Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A note for the people of colour after Obama Victory

The character of African Americans should change now that Obama has taken the White House. I had the privilege of being in the USA for educational purposes but my experience with our brothers and sisters in the Country wasn’t the best. They envy our hard work, our good cars and even staying in good apartments. My two cars were broken into twice when I was staying in a black neighbourhood.

 African Americans where Obama derives his descent must shoo away their xenophobic attitudes towards Africans, Asian, Latinos and all immigrants from the Caribbean and Central America . They must get off their indolent tendencies and be challenged by the way “foreigners” have managed to settle in the USA and become better than them while they keep whining of marginalization by whites.

Their whining and crying about white dominance in all sectors of American society was withered on 4th November. The Whites defied one of their; John McCain and elected Barrack Obama based on his strengths and vision for the United States . They must get out of the hood in the inner cities where drugs and illicit drinking is rampant and stop whining the way they often do saying their problems are caused by white dominance in all sectors of the American society. 

 African Americans must change the way they conduct themselves. We don’t want to see the arrogance they often exhibit; as this might end up soiling the reputation and good intentions of Obama’s Presidency. They must realize that as much we have white people who still augur racial feelings; the world has changed and will still continue to change and America will never be the same again. Truth be told, whites treat African immigrants better than blacks.

I remember going for an interview for a job in Newark New Jersey , and two of my interviewers who were both black, after learning my accent, in a span of a minute, they wanted to know my originality. I ended up not getting the job. Your guess is as good as mine. While in a College mostly dominated by blacks, I was often the subject of ridicule and laughter because of the way I speak.

To disapprove their stereotypes on me, I tightened my belts and became an A student in my class. I avoided verbal contributions in class and disapproved them on pen and paper. My excellent performance caught the attention of my lecturer, despite not liking the way I speak. On discovering that I was born and brought up in Kenya , and that I was less than 6 months in the USA , he not only respected me but was also impressed with my high grasp of written grammar. He told me I was better than most students born and raised in America talking English from their childhood.

Earlier on, he thought I was born in a Country with English as a first language. Immigrants owe their protection on racism because of the tough USA laws. If this was not the case, the xenophobic feelings in the Country will be greater than what we experienced in South Africa ,

May this year. A black man at his mid fifties once posed a very weird question to me. He wanted to know if Africans who flock to America ever return home. I am proud to be back to my country after a five years stint for educations purposes in the United States .

 By and large, the American whites have shown great confidence in Obama. It’s a challenge to the African Americans, young and old to rise above petty and racial leanings and begin to be apart of the mainstream American society.

Obama has shown them the way to the top and this is through hard work, a positive focus and hope.

No comments:

Give President William Ruto Credit where it's due

By Joseph Lister Nyaringo    In any democracy, voters make decisions based on the promises candidates make during the campaigns. Like all ...