Africans and African Americans Identify Barriers

TUSKEGEE, Ala. (ELCA) -- "This event has given us native Africans a way to identify the barriers between Africans and African Americans. It has given me a deeper appreciation for the Lutheran church in its efforts to remove some of those barriers," said Dr. Alfred Amah, Peoples Community Lutheran Church, Baltimore.
"We can now act as torch bearers and spread the word of unity and brotherhood, telling everyone that we all come from the same blood," said Amah. "I'd like to see the church involve all of our congregations."
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered more than 300 people for a consultation, "Africans and Blacks in Diaspora," June 4-7 at Tuskegee University. Diaspora is defined as "people settled far from their ancestral homeland."
"This meeting brought together native Africans and the descendants of Africans who were dispersed to several countries throughout the world as slaves," said the Rev. Eric T. Campbell, ELCA director for African American Ministries.
"The end of apartheid did not mean the end of racism," said Dr. Musa Biyela, rector, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Umphumulo in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, a keynote speaker for the event. "Freedom is fragile; it must be protected. Freedom has memories and responsibilities," he said. "An African is a person who identifies with both the soil and the people of Africa. African Americans have a right to belong both to Africa and America," he said.
"The very name of the consultation is a reminder of our rich heritage as the people of God. The Scripture reminds us that here we have no abiding home, that we are all in the diaspora in some sense," said the Rev. H. George Anderson, ELCA presiding bishop, in a letter to the consultation participants. "This event, held at Tuskegee University, is unique in the history of our young church. I trust that it will be a great blessing, not only for those in attendance at the consultation, but in an ongoing way in the life of our church," he said.

"In a larger and deeper measure those who have their roots in Africa have experienced diaspora in a particular kind of way. In this country the history of slavery and racism are not to be forgotten by the people of God. Those who have struggled to be free understand the meaning of the Gospel of freedom in particularly deep and profound ways. It is for this reason that Africans and Blacks in the diaspora can make such a powerful contribution in the life of our church and within the broader Christian family," said Anderson.
The event offered daily devotions, workshops, Village meetings and plenary sessions. Workshop titles included; Blacks in the Bible; Women and Children in Poverty; A Focus on Youth: Rites of Passage; Immigration Policies and Realities; and Economic Development and Global Sustainability: George Washington Carver's Vision.

IMMIGRATION
"The Lutheran church has led the effort in immigration for people of color for more than 20 years," said Michelle Ellison, New York. "The Lutheran church was worked very hard around the globe so that people of color can get here," she said.
John Whitfield, director for immigration services, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, New York, told the group "Congress has recognized that there has been injustice in the immigration process, and it has created something called the 'diversity visa lottery.' It is actually a lottery that allows about 55,000 persons each government year to come to the United States as immigrants. People send in a simple application form during a particular period. Some people will win that lottery; most won't because millions of people apply," he said.
"Because this is an attempt to take into account the fact that certain regions of the world have not sent large numbers of immigrants to the United States it tends to favor Africans. More than 20,000 of those visas go to Africans, but some of those Africans who win the visas may not be able come here because they cannot show that they will not become 'public charges' or persons who go on welfare," said Whitfield.
"This is a very complicated issue; we ought to think about ways that perhaps the 'diversity visa lottery' could be expanded to more persons of African descent to remedy past injustices in the immigration process. The other thing is that we need to educate ourselves so that we can become better advocates. One way to learn more about the immigration process is by coming to gatherings such as this. We have to think about ways of getting together nationally to address immigration concerns of importance to persons of African decent," he said.
"It has to go beyond just the Lutheran church, it has to be an involvement of the total African American community," said Whitfield.

VIDEO TELECONFERENCE
A video teleconference linked the consultation with people in S o Paulo, Brazil and Johannesburg, South Africa.
In South Africa the discussion centered around immigration issues throughout the continent of Africa.
"Four years after democracy, many immigrants from other parts of Africa still find it very difficult to make South Africa their home," said the Rev. Molefe Tsele, executive director, Ecumenical Service for Socio-Economic Transformation, Johannesburg, South Africa.
"Many of the problems for those living in South Africa, be they unemployment or crime, are being blamed on brothers and sisters coming here from Zaire, Nigeria, Mozambique or Zimbabwe," said Tsele.
"Presently in South Africa there is a very vibrant discussion about relationships between Black South Africans and African Americans. There are some in the white media who do their best to form hostility between these two groups," he said. "They portray African Americans as opportunists who are just coming now to take away jobs from South Africans. It is very important that we emphasize the ties that bind us through our history of the struggle for liberation," Tsele said.
"Race matters here in Brazil, but it is more important that one appear to look like they are from an upper-class or middle-class family," said the Rev. Peter Nash, an ELCA pastor and instructor at the Escola Superior de Teologia Rua Martin Luterno Seminary, S o Leopoldo, Brazil.
"The way you look will often determine how far you can go and how much freedom you will have. Light complexioned or European-looking Brazilian people have a much less difficult time obtaining visas than Brazilian people with darker skin," said Nash.
Routinely officers in universities discourage dark-skinned students from even applying for visas because they will be most likely be denied, he said.

YOUTH TRACK
Thirty young participants were guided through a reenactment of how people in West Africa were captured, shipped to the Caribbean and United States and sold as slaves. The reenactment was very vivid, and the youth were not expecting what happened to them.
They were shown slides of a particular region and given a description of how life was in that region. The last slide in the presentation was blank, the room was darkened, and the participants were blindfolded. There were screams, and sounds of gun shots throughout the room. The youth were snatched out of their seats and pushed and shoved about the room. They were packed together on the floor as a reenactment of the voyages on slave ships. They were given very vivid descriptions of the voyages, from how the slaves were placed on the ship to how they were treated.
The facilitator, Michael P. Russell, a vicar at Hosanna Lutheran Church, St. Charles, Ill., verbally stripped the youth of all identity and told them they were to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. An auction took place and the young people had an opportunity to identify with how the people from Africa must have felt as they were paraded around for those who would even