Summary:

• The bigotry behind the expression “Go back to Africa”!!!
• White supremacy and the historical portrayal of Africa
• The Blaxit movement and the African diaspora’s views on returning to Africa
• The Blaxit is not a new phenomenon
• A spiritual connection with the land of ancestors
• African nationals are returning to Africa

The bigotry behind the expression “Go back to Africa”!!!

If you are a black person in the Americas, Europe, Asia or Australia, and you are confronted by a racist person, chances are you will hear the words “Go back to Africa” violently thrown in your direction. Relying on some twisted reasoning, racists have developed the habit of hurling these words towards black people, convinced that being associated with Africa is shameful, insulting and the worse condition that could happen to a human being.

So, in response to the clear bigotry behind those words, should the entire African diaspora seriously consider going back to Africa? When you consider that Africa is potentially the richest continent in the world with its endowment of all the natural resources that drive the global economy, wouldn’t returning to the continent be massively beneficial? Is it not reasonable to think that, by joining those that remained on the continent, the return of the African diaspora would help turn Africa’s potential into substantial wealth for the benefit of the continent, its diaspora and humanity? Couldn’t the return of the African diaspora on the continent help overcome the wealth gap and systemic injustices that have plagued black people around the world?

In this AfriKili article, we will decipher if there are any merits to the idea that all black people should return to Africa, or if it is simply a capitulation to ridiculous racist ideas. The discussion seems particularly relevant in the current context of the Blaxit Movement, which is the growing trend of people of African descent leaving the United States and other Western countries to immigrate on the African continent. In addition, there is also a growing trend of Africans nationals that are repatriating to the continent after being educated and gaining professional experience outside the continent. Which begs the question, should the entire African diaspora follow this emigration trend?

These questions touch a very sensitive topic related to how people of African descent should respond to racism and discrimination. Conversations around this topic tend to elicit very passionate and heated debates. Nevertheless, this article will attempt to address the issue in as balanced a way as possible.

Frankly, I did not initially plan to dedicate any portion of this article to racism. However, it quickly became clear that it plays such an important role that not addressing it, would do a great disservice to the Blaxit movement. Consequently, I will take a quick glance before diving deeper in the conversation.

White supremacy and the historical portrayal of Africa

Let’s start by looking at the rationale behind the expression “Go back to Africa”. When racists and bigots employ the expression, they clearly express their desire to get rid of black people, but they also equate Africa to the worse kind of wasteland.

To those living outside of Africa, it should come as no surprise that the continent is shrouded with unflattering perceptions because media outlets tend to depict Africa as the continent of disease, famine, poverty and wars. With such overwhelming negative media coverage, it is only normal that people without real relationships with Africa would develop very somber views.

Sadly, this is not a contemporary trend. When the transatlantic slave trade begun in the 16^th century, it was justified by creating racism based on skin color, and Africans were presented to the European masses as savages emanating from a dark continent without soul or any civilization. Later, during the scramble for Africa, Europeans used the same rationale to justify colonization from the late 19^th century, all the way to the mid-20^th century. They presented Africa as the land of darkness that had to be colonized to bring the light of civilization to the savages inhabiting the continent.

The historical and cultural heritage of this fictitious fabrication was one of the main drivers in the appearance of White supremacists, who continue to plague our societies today. They believe that people of African descent are inferior beings that have not contributed anything meaningful to the advancement of the world.

So, when these bigots tell black people to “go back to Africa”, they clearly believe that black people should return to their insignificant continent since they didn’t contribute to the creation of prosperous western societies. With all the historical information available today, this white supremacy notion is not only ignorant, but it is also idiotic beyond belief.

In the context of the United States of America, it is even more ironic when we consider that everybody is a fairly recent immigrant, aside from native Americans. If they are so disturbed by the presence of black people in America, shouldn’t white supremacists consider going back to Europe? I presume that many of them would not be keen to leave a country where they have established an identity going back several generations. Obviously, the black diaspora is just as entitled to remain where it desires, especially where they have planted roots for several generations.

The Blaxit movement and the African diaspora’s views on returning to Africa

Anyhow, let’s move on to exploring how the African diaspora views emigrating to connect with the African continent, whether by returning physically or by connecting spiritually through the arts and culture.

I would like to make a quick distinction between immigration and emigration, two terms that can be confusing. To use a simple dictionary definition, the word immigration is used when talking about the country moved to. The word Emigration is used when talking about the country moved from.  In other words, someone is an emigrant when they leave their country of origin and an immigrant when they arrive in their new country.

