Why African Americans leave Africa after moving there

In this video we’ll look at why some African Americans end up returning to the US after making the move to Africa. We’ve found that there are 4 main reasons.

Big shout out to @goblack2africa54 and @awakenwithmark for their opinions on the subject.

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[fabu]

As an African, who studied in the US, moved to my home country and ran back to "The US of glorious A", I will have to agree with you. Black Americans have more in common with White Americans than with us Black Africans. This is just about culture than it is about race.

Unfortunately, we humans have conditioned ourselves to always interpret common human problems as racism.

In Sub-Saharan Africa we may be of the same race but we have our own racism called TRIBALISM. It is just as vicious and segregating as Racism.

The irony is that, as an immigrant to the US, I feel more at home here than in my home country in Africa: I feel liberated from the shackles of senselessness tribal hatred.

[sidecarmisanthrope]

They all thought that they were going to Wakanda where life is beautiful all the time. Now they have had a wake up call.

[royveteto]

i used to be a volunteer at a hopeline for teens . one of the most fascinating calls i got was from a teenage girl who was wondering why her parents were strict. she told me that her parents were born in vietnam and soon left vietnam after the vietnam war was over. i told her that they were born in vietnam and will always think and act based on that. i encouraged her to study vietnamese history and culture to get an understanding of her parents

[adjoachilds]

Don't move to a new country expecting it to be like the country you left. Duh!

[heatherwilliams]

You cannot expect another country to operate exactly like the US, no matter where you travel.

[AliciaTheTroonSlayer]

This entire mindset is laughable. My homeland? America. Never been to Africa. 🤦🏿‍♀️ stop trying to tell us that we aren’t already home

[wesleyhite]

Mohammad Ali went to Africa to fight George Forman. When he got back a reporter asked him about Africa. All he said was, "I sure am glad my ancestors got on that boat!"

[musicgal]

Who on earth moves to Africa expecting it to be the same as America ? 😂 just proves how ignorant some people are.

[ladywolfsiobhan]

What black Americans need to realize is we are Americans. This is our country. Just because we have the same skin tone and share the same ancestry doesn't mean we will fit in or feel welcomed. I studied in the Caribbean when I was in college for a couple of semester. Yes I was black like them but we have nothing in common. I found myself hanging around the other American students that were there. Black people need to stop taking what we have in America for granted. As I told a black coworker of mine, complacency has no room in black people's vocabulary.

[JoseMartinez-dfdb]

I’m Mexican and that’s the way I feel about moving to Mexico. I have so many choices and liberties in Chicago that I don’t have in Mexico. So many little things add up and make a difference in your choice of lifestyle.

[neywcuc]

My coworker used to wear big earnings which looked like the continent of Africa, specifically Ghana. She was so anti-American until she moved there... Well, long story short, after 1 year, she moved back and never wore those big African earnings ever again.

[jwhiskey]

A story was related to me by a sailor (US Navy) who visited Liberia. While some Black American Sailors were initially excited to be in Africa, in a country founded by freed slaves, it didn't take long for them to become disenchanted. They found the streets filthy, the poverty shocking and their welcome based solely on their wallets - which some of them lost. They mostly returned to their ship early and refused to go ashore again.

[GregoryTheGrster]

You forgot to mention government corruption. One of the nifty reasons for running for office in African countries, or landing a government job, is that you can steal from people legally. Government corruption is one of the main reasons why enterprising Africans want to leave and move to North America or Europe. I believe that Botswana is about the only large African country that has a relatively honest government.

[johnrath]

I’m a white American of Irish descent but could not live in Ireland because of the lifestyle. Driving on the other side of the road, lack of affordable housing are some examples. Just nice to visit

[arepadetrigo]

Moving to Africa would be a real wake-up call to the "oppressed" black Americans.

[atlanticrf]

I lived in Ghana. The police there are harsh and do not tolerate anyone fighting with them or fleeing from them. Also, there is strong tribalism that controls the society.

[mgministryoutreach]

While serving in the military, I had the opportunity to visit many countries in Africa. I often said that every African American should have an opportunity to visit and see what life is like. It is easy to assume something about countries that one has never visited without having the facts. There are pros and cons to everything.

[sirwootalot]

I'm white, but I had a similar experience when I first visited Poland, where my ancestors came from - it's a beautiful country with amazing food and traditions, but the culture shock was bigger than I could have ever imagined. Even though I can speak Polish decently well, I learned the hard way that being a chatty extrovert makes people think you're either crazy or had too much coffee. On my way back home I had a layover in Chicago and started chatting with the flight attendants about baseball and the cubs, and it hit me like a ton of bricks that even with all the Polish-American trappings of my childhood, when it comes down to it i'm American as it gets! I absolutely get along more naturally with other inner city Americans of all races than I do with people in Europe.

[Viconius]

It's not about race, it's culture.

[theitechlab]

I lived in West Africa for a couple years for humanitarian stuff (I'm from the US) and I saw this happen quite a bit--people would move to Africa, thinking it would be paradise, when in reality, it was a complete 180 degree turn from what they were used to in the US. I loved my time there but wouldn't ever recommend anyone move based on some glorified idea of what Africa is like. Even if you share the same skin color as someone from Africa, you're going to have a hard time fitting it--it is more of a culture thing than a race thing. You were raised in the US, with US culture, norms, thinking, and society. Africa is not like the US, and the culture there is far different. If you can't live like a local, don't bother going--you're not going to get the same lifestyle there as you do here. If you do have a solid, well thought out plan, having visited multiple times to see if it is right for you, by all means, go for it. If you don't have that plan and have never visited, thinking that you are going to move to paradise? Forget it. You'll be worse off there than you think you are here in the US.

Also, soooo many people I encountered wished they could leave their home country and come to the US for better opportunities and standard of living. All the people complaining here have NO IDEA just how good they have it. Even people considered "lower-class" level in the US live a much better life with a higher standard of living than even middle-class citizens in many African countries. Many of the complainers here have grown up in relatively cushy circumstances, so they feel the need to invent problems, which leads them to think that Africa/Asia/South America, etc. is better off than the US. They have the same problems there as we do here, just at varying levels, and the US is by far the country with the most opportunity and equality.

I don't mean to sound like a wet blanket. Africa really has some awesome aspects and some really great people. However, packing up and moving on a whim is nonsensical. My advice? If you do consider moving, visit multiple times first and see if you can live like locals, eating the same food, shopping at the same markets, etc. Don't go stay in a resort for 3 weeks and say it's easy and wonderful, you're not getting the real Africa experience. Make sure you have a very well thought out plan, money, and experience living there before packing up and leaving.