Ever since the Black nationalist 1970's, some within the darker nation rely on a superficial cultural nationalism to fantasize life without racism. This piece fits squarely within such imaginative folly. While I do not doubt that a visit to Nigeria can offer a wealth of new experiences and perspectives, the idea that cultural tourism can overwhelm the historical erasure imposed by chattel slavery and Jim Crow segregation such that young Blacks could gain connection to an authentic ethnic heritage is an absurdity wrapped in the warmth of other suns.
My people's heritage begins amid crimes against humanity. We were forged from plantation cruelty and Middle Passage genocide. Reaching back before we were Black to call a hazy, amorphous, out-of-focus Africa home is rank cultural appropriation; no different than when people around the globe don bandannas and gaudy chains to indulge hip hop with the high honor of low pantomime.
We can't pick and choose our history; the author's need to replace slaves and sharecroppers with post-colonial independence a world away requires archaic blood quantum rationales for race instead of the modern consensus that race is a social construct. This gaudy shellacking of modern Africa onto Black American experience deserves no advertisement in the nation's paper of record.
11
@James Lamb
Thank you. Your critique is intellectually robust and, even in its pessimistic realism, bracingly honest.
But you ignore the potent need human beings have to belong, the psychological coherence it can provide, especially for people whose heritage is full of genocide, cruelty and betrayal.
Cultural nationalism is naive and reductive and full of the same pitfalls as any nationalism, including violence - but might it have the seeds of something that can be nurtured while exposing and weeding out its dangers?
9
Careful what you wish for. Almost 200 years ago Frederick Douglass had an epiphany -- that Blacks in the U.S. (the vast majority of whom, anyway), families had been here for 200 years, and this was their home. That contrasts the American Colonial Society that encouraged freed slaves to emigrate, mostly to Liberia. Undoubtedly roots stretch back, but the current "you" has roots here that run much deeper. Those African roots more than likely include African slave catchers who trapped your ancestors and sold them to Europeans/Americans, a betrayal perhaps unrivaled in history.
19
Much like jewish connection to Modern Israel, so is the american connection to Africa. It is an attempt to erase the memory of the more recent past. Obliterate it. Pretend it never happened.
Just as most jews in america....are more european than israeli.
So too are most black people in america....more american than african. This is sad.
While I feel happy for Ms. Bent finding a connection with Africa.....I am wary that this means she is also denying her "american"-ness. If not for America....she would not exist.
4
I have always known that one of the fundamental problems for African Americans was the disconnection from our roots in an America that during and after enslaving us has behaved like we are hated and unwanted and promoted the idea that we are less than , incapable , and are inherently amoral .
If this were not enough American and European Racism painted Africa as uncivilized and savage making us all refuse to accept her as our home unlike other migrants from other continents have been able to protect themselves from discrimination with the love and pride of their home land .
So, unlike everyone but Native Americans who have had their native land reimagined as not theirs African Americans have the dual stressor of being despised by the early America half built on our labor and theft of wages while at the same time separating us from our ancestry and making us hate Africa at the same time .
It is no wonder we suffer from Hypertension and live everyday without the freedom to believe we are equal and are essentially homeless in our hearts and minds , but this revelation by this young student is not a new discovery for any black person not unaware of how we got to be where we are today .
5
TRIBALISM.
I think the writer's point of view feeds the dangerous tribalism on the rise. The feelings of THEY v US. Very divisive.
And I think she deludes herself about her African conncetion and heritage. She idealizes it. If she were African living in Africa, she wouldn't be in fact be feeling all this equality, peace, harmony, and acceptance. To begin with she is a woman. That means in Africa, she will always be a "minority" in the sense of being second class. She will have less power in that society. Black Africans may not wonder if was hired because she is black, but they may wonder if she was hired because she is a woman and perhaps think her less qualified because of her gender. And as far as I know, there are many ethnic divisions in Africa.
And she does not mention the pain and complex feelings she must have experienced upon visiting the sites where Africans themselves sold their own kind to White Europeans and to the horrors of slavery.
The USA has a terrible history of slavery and discrimination, and we need to acknowledge and eradicate it. But lies and idealization is not the path to justice.
