The African Diaspora and Its Effects - Essay Example

Lecturer: The African Diaspora and its effects. The term African Diaspora, it impliesthe dispersing or movement of Africans outside their continent which originally was only Africa. This movement cannot necessarily be assumed to be dispersal due to forced movement, but it also applies to those who left Africa by choice. Africa Diaspora thus encompasses all Africans who left their homes from different corners of Africa, and have been integrated into their current communities. The first form of dispersion from Africa was witnessed during the insurgence of slave trade. Through this, Africans were dispersed to Europe, the Islands and the United States where they rendered service without compensation from those who bought them. There have been several cultures which have risen due to this dispersion, and it has brought about several effects as well; positive and negative. Both the positive negative effects have led to development of unique cultures with traits borrowed from the different societies Africans lived in after dispersion. Failure of slave trade brought about a different form of evil when many expected freedom from oppression. Chinua Achebe in his book Arrow of God shows the results of the entry of colonialists into the community. Captain Winterbottom, a colonialist wanted to show the villagers of Umuaro and Okperi that he was in charge thus, he burnt all their guns (Achebe, 39). After the abolition of slave trade the colonialist tried informal trade which proved quite difficult to achieve, as it became irksome trying to promote equality in trade. This led to direct rule as explained above, and they placed their representatives with army support in their different African constituents. Many fled their small homes due to oppression, and after many countries had gained independence the available land was left to those who sided with the white man rule. This explains the wide gap between the poor and the rich, yet the poor learnt to live in poverty and to struggle to survive and change their status. This gave birth to what is commonly known as ‘ghettos’; a community for those who lived below the poverty line. However civil rights movements and freedom wars eventually led to freedom of many African countries. However the Diaspora did not stop as the new African Diaspora was born. Traffic out of Africa is at a high percentage now than ever before. The earlier Diaspora sparked curiosity on the availability of opportunities in western countries. This has in turn led to brain drain in African countries, and in worse scenarios those left in the African countries are the young and the old (Okpewho, & Nkiru, 109). This implies there will be stunted growth for such African countries as those who leave rarely come back, and instead seek citizenship in their new host countries. Majority of Africans view most western countries as lands where dreams come true, and because of this there is a trend whereby many Africans go abroad to either seek a better life, work and send money home or get married to change their citizenship. A huge notable effect due to the African Diaspora is loss of culture. This is a case that arises due to adoption of the cultures in the new home countries after dispersion. In most situations, it is often referred to as the side effects of colonialism; post colonial oppression if preferred. Post colonialism refers to the period after decolonization (Abraham, 377). Literature about post colonialism describes how the lives of migrants are in first world countries and the conditions of the third world countries after gaining independence. African cultures set different expectations for each gender, but with the dispersion there have been gender reconstruction efforts whereby equality is being promoted all over the African continent. Frantz Fanon is viewed as a post colonial thinker even though he lived during the colonial era. He explains in his book Black skin white masks how Africans are behaving life the white men who once ruled them (Fanon, 17). The Negro has adopted the lifestyle, form of education, and relational life of the white man with only the skin to show off their African nature. The Africa Diaspora however did not only take away from the African community, there are several gains which cannot be overlooked. One being formal education, Chinua in his works of art especially arrow of God explains the way Africans had their own way of educating their children. The white man brought about the aspect of the book education together with Christianity (Chinua, 46). Colonialist sparked interest among the Africans who realized that getting the white man’s education would help them get more knowledge and also find ways of getting them out of their countries. Due to this, many Africans joined learning institutions, and used the same knowledge to promote development in Africa. Formal education in African societies is now highly valued and considered as a means of economic development. Ngugi wa Thiong’o in Decolonizing the mind, (n.p) demonstrates the way the white settlers too after gaining control of their varied African territories, went to great lengths to establish facilities that would enhance the process or ensuring that they had full control of the subjects. This is turn promoted the development of different towns that were previously not in existent. Most major cities in Africa are attributed to the colonialists, not built to benefit the Africans of course but after gaining their freedom it did help in promotion of their statuses. The process of dispersion has led to the world we see now. Migrants are still streaming in various countries for security or in search of greener pastures. This stream started a while back and is far from over, it has in turn led to intermarriages, and the reduction of conflicts such as racial, tribal, and a more open world. The Diaspora has further opened up Africa to the rest of the world. Many people around the world have little knowledge of the different cultures that exist in African societies. Through the Diaspora there has been an outburst in interest from the international society in Africa. This of course has been to discover more of Africa but not as colonizers but as tourist. Africa so far seems to be one of the most explored continents by tourist from all over the world. This has been an addition one that arose as a result of the African Diaspora. This new outlook has empowered many African countries to develop a culture of tourism promotion which has in turn fostered efforts like wildlife conservation, and protection of natural resources (Newland &Taylor, p.11). The result of this has been provision of employment for the locals, and expanded positive relationships with the rest of the world. Due to the Diaspora tourism has evolved and opened up different forms of tourism including; business related tourism, heritage tourism, medical tourism, educational tourism, exposure or birthright tours, peak experience tours and VIP tours (Newland &Taylor, p.5). In sum, the Diaspora has opened up varied opportunities for the international governments, home country governments and Diaspora as well. These parties have developed a tourism culture that is embraced by the world at large, and it all started with the dispersion process. The African Diaspora has both lead to losses for the home country and gains as well. African countries can attribute part of their world exposure to the dispersion process. It might have started without will, but majority of the modern Diaspora is of free will either in search of greener pastures of for fun. Work cited Abraham, Susan. "What does Mumbai have to do with Rome? Postcolonial perspectives on globalization and theology." Theological Studies, 69.2 (2008). Achebe, Chinua. Arrow of god. Random House LLC, 2010. Fanon, Frantz. Black skin, white masks. Grove press, 1967. ICD. (n.d). The ICD ‘experience Africa’ program; The African Diaspora. Web March 24, 2014. Newland, Kathleen, and Carylanna Taylor. Heritage tourism and nostalgia trade: a diaspora in the development landscape. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute, 2010. Okpewho, Isidore, and Nkiru Nzegwu, eds. The New African Diaspora. Indiana University Press, 2009. Wa Thiongo, Ngugi. Decolonizing the mind: The politics of language in African literature. East African Publishers, 1994. Read More