This 2002 article is reprinted from naani.com.

Black people are black people, right?  No matter where we are, we have the same traditions, experiences, knowledge and culture – don’t we?  Or, do we?  I don’t know what African Americans know about UK Blacks and I wonder if the information we have over here in the UK about African Americans is accurate.  I would like to encourage some debate from brothers and sisters of the African diaspora whether from the States or the UK or from other countries, just to see what our differences and similarities are and also to inform and educate one another.

I will start by giving you all some very generalised information about UK Blacks, how we came to be in the UK and how we live here now.  As this is meant to be a dual learning experience, I would really appreciate it if some of you would answer some questions I have about the way African Americans live and what your views and opinions are.

Black people have been living in the UK for hundreds of years, but only in very small numbers.  During the slave trade, there were three main ports in the UK; Liverpool, Bristol and London.  Small black communities were able to grow in these areas because some slaves were taken for labour purposes before the rest of the “cargo” were to continue its journey to the West Indies and to America.  We know that millions didn’t live to see their destination.

The Black population in the UK was significantly increased last century when the government invited black members of the Commonwealth (former British Colonies, which included the West Indies) to come over and earn more money than they would ever have dreamed of making in their resident countries.  They were given the impression that this country’s streets were paved with gold and were asked to come to the “Mother Country” to drive buses, become nurses, crane/lorry drivers, work in factories day and night (this was particularly true in the north east of England) and fulfil other similar roles.

The truth was, there was a shortage of this sort of labour supply because of the casualties of World War II and the indigenous population didn’t want to do this type of work.  Additionally, the vast majority of those who came did so under the impression that they would be here for a short amount of time.  In fact the largest portion of them remain here to this day and raised their families here.  Naturally, middle class and wealthy West Indians didn’t see the invitation as much of anything at all and remained in their resident countries or came for university courses.  The West Indians who came were mainly working class.

The Africans came in far smaller numbers and came originally for entirely different reasons.  Africans had been coming to England to continue their education for decades and continue to do so till this day.  The Africans who came here at that time (1950’s and ‘60’s) tended to be from middle class families who could afford the university fees.  Their largest numbers came from the West African country, Nigeria.

The Nigerian government had enabled any one from any class background to come over here and study.  Once they had finished their degree they would return to Nigeria to receive a car and apartment as a graduation gift from the government.  There were also Ghanaians, Sierra Leoneans, etc, but as Africa’s most densely populated country, greater numbers were seen from Nigeria.

Africans and West Indians have had a negative relationship with each other based upon arrogance, ignorance and distrust.  Africans felt that West Indians were inferior, uncouth, uneducated and assumed that all of the islands consisted of uneducated working class people.  West Indians were also looked down upon as descendents of slaves.  West Indians, on the other hand, had a deep-seated distrust towards Africans.  They felt that Africans were “uncivilised”.

This belief was held mainly due to the fact that the only evidence of African lifestyle to be seen on TV in the UK consisted mainly of tribal and rural life or people starving in dust bowls.  Nothing would be seen in this country about African city life unless it consisted of “white Africans” until the 1990’s, when Nigerian soap operas were available on cable TV and some more balanced documentaries and news programs were aired.  West Indians also distrusted Africans because they felt that they had sold their own into slavery.  Thankfully, the gulf between Africans and West Indians is shrinking due to mutual understanding and re-education.