20
Needing a trip to homelands for those generations of connectivity lost to the horrible legacy of slavery is more than understandable.
But Israel’s birthright trips seem an inapt analogy. Those are largely encouraged to gin up political support for Israel, and overlook Israel’s cruelty in making refugees of Palestinians. If one peoples deserves to feel part of an ancestral home, so does the next group.
9
This is a wonderful and warm piece. Just a warning, though. One black man I know went on such a trip and visited one of the slave markets. He made the mistake of asking about his family name and the guide told him he may come from one of the notorious slave-selling families. History is complex.
11
I suppose that finding our ethnicity may give us some confidence of our cultural places we (our family) came from, and find joy in the strength of our diversity. But race, there is only one, the human race. And just in case we forgot, we all came out of Africa eons ago, and became 'different' by virtue of geography, technology, the environment, and culture of course. Accordingly, to those who claim superiority by the color of their skin, a groundless arrogance based on ignorance, some humility is in order. Being social beings, we would do well in sharing our common heritage via the 'golden rule'.
9
I share your sentiments! The first time I visited Southeast African (e.g., Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique), I felt welcomed and at home. That trip occurred over 20 years ago but ever since, I have implored every African American to visit the African continent. Last year, I did an ancestry kit and learned that my ancestors were from Togo and that is my next trip.
7
Thank you for the important story! I visited last year and was stunned. The Brits left mid70 but took >20 years to open. Still organic floors especially in the dungeon from nobody got out. And the paths to ocean where some were pushed. My photos tell it all. But of course the slave hold outs in north Ghana expand the story.
Not so expensive trip: nonstop fight from nyc to Accra and a bus ride from Accra are ok. Food and accommodation not expensive and fufu is good!
1
The author writes: "Research suggests that development of a racial and ethnic identity can improve minority children’s self-esteem, academic performance, ability to cope with prejudice and discrimination, and sense of well-being."
Let me offer the French view: About half the population of Paris is of African descent today, but you'd never know that without visiting, as France forbids the collection of racial or ethnic demographic data. The idea is to create a colorblind society, where everyone is simply French, without retreating into fragmented racial or ethnic identities. Seems to work pretty well - mixed (black/white) couples are a common sight, for example.
12
@Robert: That is interesting. A middle-school student once said to me, that math isn't for me, I'm black. Doesn't seem to support the claim that the author says is suggested by research.
3
@Robert
The research suggests that a colorblind approach doesn't work! It ignores racism to the detriment of anyone who isn't non-White. Also, interracial relationships are not a panacea for racism. Some interracial configurations have higher divorce rates than monoracial couples.
4
It strikes me that a trip to West Africa to learn about the details of slavery would be very beneficial to a large number of American white people as well; especially those who still think "manifest destiny" was a good thing and who object to a more honest retelling of the massive injustices on which our nation was built.
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@Vesuviano
Living in New Orleans, I’ve seen the preserved mansions and slave quarters of plantations from here to Vicksburg, and beyond that, north through the Mississippi Delta where racial economic disparity lives on today.
Years ago I also visited the slave port of Ouida, Benin. I saw the royal palace in Abomey which holds slaver King Ghezo’s throne. It sits upon four human skulls. The transatlantic slave trade was ugly and brutal. There were no heroes on either side of the ocean.
Although we may have gotten here through the policies of Manifest Destiny, compared to those days, contemporary America seems pretty nice. That’s true for me and the millions who, like me, are descendants of European peasants. It’s also true for American descendants of slaves.
We can understand the past, but we don’t live in it, and we sure can’t fix the past. Learn from history, face it, accept it, but don’t be emotionally consumed in the burnishing of historical resentments. Live your life, enjoy what we all have now, and do your best for the future. If that means getting a Stanford MBA, then good on you. Best of luck to you. Don’t let the naysayers and resentment burnishers get you down.
13
@Nate
I agree with the substance of your post, and am very happy to see plantations such as Laura and the Whitney, that devote a good deal of attention to the plight of the slaves. Unfortunately, I've also taken a tour of Shadows on the Teche, where the docent referred to the slaves as "workers".
