Scrolling and came across a picture of a Black woman in America with a big Africa necklace, an Africa tattoo, and a kanga. Now I have no idea what this specific woman's background is, but I know there are plenty Black Americans who are very far removed from their roots and heavily incorporate at least the concept of Africa into their personal style and identity. It got me thinking about Americans of Italian descent who's entire identity revolves around the notion of being Italian, despite never having been to Italy, family not having spoken Italian for generations, etc. These people are, in my experience, quite disliked in Italy. Obviously Italian-Americans and African-Americans had extraordinarily different stories in America, and to me the Black Americans who strongly build their identity around Africa despite being very far removed from any specific African culture, language, etc. are understandably trying to reclaim an aspect of their personal identity and history that was so forcibly removed. But it got me wondering if, outside of America, this sort of behavior is seen the same across groups (regardless of African-Americans having a very different history than any other demographic who may do this) and if people in Africa often have the same sort of reaction as how Italians react to this specific subset of Italian-Americans?

ETA: Thank you all so far for the interesting discussion. It sounds like for the most part, people are quite supportive as long as the american in question is being respectful and genuine. It's particularly interesting to see how many responses affirm that it's their culture so it's no problem/welcomed. The only dynamic I'm familiar enough with to draw comparisons is the aforementioned subset of Italian-Americans, and in my experience the most common sentiment with Italians is that if someone was born outside of Italy then it is no longer their culture and trying to embrace it or have pride in it is some combo of cringey and/or insulting. It's nice to hear that's not so much the sentiment in this case; when people had their cultural identity so forcibly stripped from them at some point in their lineage, I can only imagine how painful it would be to try and reconnect in what ways you can only to find you are not welcomed.

Please be nice, i'm just trying to understand something here. And sorry for any mistakes.

So recently I've came across a TikTok about supporting Morocco and Egypt since they were the only African countries left in the WC. Then someone (jokingly I suppose) comments that "We also have France representing us". Which to what the creator of the tiktok responds "Supporting colonizers African traitors who refused to represent their African identity is NEVER the solution (idc if they're born or have citizenship)".

Ngl I was taken aback by the creator's statement. A vast majority of French players were born and raised there. Why would they choose to represent any other country than France? That said, I know there are cases where players choose to play for their country of origin even though they have never lived there. But as far as to call them traitors?? Seriously??

Also, what's the difference between this kind of statement and the racist rhetoric we see in France (or in the western world in general)? Because I feel like both of those claims are saying the same thing: the black players are not French so they shouldn't be playing for France.

At the end of the day, everyone can support whoever they want, it's none of my business. But saying they are traitors for not playing for their country of origin is a bit insane to me.

What do you guys think?

E get as this abroad thing be. In almost every household across the continent, whether East, West, South, or Central, there’s always that story of someone packing bags and flying out (UK, US, Canada, Europe) for a better life.

It’s seen as a huge blessing, but the real ripple effects hit every family differently. I’ve been thinking about the deep side of this and wanted to hear honest experiences from all perspectives:

1. For those who left at a young age: How was it for you, seriously? Leaving behind your family, language, home food, and culture to start fresh in a cold place, often alone or with zero family/friends to lean on? How did that affect your mind and identity growing up?

2. For those whose siblings left when you were still young: What is the relationship like today? Did distance kill the bond, or did you stay close? Did their support actually change your life, or do you sometimes feel things would’ve been better if they just stayed?

3. For the children, nieces, and nephews: Did having "family overseas" make a real difference in your upbringing, education, or outlook? Or was it just talk?

4. For those who had ZERO family abroad: Growing up watching other households receive boxes, money transfers, or talks of "travelling", how did that shape you? Did it feel like you missed out, or did it teach your house self-reliance?

Let’s talk real talk, no sugarcoating. Has this whole diaspora reality been a total blessing, a quiet sacrifice, or a heavy burden for your family? Drop your stories below!

