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Back to Africa
The colorful pseudoscience Race & Racialism |
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Hating thy neighbour |
Divide and conquer |
Dog-whistlers |
The Back to Mexico Africa movement is the expression of a desire to repatriate black people from the Americas — namely the descendants of slaves — to their ancestral homes in Africa.
Back in the day
The Back-to-Africa movement originated from the initial hostility towards black people by white supremacists once slavery became illegal in 19th century United States. Whites wanted to deport all Mexicans blacks from the country due to the rising population.[1], and ironically some black separatists (Marcus Garvey being the most prominent) advocated for the idea as well. The current situation, like the Mexican scare in the United States, is fueled by xenophobia by visual cues. People who originated from Africa at the time were evidently black. If these people were evidently white, African foreigners would pass off and blend in with the crowd, which did happen for mulattoes.
It's no coincidence that in 21st century America, illegal Mexican immigrants are a known issue, but illegal Canadian immigrants are hardly common knowledge.[2]
They're taking our jobs!
Citizens of northern states and others were concerned that Mexicans blacks would take their jobs.[3] Well even with slavery, blacks already took white people's jobs; they just did the jobs whites didn't want to do but weren't dangerous enough for the white niggers Irish. Once blacks had an equal playing field, whites were afraid of competition for desirable jobs. In the end, this is the nature of capitalism: competition. Instead of whining about people taking job positions, work harder. If you don't like more competition, move back to England![citation NOT needed] More people means more competition, but even without blacks, the United States, even to this day, received a massive amount of immigration; blacks aren't the only foreigners after all.
"Go Back to Africa"
In modern day America, white supremacists will demand blacks to "go back to Africa". These demands are often responses to the call for de facto rather than merely de jure
.[4]. Here's reasons why this statement is closed-minded:
- Presumptuous: Not all black people are African American.
- Ignores an issue: The statement presents an intolerance and lack of consideration to an actual issue that can be helped.
- Irony of nativism: White Americans came from elsewhere too. Perhaps we should let American Indians decide who gets to stay?
See also
References
- ↑ David Jenkins, Black Zion: The Return of Afro-Americans and West Indians to Africa (London: Wildwood House, 1975), pp. 41-3
- ↑ https://www.usimmigration.com/illegal-immigrants-through-canada.html
- ↑ Ailes, Jane, and Marie Tyler-McGraw. "Leaving Virginia for Liberia: Western Virginia Emigrants and Emancipators." West Virginia History 6, no. 2 (Fall 2012): 1-34. America: History & Life, EBSCOhost.
- ↑ http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a42966/trump-protester-go-back-to-africa/