While an African American, Keith Richburg, has written an entire book about how he as a black man is better off here than he would have been in Africa, I don't think that lets us white people off the hook. We need, I think, to be much more aware of Jim Crow and various forms of institutional racism that have been practiced and some of which, courtesy of our current Supreme Court, are being brought back.
6
Remarkable essay, thank you for your candor. Congratulations on your journey and the connections that were made. I too hope to make that journey one day, for a feeling of belonging that is not felt in the US. The most important aspect of your essay was being in the majority, if only for two weeks. It must have been such a revelation and a sense of peace and tranquility. Keep up the great work and hope to hear more of your stories.
6
Beautiful essay, beautifully written. I think one way we all might be able to relate to it is by imagining that our ancestors were suddenly plucked away from Earth by an alien civilization, but one day we are able to return. I suspect the connection would be instant, the emotions powerful, recorded in our DNA. And I suspect we could then fully appreciate what this gifted writer is conveying.
17
I work (mostly virtually) with education leaders and community activists in Kenya. Recently I created an itinerary for a group of Kenyans who were coming to the US to attend 2 conferences on education. During that visit I was struck by 2 things;
1) At each stop on their 2 week tour around the country they reached out to Kenyan scholars now working in higher education in the US. We were always greeted warmly by these scholars and treated to generous tours of their institutions and in some cases festive authentically Kenyan home cooked meals. There is an understanding that the diaspora will actively connect and engage any and all visiting Kenyans. It was so lovely to see and be included in.
2) Secondly and much less lovely was that the originally planned Kenyan contingent had included several women but unfortunately only men were granted Visas which they found out only days before departure. When I asked what happened the men shrugged-it was common and expected. At dinner with a female Kenyan chemist now living in the US and teaching in Baltimore she shared that visas to visit the US are usually denied to accomplished Kenyan women of child bearing age because the government is afraid they won’t come back.
12
@JAS It is not just Kenyan woman who are denied visas, but all women of child bearing age (particularly unmarried ones) from countries the US considers "third world".
@JAS, Something is missing in the visa story. The visas they needed would have been issued by the US consulate in Kenya, not the Kenyan government. Commentor pulsation hints at a reason the US would deny such a visa: to keep out women aiming to give birth to an "anchor baby" US citizen. But the Kenyan government could control the issuing of passports.
Thank you for this wonderful narrative! I can only imagine the serenity you felt being a part of your surroundings instead of being apart from them, if only for a few weeks.
As a white male who describes himself as a “Heinz 57” (though I don’t have any DNA tests), I feel that the US as a “melting pot” makes finding your roots harder with each passing generation, since those roots keep spreading to different homelands.
In a way it’s similar to how I feel, growing up as an “Air Force brat”, having lived six places before I was 12. I was always the new kid, and never was able to satisfactorily answer the question, “Where are you from?”. Sometimes I envied people who grew up in one place and a place to think of as home. But then I realize how lucky I was to experience all those places and cultures.
Ironically, I felt the sense of serenity you felt in Nigeria when I travelled to China alone for six weeks. As an atheist, it is not my skin color that sets me apart in the Bible Belt, but I feel like an outsider nonetheless. In China, most people are atheists. I had great conversations with the meager Chinese I had learned and, more often, their understanding of English. Contrary to what I read, they were not afraid to criticize their government, and were refreshingly pragmatic about all of the subjects we discussed.
Thank you for expressing so eloquently the desire for a real sense of belonging. I, too, feel that desire.
7
I am so happy for you. "My mind was at ease..." My personal story might set me apart from most whites, but I feel deeply the truth of every paragraph. Maybe you have a mission not just to awaken members of the African diaspora to their connections to Africa, but even to inspire whites to support African-Americans reconnecting with their deep roots.
As your own connection deepens, you may find unexpected points of friction as well -- mutual misunderstandings that run deep, blind spots, frustrations, situations that awaken you to also how very American you are. At times these moments can seem overwhelming. Of course, you learn from them, but I trust that in the end you will have a stronger appreciation of Africa than ever.