If you were to travel to let’s say UK or France where there’s a bunch of diverse African communities in both places, you’ll see plenty of Africans born there that are still in touch with their culture, but in the United States a lot of Africans born there aren’t really in touch with their roots. I’ve seen plenty of videos of 1st and 2nd gen Africans that never really knew anything about their countries or culture, and these Africans grew up imitating Black American culture and being connected with BAs, to the point where a lot of people have mistaken them for African American.

This question was taken down from another sub but I'd love some insights. As a black American, I come across all kinds of use of the word racist in the context of Asians and Europeans in particular. I feel like it's od at-best and outright discriminatory at-worst to leave all the verious peoples across Africa out of the conversation.

Diaspora adult children of immigrants, I wanna hear y’all’s perspective 😭
How do y’all navigate your parents expecting you to feel deeply connected to their home country when you were raised somewhere else?
Like is it wrong to feel “that’s my heritage, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s home”? And does being related to people automatically create an obligation to have a relationship with them?

recently I've been talking to my aunty and she's been telling me all about our family history and how all this is connected to witchcraft The solution being to turn to Jesus Christ. I'm not worried about the religious part, My real question is does witchcraft really exist in 2026!

As an African (of any country), could you tell an American Black person just by looking at them?

I'm not so interested in clothing, since you could change that. Im more interested in facial features, mannerisms .. that sort of thing.

I mean specifically American, since there are Black people from the diaspora all over the world.

For those building or doing a renovation back home in your country while living in the diaspora how do you actually manage it?
If there is anyone from Zimbabwe I’d love to hear your experiences but I would also like to hear from anyone across Africa.

How do you find and vet contractors when you cannot be there in person?
How do you keep the quality high when you are not on site?

What communication do you expect from whoever is doing the work — updates, photos, video calls?

Has anyone been badly let down? What happened and what did it cost you?

What would “perfect” look like to you — what would a contractor have to do to make you completely comfortable handing your home over to them remotely?

Price vs quality — where do you land on that? Are people willing to pay more for someone completely reliable?

Just Interested in hearing your stories.

since I grew up around Somalis, I heard horror stories of them being threatened with being sent back to Somalia but rightfully so since some of my friends had black Air Force energy and were on a dark path. but even as a non somali, .your parents brought themselves from heck to parent a child here. if you were consistentently getting into trouble or put out, did or does actually following through with the one way ticket actually fix that?

There’s this Swahili expression: Kila mcheza ngoma huivuta ngozi kwake(Every drum player pulls the hides towards themselves); that people look to benefit themselves through a social advantage, sometimes even as it comes at the expense of others.

I believe this is what makes the broaching of the difficulties that actually face African countries sensitive: that said difficulties are treated as a coveted pie that everyone stands to gain social acceptance from partaking in. That even as we want to shed light on areas that the world tends to forget, we always walk a thin line in ensuring that what we say is not used to benefit the biases that the world holds against us. That we always anticipate loaded questions stemming from a place of ignorance as we strive to defend our honour, our humanity.

That kept in mind, the key question now becomes: How do people in different African countries respond to non-Africans knowing, or wanting to know, about their social issues? At what point does the conversation set them on edge?

Im an Ivorian American who was born in New York to two Ivorian immigrants, both of them speak French aside from English, but I was never taught the language, same with my 4 younger siblings. So whenever my cousins, aunts, and uncles always try to converse with me and my siblings in French, I’m always mad confused and they sometimes get annoyed and frustrating that I don’t know my mother tongue, even tho I was born here in the states. It has also made it hard for me to converse with my grandparents because they don’t know any English. Is this common and has anyone else ever experienced something like this?

Over the last months, more and more videos of massacres of chrsitians (especially in the North of Africa and Nigeria) and about islam in Africa showed up in my social media feeds. The videos follow this pattern: 'Xxx Christians were murdered by islam group, and nobody speaks about it'.

The videos are sounding really catchy and i am aware that we have a rising anti-islam attitude in my home country (Germany), respectively in whole Europe. I know a little bit about conflicts between ethnic and religios groups (like Boko Haram in Nigeria) and I know that these conflicts aren't peacefully.

