Cultural conflicts in Americanah

Individual Project

English 7

Student’s name

Ehrensvärdska

2023-04-04
Table of contents

1. Background 3

1.1 Purpose 3

1.2 Method 3

1.3 Theory 4

2. Analysis 6

2.1 Results 6

2.2 Discussion 9

References 10

Literary sources 10

Web sources 10

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1. Background

Cultural conflicts can be found everywhere in the world and is something that all cultures and

countries have in common even though the conflicts divide, rather than unites people. These

conflicts are most oftenly complex and stretch far back in history. Because of the complexity

and many different views on a subject, the conflicts often lead to incomprehension between

groups that results in xenophobia against people who have a different view because of their

culture. Since cultural conflicts occur to such a great extent at all times and all over the

world, everyone is affected by some cultural conflict daily. Different cultural conflicts are the

most discussed and engaging subjects in the world and because of this, they are also some of

the most common themes in literature.

1.1 Purpose

The purpose of this report is to analyse racism against black people in the U.S. in

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, first published in 2013.

1.2 Method

The report was conducted by reading Americanah while keeping a journal of the reading

process and reading into both the history of racism against African Americans in the U.S. and

also how racism is expressed today.

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1.3 Theory

Racism against African Americans in the United States is a national problem that has its roots

in slavery and the transatlantic slave trade in the 16th century. In a text in Encyclopedia

Britannica it is said that the transatlantic slave trade resulted in the moving of 10-12 million

black people from West Africa to the New World. The ships from Africa most often went to

Brazil or the Caribbean and contained kidnapped Africans who were tightly packed for a

route that was roughly 8,000 km. The journey took somewhere between a few weeks up to

several months and was infamous for its brutality. In Brazil, the enslaved people were usually

sold at an auction and brought to somewhere in the New World (Britannica.com).

In an article for The Foreign Policy Research Institute, Michael Johnson writes that of all the

people transported from West Africa, about 400,000 were brought to what is now the United

States of America. In 1790 there were 700,000 slaves in the U.S., a number that rose to four

million in 1860. This made the United States the leading country when it came to the number

of slaves (FPRI.org).

In Bra Böckers Lexikon it is written that the import of slaves to the U.S. was banned in 1808.

However, smuggling of slaves still occurred since the southern state’s economy was

dependent on slave labour, especially on the cotton plantations (Bra böckers lexikon, band 21

1996, p. 130).

According to History, the abolitionist movement started in the northern states where slavery

wasn’t as common. The goal of the movement was to end slavery and came as a consequence

of the increasing repression of black people in the south. President Abraham Lincoln, who led

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the northern states in the civil war, was determined to end slavery and managed to do so in

1865, when the war ended. When black men also received the right to vote in 1870, several

racist white supremacy movements such as the Ku Klux Klan began to appear. In the same

spirit, racial segregation grew strong in the late 1800s and resulted in discriminating laws

against black people that separated them from white people when it came to restaurants,

barber shops and public transport for example. The structural racism continued through the

20th century but took a turn when the civil right movement came along in 1955. The

movement started when the so-called “mother of the civil right’s movement” Rosa Parks

refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white man. The Black Power movement grew even

stronger after both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, two leading figures in the civil rights

movement, were assassinated in 1965 and 1968 respectively. An important event for the

history of African Americans occurred in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected as the first

black president in the history of the United States (History.com).

Still to this day, systematic racism against black people can be seen in America. An article in

Business Insider shows that black people are for example underrepresented in the Congress

and have lower salaries than white people. A larger percentage of black than white people

also lack health insurance. Furthermore, African Americans are overrepresented in prisons

and black men are several times more likely to go to jail compared to people with a different

ethnicity in the same age group. They are also overrepresented when it comes to being shot

and killed by the police compared to other ethnic groups (Businessinsider.com).

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2. Analysis

2.1 Results

In Americanah, which takes place during the 21st century, Ifemelu, the main character,

moves from Nigeria to the United States to get an education and build a better life for herself.

Despite the history of slavery connected to West Africa in particular (Britannica.com),

America is seen as the peak of civilization both when it comes to education and culture. This

is shown when Ifemelu’s boyfriend Obinze explains that he reads American books “because

America is the future” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 72). He also often romanticises America by

saying “It’s not as if this is Manhattan '' or “Go to Manhattan and see how things are'' (Ngozi

Adichie, 2016, p. 69). When her best friend Ginika is moving to the U.S. to get an education,

Ginika’s friends are all in awe. Upon hearing the news, one of them for example says: “‘But,

Ginika, seriously, I would give anything to be you right now.’” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 66).

Because of this widespread obsession with America, they use the nickname Americanah for

people who move to America and become Americanized.

