WHY ARE WE BEING TURNED AGAINST EACH OTHER?
Welcome, everyone. LanceScurv here, bringing you another conversation that needs to happen, another uncomfortable truth that deserves to be examined, and another opportunity for us to look beyond the surface of what we see every day. Today, I want to talk about something that reaches far beyond social media arguments, national borders, cultural misunderstandings, and the endless back-and-forth between African Americans and Africans on the continent. I want to ask a question that should make every one of us stop, think, and examine the world around us: WHO BENEFITS FROM OUR SEPARATION?
Over the past several years, we’ve watched more people of African descent explore their roots, visit the continent, establish businesses, purchase property, build relationships, and consider making Africa their permanent home. People who once believed that America was their only option have started looking beyond its borders. Some have discovered Ghana, others have explored different African nations, and many have begun asking questions about their history, their identity, and the possibilities available when they step outside the environment they’ve known all their lives. Yet, alongside this growing interest, we’ve also witnessed a steady stream of arguments, accusations, negative stories, and online personalities encouraging people to distrust one another.
My concern isn’t that people share their bad experiences. Every country has problems, and every person has the right to tell the truth about what they’ve experienced. My concern begins when honest criticism turns into constant hostility, when individual experiences become sweeping judgments about entire populations, and when people who could be learning from one another are encouraged to see each other as enemies. At some point, we have to stop reacting to every provocative video and start asking who benefits when our attention is consumed by conflict instead of cooperation.
I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who spent nearly four decades growing up in New York City before eventually making a home in Ghana. I’ve experienced life in America, and I’ve experienced the challenges and rewards of building a life on African soil. I know that neither place is perfect, and I have no interest in selling anybody a fantasy. However, living between these different worlds has given me a perspective that I believe deserves to be heard. There are things we misunderstand about one another because we haven’t taken the time to sit down, ask questions, and listen without allowing somebody else’s prejudice to control our thinking.
There’s also a painful reality that we cannot ignore. When a young person loses their life, when bullying turns into violence, or when someone is mistreated because they’re considered an outsider, we must have the courage to confront that injustice without turning it into a weapon against an entire people. Recent events involving a young Ghanaian who was killed in the Bronx have brought these concerns into sharper focus for me. His story deserves serious attention, compassion, and an honest examination of the circumstances surrounding his death. But we must also be careful not to allow tragedy to become another excuse for spreading hatred between people who need more understanding, not more division.
THE GIFT OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PRICE WE MAY BE PAYING
Social media changed the world in ways many of us could hardly imagine when these platforms first became popular. Suddenly, families separated by oceans could communicate instantly. People could share photographs, record videos, exchange ideas, build businesses, and speak directly to audiences without asking a television network or newspaper for permission. Someone living in a small town in Ghana could communicate with someone in New York, London, Toronto, or Johannesburg within seconds. For ordinary people who had spent generations being spoken about rather than being allowed to speak for themselves, this was a powerful change.
I remember when sharing information required far more effort. You needed access to the right people, the right publications, or the right broadcasting channels. Now, a person with a smartphone can tell the world what they believe, document an experience, and challenge an established narrative. That’s a remarkable opportunity, and I have used it for years to share my artwork, opinions, observations, and commentary. Even when platforms have limited the reach of my work or removed content, I’ve continued to find ways to communicate because the message matters more than any single platform.
But every powerful tool can be used for purposes that have nothing to do with the freedom it promises. Social media can educate us, but it can also mislead us. It can connect families, but it can also create suspicion between relatives who live on different continents. It can expose corruption, but it can also spread rumors that damage innocent people. It can give a thoughtful person a voice, while rewarding someone else for saying the most outrageous thing possible.
The business model of many online platforms creates a serious problem. Content that provokes anger, fear, jealousy, or outrage can attract attention because people react emotionally. They comment, argue, share the video, return to see what others have said, and sometimes spend hours fighting strangers. The platform benefits from that activity, even when the people involved leave the conversation more bitter and less informed than when they entered it. This doesn’t mean every controversial creator is being paid to divide people. It means the incentives can reward division, whether or not someone deliberately planned it.
THAT’S WHY WE MUST LEARN TO QUESTION WHAT WE SEE. A video receiving a million views doesn’t automatically make its message true. A person speaking with confidence doesn’t automatically make them an expert. A creator who claims to love the people while constantly insulting them may deserve a closer examination. We must look at the evidence, consider the source, and ask whether the information being presented helps us understand a problem or simply gives us another group to blame.
