Compared to other races that live in America does the African American community display the same level of cultural connection and pride toward Africa that other races such as, Asian, European, and Latinos display toward their historic homelands?  There are a few points to consider in the analysis to answer this question and to develop an understanding of why we do not develop the connection today with all the information about the rich history of Africa at our disposal.

First we must consider whether this a race issue or a nationality issue.  In my opinion this is much more a nationality issue than a racial one.  We tend to look at it as a race issue because of skin color, but most displays of cultural and historic connection to a motherland are in context of a nation and its nationality not a continent and its various peoples.  Asians are not in touch with Asian history and culture as a whole, they are in touch with their individual nationality.  Japanese people are proud and connected to Japan and its heritage and culture, as are Chinese with China, Italians with Rome, Greeks with Greece, Egyptians with Egypt and Mexicans with Mexico.

For African Americans there is no connectivity to an actual country in Africa because it’s an entire continent.  So because of the destruction of our lineage and national history through slavery we have no natural inherent connection to African beyond skin color.  It follows that because we do not know whether our ancestors come from Uganda, Nigeria, Sudan or Somalia there is and will continue to be a disconnect among most African Americans.

There also exists a huge language barrier as there is no language connection between African Americans and Africa.  Africa is home to many languages and dialects and the fact that our elders, grandparents, great grandparents and even further back did not speak our native African tongues to carry down to new generations furthered that disconnect.  Other nationalities that have stronger cultural and historic connections often have the language of their native land spoken in and around them by elders and parents, even if they themselves don’t speak their native language.  That spoken word helps to build an interest and cultural pride in your homeland and its customs and traditions.

Africa is also a mixture of many different cultures and dichotomies, Christian and Muslim turmoil, tribal differences, Arab Africans, White Africans and Black Africans.  This I think makes it difficult for African Americans to find their historic place and proper context in a place as vast and complex as Africa and then relate it to our current American experience.

Lastly, none of this is to say that you cannot learn and benefit from all there is to know about Africa, but learning about Africa in a historic sense is different from the inherent natural connections we are discussing in comparison to other people and why African Americans may have limited interest in learning about Africa.  While most African Americans I think have a spiritual connection to Africa in that we have a special love and admiration the continent as a whole, that feeling does not always translate in a physical nature of desiring to learn everything about Africa and or having the desire to return to the continent to consummate the historic bond between us.