Black Lives Matter, Kick It Out, Equal Game and so on are international movements started for the purpose of dealing with the scourge of racism in our world. What is interesting however, is the relative ineffectiveness of these organizations in rooting out racism or changing people’s minds about how a person’s skin color does not in anyway define their personality.
Life experiences may differ from society to society but the core of an individual’s personality has nothing to do with the color of their skin. This is where Africa comes in. Africa has a major role to play in changing global perspectives about what it means to have a dark skin.
Let us be clear here. Slavery is the prime of inhumane vices. It is an evil societal construct that should always be criticized and never condoned in any form. America still has not rooted out the effects of this aspect of her history. African Americans still deal with all forms of racism. Be it systemic or in the form of racial profiling by law enforcement agencies, blacks in the USA still have so much to complain about.
The question today, is why over a century after the abolition of the slave trade and decades after the civil rights act was enacted, racism is still rife not just in the States but in Europe and even in Asia. The issue of being treated unfairly based on one’s physical appearance is a global thing. The planet is filled with humans of wide variations in body shape and size, skin color, hair type, eye color, shape of facial features. These differences are, however, not an indication of who the individual really is and no one should be judged based on these superficial attributes
Why is it that blacks worldwide are victims of racism more than any other skin color? The answer lies in the homestead of every black person: Africa. The outlook of Africa plays an important role in how people view not just Africans but people of color worldwide.
Africa today is the second most populated continent in the world with about 1.34 billion people living in it. It is however the poorest continent on earth with over 70% of global poverty being in Africa with Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo dealing with cases of extreme poverty.
But why is the financial state of a continent a factor in how the people of color are treated worldwide? We only need look at the experience of poor people all over the world. Poverty is a dehumanizing concept. It brings nothing but shame and reproach to the people afflicted by it. We have seen black people in South Africa attack fellow Africans from other (poorer) countries.
Rich people look down on poor people. Social class is a major thing. All over the world, we see this divide in the living conditions of people. Ghettos and Sub-urban communities, mansions and shanties. This is so bad that as poor as Africa is generally, rich Africans look down on poor Africans. Without equal distribution of wealth, it will be difficult, almost impossible to eradicate racism. Racism from my point of view is xenophobia with color filters.
African leaders need to actively pursue policies that will lift the people out of poverty. We need to bridge the wealth and standard of living gap between Africans and other continents. Asia has shown that it is possible. As long as Africa remains on the receiving end of financial aids and handouts from the developed world, we will never be taken seriously on the global stage and it is important to note that whatever outlook Africa as a continent projects, reflects heavily on every black person.
It is only when Africa rises out of poverty and Africans do not emigrate in such large numbers to the developed world for a better life that we can achieve the mutual respect that all nations on earth and all humans of all skin color out to treat one another with. This will take multiple generations before it happens but we need to start sowing the seeds of development and capacity growth in Africa from today if we do not want our generations unborn to suffer the same fate as those of us here.
About The Contributor