WHEN PROPAGANDA BECOMES A WEAPON AGAINST OUR UNITY
Propaganda isn’t simply a lie told by a government. It’s a way of shaping public opinion through selective information, emotional messages, repeated claims, and carefully chosen images. Sometimes it uses facts while leaving out the context that would help people understand them. Sometimes it exaggerates a real problem until the audience believes that the problem represents an entire nation or population. And sometimes it turns a complicated situation into a simple story with a villain, a victim, and a reason to hate.
Consider how easily an individual experience can become a national stereotype. Someone visits Ghana, has a disagreement with a business partner, and returns home convinced that the entire country is dishonest. Someone moves to America, encounters discrimination or economic hardship, and concludes that every American is hostile. Someone has a painful experience with an immigrant, then begins using that experience to attack millions of people who had nothing to do with what happened.
This is how prejudice grows. One experience becomes a general rule. One person’s behavior becomes the supposed character of an entire population. Before long, people stop asking questions because they believe they already know the answer. They no longer see individuals. They see labels, nationalities, accents, skin tones, and stereotypes.
Now imagine what happens when online personalities discover that these arguments attract attention. One creator attacks African Americans, another attacks Africans born on the continent, and a third makes a living encouraging people to believe that the other side is jealous, lazy, backward, arrogant, or dangerous. Each side gathers an audience that feels misunderstood and angry. Every new insult becomes evidence that the other side was never worth trusting in the first place.
Who’s benefiting from that cycle? The answer may include the creators earning attention, the platforms collecting engagement, businesses selling products to angry audiences, and political interests that prefer people to remain focused on cultural conflict instead of shared concerns. In some cases, people may be deliberately exploiting these divisions. In others, they may simply be chasing money, popularity, or personal attention. We shouldn’t claim that every divisive voice is working for a hidden organization without evidence. But we should recognize that division can be profitable, and that someone can benefit from a conflict without having created it.
The real danger comes when we become so emotionally attached to the argument that we stop examining the system around us. We’re busy fighting over who belongs, who is more authentic, who has suffered more, and who deserves more respect, while serious questions about wealth, education, employment, land, political power, and economic opportunity remain unanswered. We spend our energy proving that our neighbor is wrong instead of discovering what we could accomplish together.
And that’s the trap. Once we accept the idea that our greatest enemy is always the person who looks like us but comes from somewhere else, we may never turn our attention toward the conditions that affect us all. We become easier to distract, easier to manipulate, and less likely to recognize opportunities for cooperation.
THE GREAT MIGRATION OF THE MIND: WHY PEOPLE STARTED LOOKING TOWARD AFRICA
For generations, many African Americans were taught to measure success through a particular image of the American dream. A house with a beautiful lawn, a reliable car, a well-paying job, a comfortable retirement, and enough money to leave something behind for the children became the symbols of having made it. These goals aren’t wrong. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a home, financial security, or a better future for your family. The problem begins when we’re taught to believe that these things can only be achieved in one country, or that our worth depends on how closely our lives resemble somebody else’s idea of success.
For many people, the promise hasn’t matched the reality. Housing costs have risen, medical expenses can become overwhelming, education can leave people buried in debt, and the cost of maintaining a household can consume much of a family’s income. People work for decades and still find themselves worrying about retirement. Others struggle to save anything after paying their monthly bills. Some face discrimination, violence, or unfair treatment despite doing everything they were told would lead to success.
These problems don’t mean that nobody can succeed in America. Plenty of people build wonderful lives there, and I won’t pretend otherwise. But success stories don’t erase the struggles of everyone else. A person who earns a good salary may still live under tremendous financial pressure. A family may own a beautiful home while carrying a mortgage that leaves little room for unexpected expenses. Someone may drive an expensive vehicle while owing far more money than their social media audience could ever imagine.
What we see online is often the appearance of wealth rather than the complete financial picture. A luxury vehicle may be financed. A large house may come with decades of payments. A person dressed in expensive clothing may be struggling privately. Credit can create the appearance of abundance without providing the financial freedom that people assume comes with it. This is why comparing your real life to somebody else’s carefully selected images can lead you toward disappointment.
When people began traveling to Africa, spending time on the continent, and sharing their experiences, many discovered something that challenged their previous assumptions. They saw opportunities to acquire land, build homes gradually, establish relationships, grow food, start businesses, and live according to priorities that mattered to them. Others discovered a stronger connection to their ancestral history and a sense of belonging they had struggled to find elsewhere.
I know what that change can mean because I made the decision to leave America and establish a life in Ghana. I didn’t arrive in a perfect world. I didn’t suddenly become wealthy, and I don’t claim that moving to Africa automatically solves every problem. What changed for me was the way I could organize my life around my needs, my resources, and my personal definition of peace. I found value in being able to build toward my goals without measuring every decision against the expectations I had grown up with.
