Two Unifying Experiences of the African Diasporas Worldwide

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Thesis and Purpose Statement
Common Experiences: Racial Oppression
Common Experiences: Cultural Unity
Differences and their Implications
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The question of the diaspora is an interesting and multidimensional one that has been attracting the attention of immigration researchers and social scientists in general for a considerable time. Defined as a scattered population whose country of origin lies elsewhere from their area of residence, diaspora is frequently characterized by all-around isolation. Separated from their homeland, its members are often perceived as somewhat outsiders by the homeland residents when it comes to discussion of matters related to the home country. Similarly, united by their origin and shared cultural practices, diasporas are not fully assimilated into the countries they’ve immigrated into. This paper attempts to research the two key unifying experiences of the African diasporas worldwide: the history of racial oppression struggles and the shared cultural and artistic practices. It discusses the similarities between the diaspora members, as well as their differences, and attempts to better examine how the concept is implemented into reality.

Thesis and Purpose Statement

The purpose of the paper is to establish and discuss the key unifying experiences that are shared by the members of the African diaspora worldwide. The goal is to handle the discussion in a rounded manner, accounting for the differences between different ethnicities and countries within Africa. Could it be that the population groups separated within the mainland experience a sense of unity when placed in the outside environment?

It is argued that racial oppression and prejudices and artistic and cultural practices form the two key pillars of the shared African diaspora experience. Specifically, these characteristics remain identical or similar for the African diaspora members independently of their country of immigration. To assist this thesis properly cited academic literary sources are used. The sources incorporated are from peer-reviewed journal articles or books and have been published within the five-year time frame from the date of the research itself.

Common Experiences: Racial Oppression

People of African heritage living in numerous nations around the world, either as individuals or as communities. Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest concentration, with estimations of 150 million people. Whether they are descendants of slave trade victims or more recent immigrants from African countries, they are generally marginalized. The consequences of systemic racism are a widespread problem in modern Western societies, whose legal and social institutions are derived from the norms of the colonial era (Kwansah-Aidoo & Mapedzahama, 2018). Consecutively, people of African descent are frequently targeted by the institutions in question, contributing to the general marginalization experience.

The consequences of slavery are so permanently widespread due to its organized and centralized nature, as well as its ties to historically prosperous nations. The heritage of European and American colonial activities lives on today, manifesting in institutional biases against non-white residents (Caldwell & Chavez, 2020). Furthermore, the biases exist internationally, being reflected in a variety of life areas including education, political participation, career opportunities, access to housing, and many more.

The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action acknowledged the barbarism, magnitude, and lasting impact of the slave trade as a crime against humanity. Therefore, it is now universally established that people of African descent bear the consequences of victimhood in this crime. The generational trauma has affected their perception of people of other races (particularly white), as well as strengthening the bond that existed within the diaspora itself. Thus, although the people of African descent are a heterogenous group with a variety of language and cultural backgrounds, this shared tragic experience binds them together, particularly in immigration.

Common Experiences: Cultural Unity

Many authentic researchers have pointed out that the concept of African Culture is inherently colonialist since it blends in languages, practices, and art of multiple nations of an entire continent. However, immigrational relativism shifts the perspective and the self-identification of the diaspora members. Although they perhaps would not have identified themselves as African while still living on the continent, the perspective changes with immigration. The conceptual opposition between the diaspora members and the residents of the country they’ve immigrated to creates their shared African identity, mending their cultures into the diaspora one.

