How does Adichie distinguish between African and African-American in Americanah?
How does Adichie distinguish between African and African-American in Americanah?
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a highly educational text for white people like me. One of Adichie's most eye-opening discussions in the novel is how society reacts to someone being African-American versus African in the States. Adichie, through Ifemelu, states how “I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America” (Adichie 359). She becomes a minority due to her skin color and culture, in a country that, historically and currently, deals with racial tension and abuse. Many times throughout the novel, African immigrants attempt to distance themselves from African Americans, to try and avoid mistreatment.
In the novel, Ifemelu writes a blog post addressed to immigrants, and explains how “when you make the choice to come to America, you become black… And you want none of that… What if being black had all the privileges of being white? Would you still say ‘Don’t call me black, I’m from Trinidad’?” (273). Through this comparison, Ifemely generalizes how people of color across the states are treated worse than white people. Nevertheless, the abuse of African Americans in particular is engrained in United States history due to slavery and subsequent segregation. The racism towards Black people is best captured in one of Ifemelu's blogs, where she writes that “in the hatred of American Blacks, there is no possibility of envy—they are so lazy, these blacks, they are so unintelligent, these blacks” (404). Additionally, she notices the socio-economic manifestation of racism when she takes the subway through New York, as “she was struck by how mostly slim white people got off stops in Manhatten and, as the train went further into Brooklyn, the people left were mostly black and fat” (6).
Even beyond Ifemelu’s comments, Africans are portrayed to be weary of associating with African Americans. On page 137, Ifemelu talks to her friend Jane from Grenada, when Jane states that they are moving to the suburbs to prevent her daughter from “[starting] to behave like these black Americans”. Once Ifemelu begins university, Mwombeki, one of her friends from Tanzania, advises Ifemelu to “try and make friends with our African-American brothers and sisters in a spirit of true pan-Africanism... But please note that in general, African Americans go to the Black Student Union and Africans go to the African Student Association” (172). The “try” insinuates this task is challenging, and the separate communities emphasize the groups’ differences.
One of Ifemelu’s friends writes a book about traveling while Black, and explains how “native blacks are always treated worse than non-native blacks everywhere in the world” (411). This idea, along with the United State’s history of racism and current prejudices towards African Americans in particular, explains why African immigrants would want to distance themselves from this image to survive.
I generally agree with your interpretation, as it's something I noticed myself while reading. There is an obvious divide between African-Americans and Africans based upon how African-Americans are perceived in American society. The blog post on page 273, as you mentioned, is a perfect example of this. I particularly like the line "you say 'I'm not black' only because you know black is at the bottom of America's race ladder." As you said, one of the main roots of the separation between African-Americans and Africans is the separation from the image of the African-American to avoid racial mistreatment.
ReplyDeleteAnother way I noticed the distinction between African-Americans and Africans is their response to racism. Africans in the novel have not grown up in the US and experienced the same kind of racism that African-Americans have, so they're oblivious to it. For example, on page 500, one of Ifemelu's coworkers asks her "Why is it only black people that are criminals over there?" because she watches COPS. She is completely oblivious to the racism in the media and the justice system in the US, and thus engages with racism in a completely nonchalant manner. There was also the incident in her college where one of the fellow African students did not understand why the "n-word" was censored in a historical film. The student says on page 169, "It has caused a lot of pain to people and I think it is insulting to bleep it out." They get that it is a damaging word, but they do not get why in particular, African-Americans would be more sensitive to it, given that they have lived in a system that uses racial slurs like that constantly against them. It's yet another way Adiche separates these two groups.