My question is: Is the murdering a worsening problem or is it consistent over years - and I only see more of these videos due to the rising anti-islam attitude in my home country?

A bit more personally questions: How do you feel about this topic? Does it affect you deeply, do you worry about yourself, your friends and family? I really appreciate to hear your story.

(If you have any recommendations about history, conflicts, the life of minorities, etc. let me know. Doesn't matter if a website, video, documentation, book, or something else.)

Edit: I am a bit surprised to get downvoted for this question. I guess it is because my focus on Christians, so I want to make something clear: I don't think Christians are the only group that gets attacked or that there aren't attacks from Christians against Muslim people. The narrative of the videos were that the attacks in one direction (Muslim -> Christian) are increasing significant. I thought It is the concept of this sub to ask..

The countries I have in mind are Kenya, South Africa, or Rwandan. Looking toward a delivery like company or if I get approved for this loan tech repair.

I'm looking to get dual citizenship with my family's home country, which is part of the East African Community (EAC). Does being an EAC citizen come with benefits, similar to how EU citizenship works in Europe?

at what point does it become disrespectful when those of the diaspora are trying to find some sort of identity/connection with their ancestry?

i am largely disconnected with my ancestors, and i feel guilt even though it isn’t my fault. no traditions have been passed down and i feel disconnected from my family.

i see all of my european, and even other diasporan friends have familial traditions and connection to their familial lines. i want that as well, even if it starts with me.

do you find it annoying when people try to find some sort of lifeline in their ancestry? when they try to bridge their connection to what once was even though they are so far removed from it?

i would love to learn more about the potential cultures my ancestors were from, but i dont know how to do it in a respectful way. i know im not african, but my ancestors were. i dont feel accepted by my country because of my skin, and i would love to feel more connection to my ancestors as i pray to them, as right now i feel like i dont know -who- im praying to.

i want to show them that i appreciate them, even though i dont know who they are exactly. but i also don’t want to disrespect any people that i might engage in conversation with as i try to learn more about them.

im sorry if this sounds like a sob story, i tend to be more dramatic than i realize. i’m just looking for instructions & things to avoid doing, not sympathy or anything like that.

thanks in advance:)

And how would your country also feel about it?

Stole this idea from another subreddit lol

This question is more targeted to the diaspora, but any African can weigh in obviously. To clarify I’m an African myself who was born abroad and raised in my country of origin (DRC). I love my country. I’ve met very few Africans abroad who don’t feel the same way. Yet we often hear about things such as “getting sent back” or I think the Somalis even have a name for it, dhaqan celis (I hope I spelled that right, forgive me Somalis if I didn’t) and you would think it’s the African diaspora equivalent of capital punishment the way people talk about it.

What’s so bad about getting sent back? I understand the standards of living abroad versus at home could be a huge contributing factor, but I also understand that a lot of the people that can afford comfortable lives in the West can often offset this huge jump in standards of living back home as well.

I guess “getting sent back” carries all the grief and sadness of any big move from one place to another, though the conversation around going back home isn’t typical of just “a big move” but supposedly something that the child is supposed to suffer during, or to hate, or to change fundamentally. I was raised in my home country and when I go abroad to study or as a tourist I find that I’m not very different from the people I would’ve been raised amongst otherwise (probably just more politically radical). I dress the same way and I’m equally religious. But I also feel like that just might be the case for most Congolese people at home and abroad. We don’t really change much fundamentally.

I guess it’s different depending on the country and culture. How is “getting sent back” treated in your communities? Is it common? Is it a punishment? If so, why is that? What are some things that contribute to its sense of punishment?

• What’s been your wildest or most shocking experience? 🤯 • How’s dating, food, and culture shock hitting you? 💔🍜 • What do you wish people back home knew about life in Asia? 🌍

Let’s get this discussion going… What’s one thing about living in Asia that nobody back home believes when you tell them? 😂

PLEASE NO RACIST REMARKS!!!