Xenophobia in Black America

Recently, the topic of blackness has been immensely important in the community in relation to what it means to be Black in America. The advent of Black immigrants has invited a conversation concerning who defines blackness. I typically hear African Americans spouting, “We need to create boundaries that define what is blackness according to those who were enslaved here.” I am constantly perplexed by this statement for multiple reasons: 1) What do we see when we say blackness? 2) Why are we so concerned about boundaries with Black immigrants when we barely create boundaries with whites? Well, the former’s answer is what I’ll focus on; the answer is the antithesis of whiteness. This is the crux of what it means to be black in America, struggling with the oppressor, however, when a Black immigrant from a predominantly Black land arrives here, this brings forth existential crisis to a people whose world has revolved around white people.

I will continue this later since I am tired.