Georgia Pai
10/12/22
ENGL 21002
The African Community’s American Experience
In this paper I will be introducing Fatoumata Diallo, a twenty year old Guinean European female who is currently a sophomore at The City College of New York. Fatoumata strongly identifies with the African community, which is a physical community united by racial commonality. Africans make up roughly 24.3% of New York City’s population (2022. New York Population 2022. World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/new-york-city-ny-population). This percentage is an indicator of how the community has a large and crucial presence within our city. Fatoumata has technically been a part of this group her entire life, obviously being born into it. She sees her community as a culture made up of many different components working to unite as one. There are a multitude of aspects that make up African culture; including food, their signature hospitality, religion/sanctity of life, and their languages.
The African community is unfortunately considered marginalized. Many would argue that the American system is built to work against African Americans. This community has experienced economic and social marginalization for generations. An African citizen in our society is much less likely to become successful compared to a person who fits the image of a “mainstream American”. Job and education prospects are sparser for this community. The wealth gap between African and White families is ever so present, it being so wide that the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank had estimated in 2019 that “The wealth of the average white household is about 6.5 times more than the average black household — roughly the same as it was in 1962” (Stein, Chris. Black Americans Suffer From Generations of Economic Marginalization. June 4, 2020. https://www.barrons.com/news/black-americans-suffer-from-generations-of-economic-marginalization-01591321825).
Fatoumatas perspective has greatly been formed because of her experiences with the African community. Being a part of this culture has taught her to deal with every hardship with ease. She has come to terms with the unfortunate difficulties that are brought upon her and her community, understanding that she must fight to get ahead in a system that is at odds with her. She must also work hard to preserve African American culture while trying to get ahead in a world that seeks to undo it.
In our interview I asked a variety of questions regarding how my partner perceives and feels about their community, how they believe society sees their community, and how being apart of their community has affected their life. The first question asked was; do you believe your community is marginalized from the American mainstream? Why or why not? Fatoumata definitely believes that the African community is marginalized from the American mainstream. She claims that the typical American does not value Africans the same way they would value someone who fits into the mainstream. Nevertheless, Africans are continuously relied on to carry out hard labor and America repeatedly utilizes their home countries resources. As previously addressed, it is clear through data and general social awareness that African-Americans have it harder in America. The second question was; What are some stereotypes you are aware that others have about your community? Fatoumata discusses a few stereotypes she is aware of concerning her community; that they have bad food, everyone looks a similar way, can’t speak English, and are poor. These are terrible stereotypes that have roots in America’s historically racist culture, dating back to the Jim Crow era. African-Americans had been represented in terribly negative stereotypical ways beginning in the early 19th century in theater and other media, further perpetuating racism and black stereotypes that have carried on for decades. Anything negative people have to say about black culture is extremely incorrect and have ties to racist outdated stereotypes from old America.
All in all, Fatoumata and I mostly have differing personal experiences when it comes to our communities. However many of the bigger picture hardships that our people go thorugh are one in the same. I say my personal experience being apart of the Chinese community is dissimilar to Fatoumatas experience in the African community because I am half white, having grown up with a white family for a majority of my life. I do not feel as estranged from the American mainstream due to my ethnic background as Fatoumata probably does. The only stereotype I had about the African community, if you could call this a stereotype, is that I understood that the community has been constantly subject to mistreatment because of racial discrimination. My interactions with my classmate has helped further this understanding, by branching my knowledge on how someone who is actually apart of the African community feels. Myself and others can do a variety of acts to advocate for African-American rights, such as relaying information via social media, attending protests/events, and if you have the means – donating to organizations such as Black Lives Matter (BLM), African American Roundtable (AART), and BlackPAC.