When it comes to physical emigration, there seems to be a growing trend of black people either emigrating or expressing the desire to emigrate to Africa, often as part of the Blaxit movement.

The term Blaxit is a combination of the terms “Black” and “Exit”, emulating the term “Brexit” that describes the British Exit from the European Union. The term Blaxit was coined by Dr. Ulysses Burley III, an academic, journalist, and human rights consultant, to describe the idea of black people leaving the western world to emigrate to Africa.

There are no official statistics specifically covering people of African descent emigrating and immigrating to Africa. However, when Blaxiters are asked to express themselves, they often cite racism, discrimination and police brutality as the main reasons pushing them to emigrate from the USA.

This was highlighted in pop culture by the legendary musician Stevie Wonder, who revealed in an interview with media icon, Oprah Winfrey, in February 2021, that he was planning to permanently move to Ghana in West Africa. He said he didn’t want his grandchildren to have to ask anyone to be liked.

This sentiment was also expressed in the “I See You” podcast where host Eddie Robinson interviews the Jones family. In the interview, 50-year-old Tony Jones, a former Milwaukee police officer, and his wife Ayo Jones detail their reasons for leaving their house in Houston, Texas and relocating to Ghana with their two young boys. Since 2020, Tony and Ayo have also been chronicling their relocation to Ghana through their YouTube channel called “Expat Life Ghana”.

Moreover, several black people expressed similar sentiments in an article published by “USA Today” on June 26, 2020, titled “I’m leaving, and I’m just not coming back’: Fed up with racism, Black Americans head overseas”.

On the surface, some might view the trend of black people emigrating as a capitulation to white supremacists and bigots that want them to “Go back to Africa.” For my part, I don’t believe that is necessarily the case. It goes much deeper than just raising the white flag and giving up. Deciding to leave one’s home and country is an incredibly difficult decision that requires a healthy dose of courage and an appetite for risk. Additionally, those who chose to move are perfectly entitled to do so because migration has been part of our DNA from the beginning of humanity.

When our homo sapiens ancestors first appeared in Africa, they spread throughout the world by exploring and migrating. According to scientific estimates, our common ancestors started leaving the African continent between 60,000 and 90,000 years ago. From ancient times to our contemporary times, there has always been push and pull factors that have incentivized different groups to migrate. Consequently, black people that decide to join the Blaxit movement to seek better opportunities elsewhere are not necessarily capitulating to racism. They are simply continuing a human tradition.

The Blaxit is not a new phenomenon

Beyond humans’ historical penchant for migration, African Americans expressing the desire to move to Africa is not a new phenomenon. Even though the Blaxit movement is currently a hot topic in certain black communities, the trend has previously occurred.

For example, the African country of Liberia in West Africa, was created when around 12,000 formerly enslaved Black Americans (emancipated) and freeborn Black Americans immigrated to Africa in a 40-year period, between the 1820s and the Civil War period in the 1860s.

The subject was also a source of controversy in black American circles in the early 20^th century, with clashes between Marcus Garvey and the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In the 1910’s, Marcus Garvey, the founder of the popular UNIA, the United Negro Improvement Association, was advocating for all black people to return to Africa for the formation of an independent Black nation in Africa. He was criticized by other black leaders and W.E.B. Dubois, the first African American to obtain a PhD from Harvard University and a co-founder of the NAACP. Instead of a return to Africa, they were pushing for the end of discrimination and the assimilation of black people within the USA.

After World War II, there was another wave of Black Americans moving to Africa. For example, when Ghana became the first sub-Saharan colonialized African nation to gain independence in 1957, the country became an attractive destination for Black Americans to travel and emigrate. The famous artist and poet, Maya Angelou, was one of the people who moved to Ghana. Interestingly, W.E.B. Dubois who initially combatted Marcus Garvey’s push for a move to Africa, ended up immigrating to Ghana, where he was buried after his death.

Interestingly, in the American society, the Blaxit movement seems to follow a general trend rather than occurring in a vacuum. Typically, the U.S.A. ranks as the No. 1 desired destination for potential migrants around the world. However, the global analytics firm, Gallup, reported in 2019, that records number of Americans wanted to leave the U.S.A. According to their polls, 16% of Americans overall said in 2017 and again in 2018 that they would like to permanently move outside of the USA.

Yet, despite the expressed desire to emigrate, several black people are still staying put. Some people are not financially prepared to forego the security of a monthly income in the USA, to build a new life in an uncertain environment abroad. Others are hesitant to leave their families and circle of close acquaintances. Regardless of the reason, we should acknowledge that emigrating from a place with deep personal roots can be a very daunting task.

