http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060720/D8J003Q01.html

Now, while there are lots of good intentions and recognized needs in this push for reconciliation between Africa and the Slave-Trade Diaspora, there are many things which are being ignored by the participants in this conference, which includes many heads of state (including Nigeria’s Obasanjo and the U.S.’s Bush) among its attendance.

For one, while I’m not, most other African-Americans in the U.S., having been somewhat immersed into the American mindset and almost totally isolated from Africa, are completely indifferent to Pan-Africanism, and have shown an inclination to focus far more upon their own immediate needs, while fretting (mostly privately) about how the system, and its progenitors, keeps them “down” or “on lock.”

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Africans are worrying about government oppression, famine, plagues, and poverty (which, if you look at the poorer majority of African-Americans or other Diasporan communities in the Americas, is never all that far from our doorstep, as we saw with Hurricane Katrina). They, also, could generally care less about Pan-Africanism, and, just like West Indians and Latinos to the U.S., are trying to tear down the doors to get to Europe.

Obviously, the “leaders” here and the “leaders” there have quite a disconnect with their respective constituents and their realities, and have to be reminded about that disconnect with a swift and constant reprimand from the E.U. or some other external supranational organization.

In fact, this kind of disconnect between “leaders” and their constitutents is a common feature of political life in the E.U., and the reason for why the European Constitution was soundly rejected in France and the Netherlands (two countries whose governments have just as soundly supported and bankrolled the E.U.) in referenda early last year.

So, if this move by the “dictators’ club” is to draw folks to Africa through citizenship and financial incentives, there’s got to be some “social diplomacy” on the part of the advocates that will convince folks both in their own countries and abroad to “come back”, letting them know that they will be accepted – politically, economically, and socially if they do seek residence.

It’s not enough to just give the folks a passport and an empty promise.