THAT’S THE PART PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND. RELOCATION ISN’T JUST ABOUT MONEY. IT’S ALSO ABOUT THE WAY YOU WANT TO LIVE.
For some people, that means remaining in America and building a strong community. For others, it may mean moving to Ghana, another African nation, the Caribbean, or somewhere else entirely. The destination isn’t the point. The point is having enough freedom to examine your choices without being trapped by the belief that there’s only one respectable way to live.
WHY THE GROWING CONNECTION TO AFRICA MATTERS
When people of African descent begin building genuine relationships across national borders, they create possibilities that go beyond tourism. A visitor can become a resident. A resident can become a business owner. A business owner can develop partnerships with local workers, suppliers, farmers, builders, artists, and entrepreneurs. People who grew up in different environments can bring different skills, experiences, networks, and ideas to a shared project.
Think about what could happen if African Americans and Africans on the continent approached one another with curiosity rather than suspicion. Imagine people sharing business knowledge, learning about one another’s cultures, supporting responsible investment, developing educational programs, and creating opportunities for young people. Imagine an African American entrepreneur working with a Ghanaian partner who understands the local market, while the American partner brings professional experience, international connections, or access to another customer base.
Neither person would need to consider the other inferior. Both could contribute something valuable, and both could learn something new. This is what cooperation looks like when it moves beyond slogans and becomes practical action.
Of course, such partnerships require honesty, patience, contracts, accountability, and a clear understanding of local laws. Shared ancestry doesn’t automatically make someone trustworthy, just as a different nationality doesn’t automatically make someone an enemy. People must still investigate business opportunities, protect their investments, understand property rights, and make sound decisions. Unity without responsibility can create new problems, but responsibility combined with cooperation can create lasting benefits.
There’s also an important distinction between recognizing our shared ancestry and pretending that every Black person has the same history or identity. African Americans have their own cultural experiences, traditions, struggles, and achievements. Ghanaian people have their own national history, languages, customs, and social realities. People from other African nations and the Caribbean have their own experiences as well. Respecting those differences doesn’t weaken our connection. It gives that connection a stronger foundation.
We don’t need to erase our differences to work together. We need to understand them well enough to stop using them as excuses for disrespect. We can disagree about politics, religion, customs, and social expectations without turning disagreement into hatred. We can recognize historical injustice without pretending that every individual in another country is personally responsible for it. We can speak honestly about racism in America while also discussing corruption, economic hardship, and social challenges in African nations.
The goal isn’t to create a fantasy in which everybody gets along perfectly. The goal is to build relationships mature enough to survive honest conversations.
THE DANGEROUS BUSINESS OF SELLING AFRICA AS A FAILURE
I’ve noticed how quickly some online discussions about Africa turn into sweeping condemnations. A power outage becomes proof that an entire continent has nothing to offer. A dispute over land becomes proof that every local person is dishonest. A poor customer experience becomes a warning that nobody should ever consider moving there. Sometimes these stories describe real problems that deserve attention. Other times, the language becomes so broad that the audience is encouraged to dismiss millions of people without understanding their circumstances.
Let me be clear: people who have experienced fraud, discrimination, broken agreements, unsafe conditions, or serious disappointment deserve to speak about what happened to them. Nobody should be pressured into silence to protect the image of a country or a community. If someone lost money in a bad investment, their experience may help another person avoid the same mistake. If someone encountered racism or hostility, that story deserves to be heard. If a person moved to Ghana and discovered that the lifestyle wasn’t right for them, they have every right to explain why they left.
But there’s a difference between describing your experience and turning it into a campaign against an entire people. There’s a difference between warning people about a specific risk and encouraging them to believe that an entire nation is beyond hope. The first approach can educate. The second can feed prejudice.
Moving to another country requires preparation. You need to understand the climate, healthcare options, residency rules, transportation, housing, employment opportunities, business regulations, and the cost of living. You need to know what services are available and what limitations you may face. You need realistic expectations about how quickly things get done, how business relationships develop, and how cultural differences affect everyday life.
You also need to understand yourself. Can you adjust when things move at a different pace? Can you handle unfamiliar systems without becoming angry every time something doesn’t work as expected? Can you respect local customs while still maintaining your own values? Can you build relationships without assuming that everyone should think and behave as they did back home?
These are serious questions, and they’re more useful than a thousand arguments about which country is better. A person who moves without preparation may struggle in an otherwise promising environment. Another person who studies carefully, builds relationships, and develops a realistic plan may find opportunities they never expected.
The same principle applies to people moving from Africa to America. A person should understand the costs, legal requirements, employment conditions, housing market, and social challenges before making that decision. They should be careful about accepting exaggerated promises from people who make life abroad look effortless. They should also understand that the experiences of one immigrant may differ greatly from those of another.