A spiritual connection with the land of ancestors

As a contingency solution, some people of African descent that are not able to emigrate physically, are increasingly embracing opportunities to connect spiritually and emotionally with the land of their ancestors through arts and culture. Black celebrities are particularly becoming flag carriers for the cause by using their high visibility and influential platforms to document their visits to Africa, or proudly embrace elements of their ancestors’ culture. It is as though larger segments of the African diaspora are overcoming the negative portrayal of Africa in the mainstream media. Instead of being ashamed by associations with their ancestors’ land, they wear the mantle with pride.

A striking example is the global superstar singer Beyoncé Knowles, who has been incorporating African elements in her performances. This goes from wearing African fashion to incorporating African collaborations in her songs. In both “The Lion King: The Gift” her 2019 album of original music accompanying the release of the remake of Disney’s film “The Lion King”, and “Black Is King,” the visual companion she released in 2020, Beyoncé decided to raise the profile of Africa on the front line with her. In an interview, she proudly declared that the projects were her love letters to Africa.

There was also the frenzy created by the 2018 Marvel Studio movie, Black Panther, starring the late African American actor, Chadwick Boseman as the main hero. The movie caused a massive wave of black pride uniting people of African descent across different regions. By wearing dashikis or emulating the “Wakanda Forever” salute from the movie, many people were expressing their sense of connection to an African heritage and culture.

Moreover, there has been an increase of celebrities using different ancestry DNA services to identify the African origin of their ancestors and disclosing the results publicly. For example, in 2020, American heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson revealed on his podcast, Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, that he took a DNA test and results show that his ancestors were from the Congo in central Africa.  

The noticeable upsurge of African pride is reminiscent of previous manifestations within the African diaspora. For example, there was the adoption of the West African dashiki shirts by the Civil Rights and Black Panther movements in the 1960s, before becoming popular with other society segments. Initially, the loose garment was worn by black people as an emblem of African pride after being denied the opportunity to embrace anything that represented their African heritage for hundreds of years.

The current Blaxit movement and the manifestation of African pride seem to go beyond previous movements that incited the African diaspora to reconnect or relocate to the African continent. There is a convergence of factors that indicates that this trend will not be ephemeral. For example, more people in the African diaspora are beginning to realize that Africa remains untapped market for black diaspora businesses, as we briefly discussed it in our AfriKili blog entry from May 25, 2022. There are also many YouTube channels that are documenting how people are successfully relocating from the Western world to Africa, while others are covering successful African entrepreneurs. The large amount of easily accessible content is creating a lot of excitement and incentivizing more people of African descent to follow suit.

African nationals are returning to Africa

Similarly to people of African descent, there is a noticeable trend of young African nationals increasingly repatriating to the continent. It is not unusual for people who leave Africa in search of better opportunities outside the continent, to express a burning desire to eventually return to their motherland, to enjoy the fruits of their hard labor with their family members. Whereas this desire used to often remain a goal without an execution timeline, young Africans are increasingly feeling emboldened to repatriate.

After being educated and gaining professional experience outside the continent, many are keen to take advantage of the tremendous business growth opportunities and contribute to turning the continent into a global powerhouse. Many are leveraging their western education and experience to obtain good jobs back in their countries of origin, while others are launching thriving startups. Technology startups with an emphasis on FinTech—financial technology—are particularly excelling. According to figures from data-tracking publications such as Briter Bridges, Partech and The Big Deal, African startups raised a record-breaking $5B in 2021.

Conclusion

As we have seen in this article, the Blaxit movement towards Africa is gaining significant momentum. Looking at the push factors that are causing many in the African diaspora to emigrate, Blaxit does not equate to them capitulating to racism or being exhausted by constantly facing uphill social battles. Rather, they are acting on a normal human incentive to search for better social and economic opportunities, just as our early ancestors did from the time they appeared on this earth.

Next week, in the second part of our series on Blaxit, we will pivot from the push factors in the western world to look at the pull factors that are making the African continent attractive. We will answer a few questions, such as:

• Does the African continent really offer opportunities for a better sense of community and a life with less racial discrimination?
• Is the Year of Return initiative, that is heavily promoted by the government of Ghana to attract the African diaspora, really beneficial for the African diaspora?
• With regards to business opportunities, can the African diaspora and African repatriates really create financial wealth by taking advantage of what is being called the world’s next big growth market?

We will discuss these questions and much more in our next installment. Until then, peace be with you.

Let’s get to work.

AfriKili, African Intelligence to Build a New Africa!