I lived with an African family, one of the deepest blessings I ever had in my life. Their -- everything -- continues to shape me.
I wish I would be given an African name. The experience would strip me to my core. I would cry like a baby.
Thank you, Esosa.
5
I am a white woman who travels regularly to several African countries for work. There, all the people I meet in a professional context are Black: CEOs, CFOs, communication managers, Government Ministers, marketing managers, researchers, farmers, hotel staff, etc... I have often wished that Black and White Americans all had such an opportunity, to experience "normality" as being a context where all leaders, decision-makers, students, doctors, etc are Black.
Therefore, it's lovely to read this article, thank you.
81
@Mulberry
"an opportunity, to experience "normality" as being a context where all leaders, decision-makers, students, doctors, etc " are of the who cares race.
1
Such a brilliant and heartfelt article about exploring your history and identity. The organization BirthrightAFRICA.org now provides free trips for people of African descent to visit the continent to learn more about their own history. The degradation of African culture is a hegemonic norm in America that fails to fully recognize the beauty, diversity, and contributions of African people. Creating opportunities for individuals to explore their ancestry can be transformational, and connecting to contemporary stories of distant relatives can be inspiring. Thank you to the author for sharing her own journey.
46
Beautiful piece. I sense that many Americans would love to trace their heritage. But I’m also curious.
You don’t mention this in your article, but you have significant European ancestry, do you plan to go to those places in Europe? This is part of your identity, too. I am just confused when people single out the part of their identity they choose to honor.
I hope to read more of your work.
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@Mark - There is one important voice that has spoken out on the subject you point to, the voice of Jesmyn Ward.
In her novels, those I have read at least, she gives voice to people classified by the US Census Bureau as African American, and perhaps had thought of herself as best belonging in that Census Bureau box.
Then she went to 23andme and ordered the $99 kit for her father and mother and herself. She describes this experience in her essay, Cracking the Code in the book The Fire This Time-A New Generation Speaks About Race.
The results are reported in geographic terms - plenty of reasons to discuss this practice but not here - and her mother found she was "55% European"- JW then found she was "40% European".
Her first reaction? "I found my results both surprising and troubling." and "So it was discomfiting to find (this)" Read he essay and note that she, like every single one us finally could see that the "intertwined genetic strands" make her the unique individual she is with a genome 99% shared with the rest of us.
People are free to choose what you call the "part of their identity they choose to honor" but the US Census Bureau should not be engaged in that fiction.
Read her essay - everybody if you can!
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
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@Mark Perhaps on the day when people are not 'singled out' for their background by the American educational system, voting system, and incarceration system, among many such systems, then people may 'choose to identify' in a different manner. You may also notice that MANY people of MANY nationalities choose one aspect of their family history to identify with, even though perhaps only 1/2 of their DNA genes point to that, and do so because the predominant family structures from which they came emphasize that. They are not necessarily "choosing to honor" the group(s) in which they have been brought up--they are, rather, reflecting and identifying with the majority of their experiences. To do this is not negative.
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@Mark That's an interesting question. Like many black people I knew that I had European ancestry, but had no specifics. As a young boy I had already identified with Africa as my ancestral home. Made sense. Nobody who looked at me would consider me anything other than black/African anyway. I also saw that my friends who came from "biracial" families often had white relatives who refused to acknowledge them. So I saw no reason to make any effort to get to know this ancestry. When I got my DNA results, however, I changed my mind slightly. DNA testing showed several areas of the world (Ireland, England, Alsace, Russia and Poland) where I had family origins, and I was also intrigued by the Russian ancestry especially because as a kid I had a strong need to get to know the Soviet Union and its language(s) and culture(s). I figured that it was because of the Cold War and my interest in national security, but maybe there was something more to it. But as I tried to explore the European part of me, reality came back into view. When I reached out to my distant relatives of European ancestry on the genealogy/ancestry sites, the vast majority of those who had actually responded ghosted me once they found out what I looked like. This reinforced my original reluctance to engage this part of my ancestry. Seems to me that people such as myself would save themselves plenty of heartache by not trying to reach across racial barriers - even if those across them are some sort of kin to us.
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