Some black Americans, we hear, are moving back to the land of those who sold their ancestors into slavery. That’s one way of putting it, anyway. But as is said, home is where the heart is. The heart is often happier, too, when your formerly upper-middle-class self can now live like a king in a country of relative serfs.
The Associated Press (AP) covered this topic on Saturday. Relating stories of black Americans relocating to Kenya, the news organ wrote (with the expected woke suppositions):
Kenneth Harris spent most of his days in Atlanta yearning for a life in a place where his dark skin color is not a source of suspicion, but a mark of a shared heritage. His chance came two years ago when he bought a one-way ticket to Kenya.
The 38-year-old retired veteran has found a community in the east African country’s capital, where he now runs an Airbnb business. He loves admiring Nairobi’s golden sunset from a rooftop terrace, and enjoys a luxurious lifestyle in a tastefully furnished apartment in an upmarket neighborhood.
Harris is part of a growing wave of African Americans who are relocating to Kenya, citing the need to connect with their ancestors — or “coming home,” a phrase often used among the Black community.
Like dozens of other African Americans who have moved to Nairobi in recent years, Harris was attracted to Kenya’s tropical climate and what he describes as the warmth and friendliness of the people he believes he shares a history and culture with.
Not Exactly a Wave
The AP further relates:
- Other black Americans have also created flourishing businesses in Kenya; these include travel agencies, restaurants, and farms.
- Along with Kenya, other African countries have drawn black American expatriates. For example, through its “Year of the Return” program, Ghana granted citizenship to 524 people, mostly black Americans, in a recent ceremony.
- The company Adilah Relocation Services, founded by Adilah Mohammad, helps black Americans relocate to Kenya, with 15 families moved and more planned.
- As to motivations, many black Americans have been planning relocation for decades, seeking “mental” freedom and a better quality of life, not just reacting to U.S. politics.
- Mohammad emphasizes the “peace and restoration” found in Kenya and touts the sense of belonging.
- Experts such as Raphael Obonyo point out the obvious, that African economies benefit from these moves.
On the other hand, Obonyo warns that this “reverse migration” is tarnishing America’s reputation as a land of opportunity. It also, he says, is causing us to suffer a “brain drain.” Yes, well, I guess we’ll just have to muddle through somehow.
Of course, the AP piece can give one an exaggerated sense of this migration. As one MSN commenter astutely wrote, however, “LOL. i [sic] want to see some analytics on this. And then check back in with them in 10 years to see the outcome.”
Realize something here. Though exact numbers are elusive, Grok AI states that approximately 300 to 500 black Americans depart for Africa yearly. And 1,000-2,000 black Americans in total (all destinations) become expatriates and depart annually. Yet this is only 2.22-4.44 percent of the estimated total number of Americans who become expatriates yearly (45,000). This is far less, too, than blacks’ overall percentage (13) of the U.S. population. Bottom line:
Blacks are significantly less likely than other Americans to expatriate.
The Grass Is Always Greener…When You’ve Got the Green
This is for good reason, and this brings me to a story. About 20 years ago I traveled to Poland to attend my best friend’s wedding. Another mate of his made the trip as well, and we all were staying at a top-notch Warsaw hotel. Now, note here that this was back when Poland still exhibited more of the economic ravages of its communist past. Well, the other friend — who was enjoying the trip gratis, mind you, and was being treated like a king — said at one point, enthusiastically, “I like it here in Poland!”
My best buddy replied, “Yeah, well, places always look good when you’re staying at a five-star hotel.”
The point is, as the AP article makes clear, providing photos, that Kenneth Harris is living a silk-and-satin lifestyle. This isn’t surprising since the dollar goes two to three times as far in Kenya as in the U.S. Put differently, Harris is probably among the one-tenth of one percent of the wealthiest Kenyans. People do tend to be very friendly and deferential, too, when you’ve got those deep pockets.
Yet the average Kenyan cannot enjoy a, quote, “luxurious lifestyle in a tastefully furnished apartment in an upmarket neighborhood.” In fact, while Kenya is perhaps the 16th-richest African nation, it still struggles with Third World problems. These include limited basic services (approximately one-quarter to one-third of Kenyans don’t have access to clean water), malnutrition, high cost of living (by Kenyan standards), limited educational opportunities, disease caused by unsanitary conditions, environmental disasters, corruption, urban slum conditions, high violent crime levels, and ongoing Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks.
Black in America and Back in America
The truth is, black Americans are the richest group of black people in the world. Blacks have our country’s highest obesity rate (49.6 percent), and this is often blamed on poverty and sometimes “racism.” But poor Africans aren’t obese — they’re more likely starving to death.
It’s easy learning, too, that the grass is sometimes meaner on the other side of the fence. Just consider an anti-American black woman I wrote about in May who’d appeared in a viral video. She’d moved to Ghana and, well, let’s just say, didn’t exactly discover her Wakanda. She complained that there are horror-movie-worthy creepy-crawlies of the four- and eight-legged varieties getting into your room at night. Bribery is expected. Poverty is rife, and people try to scam you out of money. Electricity and other services are unreliable. (Video below. Note: language warning.)
This is why, in reality, few black Americans go to Africa or would want to. Why, some don’t even want to be from there. Just consider Keith Richburg, who once waxed ecstatic over becoming the Washington Post’s African bureau chief. Then reality hit. As he expressed in Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa:
I am terrified of Africa. I don’t want to be from this place. In my darkest heart here on this pitch black African night, I am quietly celebrating the passage of my ancestor who made it out.
The good news for Richburg is that he’s not from Africa — he’s from Detroit. (And I don’t want to be from there, either, but that’s another story.) As for Harris, he apparently has a nice life as new African royalty. One could wonder, though: Would he and the other black expatriates feel the same sense of “belonging” and “restoration” if they had to live like the average African?
