St. Paul recorder., 1961-07-14
Do Africans And
American Negroes
Dislike Each Other?
Continued from Page u


his argument that the use Of AM
erican Negroes in Africa "is dan
gerous for all concerned" by citing
THE us. Protestant Missions,
who live with their" tribes and
know them better than British or
French colonial administrators,
and who have never encouraged
Negro missionaries"
For so years, United States Pro-
testant missionaries had also to
live with" colonial administra-
tions in daily fear Of African revol-
ution. Long ago, the big American
mission boards decided that it was
better to live with the colonialists,
than to hire American Negro mis-
sionaries.
Africans, writes Isaacs sent
entiously, "scornfully reject the
term Negro" American Negroes,
he says, are distressed to discover
That in Africa Negro is some
one with a stigma. African rejec-
ton of the term Negro is part of
the assertion Of African superiori-
ty over Negroes"
1t happens that in 1949, I was
the guest of the African Academy
of Arts and Research in what
turned into triumphal tour of Nj
geria. My principal host was
Kingsley Ozuomba Moadiwe, who
was, and is, a most masterful
adept at public relations. had, at
Mbadiwe's request, written out
biography; I had designedly billed
myself, as the first person of
African descent" to become presi-
dent of Lincoln university. My
self-made publicity flier was, in
most cases, faithfully followed in
the numerous scrolls of official
greetings handed to me in each of
the communities 1 visited; I per-
sonally prefer the term, person
of African descent, as a basis for
establishing international relations
with Africans, by other persons of
African descent throughout the
world, in preference to the par
ochial term, American Negro.
Hence, was surprised to note
that my favored phrase had been
discarded, time after time, by the
local scribes, who had substituted
for my grandiloquent person of
African descent, the word: Ne
gro!" This was in widely separated
places such as Lagos; Ibadan;
Benin; Ohafia; Onitsha; Sapele;
and Enugu.
But if 1949 is too long ago
things changing in Africa so rapid
ly-let me cite an instance that
transpired on January 7, 1861,
during a meeting of the Commits
sion on University Education for
Ghana, at the University College
at Legion.
We entertained delegation con-
sisting of the foremost academic
lights among the African faculty
of the University College. They |
had come to present their case for
an accelerated program of Afri-
canization in the staff. The spokes-
man was a distinguished member |
of the law faculty, and a man
prominent in the higher circles of |
the Convention Peoples Party.
Although pleading for African
ization", he used the word: NE
grow
Doubtless Isaacs - and Howe
have a ready explanation for this
performance; one that will still |
prove the "scornful rejection" i
by Africans-of the term Negro.
My own explanation Is, that
Howe, and Isaacs, as interpreters
of African opinions and attitudes
toward American Negroes, are
strictly in, Of, and from, the Bush;
and this, in all of the African,
American, and American Negro
of the word
Articles like those of Howe and |
Isaacs do not just happen, by coin
cidence. They were, of course, COM
The fact that two edi-
tors of two such magazines should,
at the same time, feel the neces-
sity to commission two such arti-
cles-the main burden of which is
an alleged mutual prejudice" be-
tween American Negroes, and AZ
ricans, is a revelation of some
thing deeper than the current in
terest in Africa.
Obviously, the editors knew that
an avid public would welcome such
and so, they commissioned
them to be written to supply the
waiting market. Themes: Negroes
don't like Africans, Africans don't
like Negroes; there Is mutual pre-
judice between them, it is danger
Gus to send American Negroes to
1t is not difficult to see that
there must be a powerful public
feeling, that it is dangerous to
send Negroes to Africa; and that,
true or not, American Ne
groes ought to dislike Africans,
and vice versa.
This is one Of the oldest Of the
Oldest Of American stereotypes;
and linked to 1t, is the deep-seated