Why some African Americans are leaving the United States for Ghana
For those of African descent, 2019 was a very special year.
On a historical note, it marked the 400th anniversary of slaves departing from the African continent. It was by all accounts a dark and painful period to be remembered for.
But amidst that sorrowful reminder, an idea was born to invite African diasporas across the globe to settle in Ghana, which was once a prolific slave state. It was dubbed "The Year of Return".
In many ways, travelling to Ghana five years after this scheme launched marked my own year of return.
Ghana was the place I was born, and it is where I spent the first half of my life.
My parents, like so many others, had migrated west in hope of better opportunities, and so I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would leave the economic prospects that the United Kingdom or the United States had to offer.
ITV News' Reporter Kaf Okpattah travels to Ghana, where a scheme encouraging African diasporas to visit the country was considered an overwhelming success
This question was quickly answered when I met Morris Briggers at Mabel’s Table in Elmina - a popular hang out spot for diasporas in Ghana.
Morris had served his country for years as a US Navy Seal, but after just a few minutes of speaking to him it was clear he didn’t feel his country had served him.
”People say to me, 'you left the United States the land of milk and honey, the land of opportunity'," he said, a sly smirk on his face as if he can tell I’m one of those people who thought such things.
But what follows is an explanation which I couldn’t disagree with.
”Nobody’s gonna get shot tonight in Ghana," he said.
”But they might get shot in the US?” I ask.
”Oh, somebody's going to get shot for sure tonight," Morris responded. "In all of the cities that I lived in, in the United States somebody will get shot.”
He’s right, of course. The US ranks second for gun related deaths according to the World Population Review.
When you also consider that the US has a history of black people being shot and killed by the police, you can see why Morris felt safer in Ghana, and he wasn’t the only one.
Rashad is a US citizen who was following Morris’s lead in making Ghana his new home.
He said: “There are so many things that go on in the United States that marginalise black Americans.
“Being on the African continent, specifically Ghana right now… It’s a sense of real freedom, real enjoyment of seeing what black empowerment can face.”
It's clear that both Morris and Rashad have given up on the American dream that so famously defines their homeland, and they’ve traded it for a dream life in Ghana - and it is very much a dream life.
They have the power of the US dollar in their bank accounts, making them far richer than the locals here. Rashad has even been appointed a local chief, giving him a sort of royalty status.
There’s no denying that many African Americans were relocating to Ghana to reconnect with their roots, and to escape the racism they may have experienced in the US. But not everyone is convinced by this motive.
Dr Ashley Milton has spent most of her adult life working across the African continent. Her home is currently a two bed-apartment in Ghana’s capital, Accra, and it is there she shares with me the reservations she has about some of her fellow diasporans.
“Different cultures are going to live differently”, she said.
“By virtue of that difference, African Americans are going to live a different lifestyle than Ghanaians.
"If you’re not interested in the culture, the customs, the history, the language, the lineage and what has gone down on these lands, then you’re just a neocolonialist and you really shouldn’t come.”
As I said goodbye to Ashley, I pondered over what she had told me, the possibility that this migration from the US to Ghana may in part be driven by opportunism.
And if that were the case, then the increased purchasing power 'diasporans' hold could have a detrimental effect on locals who don’t share that wealth.
Regardless of how you feel about the motives of African-American diasporans in Ghana, one can’t deny that the Year of Return has been somewhat of a success.
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Five years on the movement is still growing, with busloads of Americans travelling to Ghana to take part in a traditional naming ceremony - swapping out their slave descendant names for a Ghanaian one like Kwesi, or Kweku.
It's clear that the Year of Return has increased Ghana’s sphere of influence in the West, placing itself as a sort of haven for those with African heritage.
At a time when US politics is incredibly divisive, there will undoubtedly be African Americans who are unhappy with who their president is or what their country is like
For them, at least, there is some comfort in knowing they will always have a home in Ghana.
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