Once Ifemelu arrives in America, she discovers that her skin colour matters, contrary to how

it is back in Nigeria. Her aunt Uju, with whom she is living with in the beginning of her stay,

can not for example wear braids to a job interview. “‘If you have braids, they will think you

are unprofessional’” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p.119). When Ifemelu questions the absurdity of

this, her aunt answers by saying: “‘I have told you what they told me. You are in a country

that is not your own. You do what you have to do if you want to succeed.’” (Ngozi Adichie,

2016, p. 119). Braided hair is a hairstyle that is suitable for the natural hair of many black

people with afro. The fact that it is considered unprofessional shows that racist views still

remain, consciously or subconsciously, in the minds of many people in the United States.

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This contributes to black people’s struggle to become fully integrated into the society

(Businessinsider.com). When Uju says that “they are in a country that is not their own”

(Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 119), meaning that America belongs to white people, she makes a

parallel to black people’s history in America and the racial segregation during the 19th and

20th century (History.com). When Ifemelu later on in the book decides to wear her hair

naturally for the health of it, she is asked if it is a political statement which shows how

symbolic the afro hair is (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 208).

On the other side of the spectrum of racism, Ifemelu discovers people who try too hard to not

be racist. One woman, Kimberley, becomes overly enthusiastic when she learns Ifemelu’s

name. “‘What a beautiful name,” Kimberly said. “Does it mean anything? I love multicultural

names because they have such wonderful meanings, from wonderful rich cultures.’” (Ngozi

Adichie, 2016, p. 146). In this quote Kimberley shows an example of white guilt, a feeling

that she has a responsibility in the structural oppression of black people since she is white,

and tries to compensate for it. In the same way she refers to every black person as beautiful.

“‘We’re working with this beautiful woman on the inner-city project’ and always, the women

she referred to would turn out to be quite ordinary-looking, but always black” (Ngozi

Adichie, 2016, p. 147). Even though Kimberley means well, she sees black people as their

skin colour primarily and looks at them differently than at white people.

To make a living after moving to America, Ifemelu starts a blog about racism based on her

own experiences of it. In the blog she writes about the paradox that no one is racist in the

U.S. despite racism still existing (Businessinsider.com). “In America, racism exists but racists

are all gone. Racists belong to the past. Racists are thin-lipped mean white people in the

movies about the civil rights era.” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 147).

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Ifemelu also brings up how racism is expressed in modern America and talks about how

black and white people are treated differently in today's society (Businessinsider.com). “If

both are caught for drug possession, say, the white guy is more likely to be sent to treatment

and the black guy is more likely to be sent to jail.” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 339). Further on

she mentions the white privilege in that race doesn't exist for white people since being white

isn’t a disadvantage in our society (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 339). This is a consequence of

slavery's strong presence in the country, especially during the 18th century (FPRI.org), and

also the racial segregation that followed in the 19th and 20th century that strongly affected

how black and white people relate to each other in the society in the United States

(History.com).

In another blog post Ifemelu brings up the complexity of racism of both the present and past.

“Many abolitionists wanted to free the slaves but didn’t want black people living nearby. Lots

of folk today don’t mind a black nanny or a black limo driver. But they sure as hell mind a

black boss.” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 343-344). The moment when Barack Obama became

president in 2008 (History.com), is used in Americanah. The importance of this event is

shown when Ifemelu receives a text from her nephew. “Her phone beeped with a text from

Dike. I can’t believe it. My president is black like me. She read the text a few times, her eyes

filling with tears.” (Ngozi Adichie, 2016, p. 353).

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2.2 Discussion

In conclusion, racism is a theme which Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie portrays in Americanah

through the eyes of a young black woman. By making connections both to the history of

black people as well as bringing up modern day racism that corresponds to reality, Ngozi

Adichie is able to show both the progress made for the situation of black people as well as the

development of racism in America. Even though a lot of progress has been made, from the

abolition of slavery to Barack Obama becoming the first black president in the U.S., racism is

still a part of the modern United States. This can be seen both in how black people are treated

differently by the legal system compared to other ethnic groups and also in everyday life

regarding the American society’s view of black hairstyles for example. Despite the progress

that has been made, it is obvious that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the

future in terms of African Americans’ situation to reach an equal society for everyone.

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References

Literary Sources

Ngozi Adichie, Chimamanda. “Americanah”, 2016, 4th Estate, ISBN: 9780007356492

Swahn, Jan-Öjvind. (ed.). “Bra böckers lexikon”, 1996 (4th ed.), Bokförlaget Bra Böcker,

ISBN: 91-7133-025-9

Web Sources

https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery (Accessed March 25, 2023)

https://www.fpri.org/article/2008/08/teaching-about-slavery/ (Accessed March 16, 2023)

https://www.businessinsider.com/us-systemic-racism-in-charts-graphs-data-2020-6?

r=US&IR=T#roughly-half-of-those-fatally-shot-by-police-are-white-but-black-americans-

are-fatally-shot-at-a-disproportionate-rate-compared-to-their-representation-in-the-us-

population-25 (Accessed March 16, 2023)

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Middle-Passage-slave-trade (Accessed March 16, 2023)

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