Early Repatriation from the African Diaspora Sample Paper

Discussion: Early Repatriation from the African Diaspora

The adoption of the three C’s by early returnees from the African Diaspora revealed that they had internalized black inferiority from years of racial discrimination in the West, making them hold Africans in low regard. Enslaved African people in the West had experienced a lot of hate, discrimination, and violence from whites, which greatly impacted their psychological well-being. This phenomenon is discussed in detail by sociologist and activist W.E Dubois in his piece The Soul of Black Folk, where he describes the aspect of “double consciousness” in the black man. He claims that black people have been conditioned to view themselves through the lens of the white man, consequently leading to the internalization of racism. Therefore, it is likely that these wrongful perceptions persisted within the African Diaspora in Africa. 

I think that the perception of the early returnees could have been different if they had not gone through the ordeal in the West. They would have resisted colonialism and the Western way of life because they would have been deeply rooted in their African culture and heritage. The years of discrimination in the West are what really affected their perceptions, and without it, they would have had high regard for Africa and their fellow African people (Akyeampong, 2000). Franz Fanon cites that Africans in the West underwent intercultural poisoning, which affected African cultural identity and heritage. This erasure of cultural identity would lead to the appropriation of Western values and lifestyle, which was deemed more superior and “civilized” by the Africans themselves. This explains why the early returnees held racist perceptions against their own and readily adopted the three C’s.   

References

Akyeampong, E. (2000). Africans in the diaspora: the diaspora and Africa. African affairs, 99(395), 183-215.