I would preface this op-ed with the fact that I am Asian-American and therefore have an innate inability to relate to and completely understand the experiences – good or bad – unique to people of African descent in the United States. That said, based on conjecture, the readings we’ve done so far in class, and present-day circumstances alone, I would advocate against any present-day emigration scheme to Africa on the grounds that a black or African diasporic consciousness cannot be assumed of all people of African descent, and that black nationalism is so inextricably linked to Western capitalism that even a physical displacement would not free black peoples from the shackles and pressures of the capitalist structure. Alternatively, I would advocate for the creation of black solidarity within the United States among the people in power (who are largely rich white men) through economic progress within the structure of capitalism.

Throughout the history of the nation, there have been several back to Africa emigration efforts. Most notably, the American Colonization Society, Marcus Garvey and the Black Star Line, and Martin R. Delany all led efforts to reverse the effects of the African diaspora and emigrate back to the homeland their ancestors had been dispersed from. Martin Delany and his ideologies especially stand out to me because of the fact that he was considered, by some, to be the father of black nationalism. Black nationalism and the idea of a color consciousness were the central foundations upon which many of the emigration movements were built. Thus, to people like Delany, African regeneration was only possible through the creation of a homogeneous and self-sufficient nation of morally exemplary (or Christian) and intelligent black people. This was problematic because of two reasons: one, the rhetoric of an African regeneration implies that the Africans weren’t self-sufficient in the first place and two, just as when the emigration debates were occurring in the late 1800s, black nationalism and a diasporic consciousness cannot be easily defined today. As Tiffany Ruby Patterson and Robin D.G. Kelley write in their work, “Unfinished Migrations: Reflections on the African Diaspora and the Making of the Modern World,” diaspora doesn’t just exist and is continuously reconstituted and recreated. In that sense, for many people of African descent, it appears to be a personal journey in which they develop or reject pan-Africanism or a black consciousness either on the realization that black people share the same timeless cultural values or that these values have manifested over time from life under racism and imperialism. Thus, any back to Africa movement would be in danger of suffering the two fates Delany fell into: either assuming the superiority of black Americans (or the inferiority of Africans) or simply failing to properly define and muster enough support for a black consciousness.

 

In addition to the reality that a black-conscious back to Africa movement is highly unlikely and perhaps dangerous due to the factors mentioned above, black nationalism is so inextricably linked to Western capitalism that even the physical displacement of an emigration movement would not free black peoples from the capitalist structure that is the basis of and the platform for a majority of their suffering both historically and today. In her work, “Nothing Matters but Color: Transnational Circuits, the Interwar Caribbean, and the Black International” in “From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International Since the Age of Revolution,” Lara Putnam introduces the concept of ‘Africanization’ as a source of scapegoating people of African descent for a faltering economy in Haiti upon the revolution. This is a common practice, still manifesting in many ways today. Economic progress and everything it implies (literacy, moral standing, etc.), even for black American individuals, is tied to whiteness. Economic stagnation and everything associated with it is ‘Africanized’ and is used to scapegoat black people. This rhetoric was present with the mulattoes in Haiti desiring the privileges enjoyed by white people, it was present with Delany’s rhetoric, and it persists with the desire today to participate in “whitening” in both a cultural and economic sense, not only in black communities but in many other communities of color as well. Thus, because the entire basis of any sort of economic success is rooted in and heavily favors whiteness, even physical displacement would not impact an international reliance on the Western capitalist structure. Thus, I would advocate for a movement dedicated to building up black solidarity and a black consciousness within the capitalist structure. Put simply, play the white man’s game to build up power for black peoples until it is time to break free of the structure.