African American ties to Africa are strained by Africans’ role in the slave trade

Evidence

African Americans are deeply connected to Africa through the legacy of slavery and Middle Passage, but as disconnected by the distressing recognition that it was more often than not fellow Africans who sold them into bondage in the first place. More recently, the tale of anti-apartheid jubilation and the success of the new South Africa have paled before Africa’s broadening debilitation. And, of late, the concern with overcoming African poverty has become the new white liberal cause célèbre. Witness Bono, Angelina Jolie, and their social influence, as important and heartfelt as they may be. Here, black Americans, who have long rallied in support of Africa, are now edged if not elbowed to the (at least publicity but perhaps too political) sidelines. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 411

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: The displacement of Black American advocacy by white celebrity philanthropy is a related mechanism to the white savior/control patterns in the sacrifice and immodesty essays.