Cultural artifacts in question manifest in art, fashion, cuisine, but, perhaps most importantly, spiritual and religious practices. The latter are often demonized and commodified, with voodoo religious rituals being perceived as demonic magic and frequently appropriated in Western popular media. The authentic knowledge of spirituality and folklore is kept within diasporas and forms a core of the multigenerational communication within these communities (Boutte et al, 2017). Other artifacts, such as food dishes and clothes, historically transpire from the colonial era and are frequently cooked and made out of the materials that the African descendants could have availed of. Yet, the blending of multiple cultural heritages of the African continent into one diaspora facilitates the richness of the general heritage it produces. The diaspora members take understandable pride in their shared culture, which simultaneously links them back to their homeland and allows them to separate themselves, avoiding assimilation (Small, 2018). It is perceived as a water flow, which, for the diaspora members, is an important cultural image symbolizing ever-existing life (Dawson, 2018). Culture for the diaspora members is personal and political to the same degree and is actively protected as a vital part of the African ethnic identity.

Differences and their Implications

As outlined above, the roots of the modern African diaspora are not only complicated but often incredibly traumatic due to the historical context that applies to them. Consecutively, any deliberate studies of the field provide somewhat of a challenge to culture researchers. They must be actively aware of the consequences of the slave trade that manifest in the global community to this very day, particularly in Europe and America (Gomez, 2019). The main implication, perhaps, consists in recognizing the fact that the cultural and religious heritage of the modern African diaspora cannot be studied in a vacuum. Any cultural studies are by their very nature historical studies as well as culture originates within a pre-established concept and cannot be studied separately. Therefore, the two major groups of common characteristics are also inherently linked, despite the high degree of differences between them.

Furthermore, the research above reinforces the importance of separation from the general community that the diaspora experiences and upholds. The assimilation to them is equally impossible due to the existing racial bias and undesirable, due to the importance these differences hold. They indicate the cultural and spiritual unity that has originated between the diaspora members in their shared immigrational experience. The birth of said unity is structurally fascinating since it exists not by the definition of the members themselves, but through their opposition to the other. In the end, the African diaspora is united by their otherness compared to the national, cultural, and ethnic majorities in the countries it resides in. One might argue, that this experience is not unique to the African diaspora, being instead adopted by different othered immigrant communities worldwide. However, the history of the slave trade and the traumas it has inflicted on the diaspora members brings their obtained unity into a new light.

The historical context and traumatic consequences of the slave trade account for the intensity with which the African diaspora in particular expresses the factors that unite them. From a certain point of view, the diaspora members have learned to enjoy their otherness, celebrating the degree of cultural differences that the colonial past has tried to strip them of. Unfortunately, the Black hair and bodies remain politicized and marginalized to this very day, with racist bias in institutions punishing the free self-expression of the diaspora members. Hence it becomes especially apparent, that the diaspora’s role in the modern community is to provide a support system to its members that elevate their history, culture, art, and expression.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the cultural and historical heritage of the African diaspora provides a key to understanding their shared identity and position worldwide. Due to the scale of the slave trade and the developed immigration policies of modern society, the diaspora is represented in the vast majority of the countries of the modern world. It is therefore fascinating how the established patterns of social perception remain roughly the same globally, despite the multiple differences between the countries in question. The complex experience shared by the members of the African diaspora allows them to support each other and preserve the traditions of their homes.

References

Boutte, G., Johnson, G. L., Wynter-Hoyte, K., & Uyoata, U. E. (2017). Using African Diaspora literacy to heal and restore the souls of young Black children. International critical childhood policy studies journal, 6(1), 66-79.

Caldwell, K. L., & Chavez, E. S. (2020). Engaging the African Diaspora in K-12 Education. Peter Lang Publishing Group. 29 Broadway 18th Floor, New York, NY 10006.

Dawson, K. (2018). Undercurrents of power: Aquatic culture in the African diaspora. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Gomez, M. A. (2019). Reversing sail: a history of the African diaspora (Vol. 14). Cambridge University Press.

Kwansah-Aidoo, K., & Mapedzahama, V. (2018). ” There is really discrimination everywhere”: Experiences and consequences of everyday racism among the new black African diaspora in Australia. Australasian Review of African Studies, The, 39(1), 81-109.

Small, S. (2018). Theorizing visibility and vulnerability in Black Europe and the African diaspora. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 41(6), 1182-1197.

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