The unfortunate death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was recently killed by a policeman in the United States of America, has sparked a lot of conversations among Africans and African-Americans. Asides from sparking many conversations, Floyd’s death has made many Africans who have experienced racism to speak out.
Photo Credit: Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti’s Instagram page
Based on this backdrop, Yeni Anikulapo-kuti, the daughter of music legend, Fela, shared a story about how her daughter had to stop going to church in England because of racism.
According to Yeni, before her daughter went to school in England, she told her that she was going to experience racism but she didn’t believe. Yeni shared this story on TVC’s talk show-Your View.
Read how she narrated her daughter’s experience below:
“I want to say this short story. Before my daughter left for England, I used to tell her about racism because she had plans to go and school in England. I can remember saving up money for her to further her studies there. She was a very religious girl; she was a born again Christian and everything. So, I sent her to school and I made her conscious of the fact that she would encounter racism but she didn’t believe me because the people she had associated herself with were very nice to her. But when she got to school, she decided to be active in the church as a born again Christian. And that was where she encountered serious racism. Today, my daughter has stopped going to church in England because of racism; she is no more born again due to this. She encountered racism to the point that her white mentors; a husband and wife, who she had to stay with, searched her bag when she was leaving their house. She had never seen racism in that form before. She said that there was a time when she tried to help an old lady to pick up her bag after it dropped but she looked at her in a suspicious way. A lot of Nigerians don’t know about racism when they are here; because when you are here, you will not see it. When you go there, that is when you will experience it. So, before you leave Nigeria, have it at the back of your mind that you will experience racism. “
Yeni further advised Africans that they should know who they are and stop feeling inferior. She said, “African people should know who they are. A man, who doesn’t know where he is coming from, doesn’t know where he is at or where he is going to. History is important. White people should know that they are human beings like us and they cannot dominate over us. There is nothing like white supremacy, there is only one race; the human race, period.”
Honestly, George Floyd’s story is very sad. Many black people in America have been protesting for justice over the death of Floyd. Beyond the black people protesting in America, many Nigerians have used their social media handles to condemn racism.
We can only pray and hope that racism will end one day.
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