Piece Comment

Review of Black Tension


At the base of the issue explored in this piece is who is an 'African American'. African immigrants to this country are African Americans. But they come from completely different places and cultural backgrounds than American born African-Americans, even though, as this piece points out, the broader culture/politics of the United States does not necessarily distinguish between them because of the color of their skin. This piece explores the tension around affirmative action, for example, and we hear from students about their thoughts about who should benefit from these programs and who should not. This is a well reported exploration of the tensions between African immigrants and African Americans--looking at many aspects, from the individual, to the political to the psychological. This piece should make listeners think about how they define themselves in the multi-cultural/immigration culture of the United States. It will also challenge assumptions, made by all people, about categorizing people based on the color of their skin, instead of looking at their cultural or historical background and experiences.