Why African-Americans are now leaving the U.S. for Africa
A good number of African-Americans are leaving major cities in the U.S and relocating to Africa according a recent finding by Al Jazeera news.In a feature done by the news channel, Africans-Americans are settling in Africa in large numbers to avoid the increased racism and prejudice in the United States.About 5000 African Americans live in Accra, Ghana and have taken jobs such as teaching while others are entrepreneurs in the city. They say living in the country is not easy but at least they enjoy the freedom and feel safe.Muhammida el-Muhajir, a digital marketer from New York City says she left because she felt always treated like a second-class student.In an in dept interview with Al Jazeera, she opened up about why she made the move and how life has been since relocating."I grew up in Philadelphia and then New York. I went to Howard, which is a historically black university. I tell people that Ghana is like Howard in real life. It felt like a microcosm of the world. At university, they tell us the world isn't black, but there are places where this is the real world. Howard prepares you for a world where black people are in charge, which is a completely different experience compared to people who have gone to predominantly white universities," she told Al Jazeera.She added:"I can't say what's happening in America today is any worse than what's been happening at any other time."On her first trip to Africa and how she felt: "The first country I went to was Kenya. I was 15 and traveled with a group of kids. I was one of two black kids. I saw early that I could fit in and wasn't an outsider. Suddenly it switched, I came from America where I was an outsider, but in Africa, I no longer felt like that. I did graduate school in Ghana in 2003 and went back to New York and then moved to Ghana in 2014.""I have no connection to Ghana. Some people in my family did tests, and we found ties to Senegal and The Gambia, but I don't think you can ever figure it out. No matter where you were sold or left the port, Senegal or Ghana, no one can be certain where you came from."
On the prospect of more African-Americans moving...
"I think more will come when they begin to see it as a viable alternative. But it's not easy and it's not cheap. I can't say what's happening in America today is any worse than what's been happening at any other time. I think now is the time that people are starting to see they can live somewhere else."