Blaxit and the Romanticization of Africa

BTSU 315

Black Americans have always craved a tangible sense of identity with Africa that transcend the nominal affiliation. In the face of increasing volume of migration of Africans into the United States, many African Americans still express the desire to connect with the motherland. My research looks into a wave of social media advocacy for Blaxit: a social media movement that calls for a mass migration of Black Americans to Africa. My presentation will focus on the double romanticization that plays out behind the notion of blaxit: African Americans tend to romanticize about Africa just as Africans tend to romanticize African Americans. I will survey the reasons for blaxit, the feasibility of the exit, and benefits that may accrue from having a sense of ‘home’.