Good morning all, I'm Mikaili. smiley Born and raised in the U.S.

These days, many of us African Americans are waking up to the idea of rebuilding the connection with our long-lost homeland. I happen to be one of those individuals. I was born with 4 African names, raised with a deep cultural understanding, and intentionally surrounded myself with African friends.

I've always felt welcomed by Nigerians (and Africans in general), however, I've heard that other African-Americans have had negative experiences.

NIGERIANS: This is my question for you all. If those of us African-Americans who appreciate your culture begin to visit/relocate in large numbers... would you be bothered by that idea? If so, why?

(I posted this under the wrong topic, sorry! Please post your responses in my thread under the Culture section!)

kaili:
Good morning all, I'm Mikaili. Born and raised in the U.S.

These days, many of us African Americans are waking up to the idea of rebuilding the connection with our long-lost homeland. I happen to be one of those individuals. I was born with 4 African names, raised with a deep cultural understanding, and intentionally surrounded myself with African friends.

I've always felt welcomed by Nigerians (and Africans in general), however, I've heard that other African-Americans have had negative experiences.

NIGERIANS: This is my question for you all. If those of us African-Americans who appreciate your culture begin to visit/relocate in large numbers... would you be bothered by that idea? If so, why?

To be honest with you, I personally feel a bond with African-Americans. You are our brothers and sisters whose ancestors wer forcefully taken away from Africa's shores many years ago.

However, there are stereotypes related to African-Americans that are more often than not, true.

- the average African-American man is lazy and prone to drugs, gang activities and crime. There's this "victim" mentality like.... he is disadvantaged and under privileged so why even try to be someone of value to the society?

- African-American girls are often stubborn and tend to be hood-rats. Teenage pregnancies and single motherhood as well as having children from different men is commoner among African-American women than any other race in the US.
If you ask most Nigerian men, myself included, we wud never consider marrying an African-American babe because most of "y'all" are irresponsible.

That being said, these are only stereotypes as i have relatives who wer born and raised in America and have turned out incredibly well and are doing well as professionals in different fields.

With regards to ur idea of a large-scale "meet-and-greet", Nigerians are generally friendly hardworking people and such a gathering wud be highly welcomed. However, u have to be weary of fraudsters and swindlers. Also make adequate security arrangements.

Best of luck.

I'll come back to comment

Wrong section