We need more practical information and less emotional manipulation. We need people explaining what they learned, what they would do differently, and what they wish someone had told them before they moved. That’s how you help people make informed decisions. You don’t have to destroy another country’s reputation to explain your own experience.
THE AMERICAN DREAM AND THE REALITY BEHIND THE IMAGE
One of the most powerful forms of influence is the ability to make people desire a life without showing them the full cost of obtaining it. Advertisements have used this approach for generations, and social media has made it even more effective. We see the house, but not necessarily the mortgage. We see the car, but not the monthly payment. We see the shopping bags, but not the credit card balance. We see the vacation, but not the debt that followed someone home.
This kind of presentation can create a distorted picture of America for people who have never lived there. They see the bright lights, modern buildings, shopping centers, expensive vehicles, and images of material success. They may assume that ordinary people have access to all these things simply because they live in America. They may not realize how many people are working multiple jobs, paying high rents, managing debt, or struggling to afford healthcare.
The reverse can happen when people in America view Africa through a narrow lens. They may see images of poverty, damaged roads, crowded markets, or infrastructure problems and assume that these images tell the entire story. They may overlook thriving businesses, professional communities, modern housing, cultural richness, natural resources, and the everyday lives of people who are building futures for themselves and their families.
Both pictures can be misleading when they’re presented without context. Neither the American dream nor the African experience can be understood through selected images alone.
In Ghana, for example, access to reliable electricity, healthcare, water, transportation, and other services can vary depending on where you live and what you can afford. Infrastructure challenges are real, and they should be discussed honestly. The same is true of the financial pressures facing people in America. Different systems produce different advantages and disadvantages, and those differences must be understood rather than hidden.
For someone living on a fixed income, the ability to manage expenses in another country may make a meaningful difference. But the calculation must include healthcare, insurance, travel, housing maintenance, exchange rates, residency requirements, and the cost of returning home if circumstances change. What works beautifully for one retiree may not work for another person with different needs or resources.
That’s why I refuse to tell people that everybody should leave America. I also refuse to accept the idea that everybody must stay there to succeed. Neither position makes sense for every individual. The world is much larger than the narrow choices that people are sometimes encouraged to accept.
My message is simple: examine your circumstances, study your options, and make decisions based on your own needs. Don’t allow a stranger’s success story to make you reckless, and don’t allow somebody else’s failure to convince you that an opportunity has no value.
WHEN PEOPLE BECOME PAWNS IN SOMEBODY ELSE’S ARGUMENT
There’s another troubling pattern in these conversations. Sometimes people from one group are praised when they criticize their own community, while people who defend that community are dismissed as ignorant or unreasonable. An African immigrant may be presented as proof that hard work solves every problem in America, while the struggles of African Americans are blamed on personal failure. An African American who discusses discrimination may be portrayed as unwilling to take responsibility, even when the facts deserve serious consideration.
The same pattern can work in the opposite direction. Someone who criticizes conditions in an African country may be accused of hating Africa, while another person who describes every problem in America may be treated as though they have discovered the only truth that matters. Instead of examining the facts, audiences begin judging people according to whether their opinions support the story they already believe.
This is a dangerous way to think because it turns human beings into props. Their experiences matter only when those experiences can be used to prove somebody else’s point. Their hardships are celebrated when they support a preferred narrative and ignored when they challenge it.
Imagine an African immigrant who works hard, builds a successful career, and becomes a supervisor in an American company. That person’s achievement deserves recognition. But it shouldn’t be used to suggest that every African American who struggles in the same workplace must be lazy or unwilling to work. Their backgrounds, opportunities, treatment, responsibilities, and circumstances may be different. One person’s success doesn’t prove that everybody else has received equal treatment.
Likewise, an African American who experiences racism shouldn’t use that experience to condemn every African immigrant who has a different view of America. Both individuals deserve to explain what happened to them. Both deserve to be heard. Neither should be forced into a competition over whose pain is more legitimate.
This is where critical thinking becomes essential. Ask what evidence supports a claim. Ask what information has been left out. Ask whether the person making the argument benefits financially or socially from keeping the conflict alive. Ask whether the same standard is being applied to everyone involved.
And be especially careful when someone demands that you hate another group as proof of your loyalty to your own. Genuine loyalty doesn’t require blindness. You can love your community enough to address its weaknesses while also defending its dignity. You can appreciate another culture without surrendering your identity. You can criticize a government without hating its people.
We must stop allowing strangers on screens to dictate who deserves our respect. A person’s birthplace doesn’t tell you everything about their character. Their accent doesn’t reveal the quality of their heart. Their nationality doesn’t determine whether they will be honest, generous, selfish, or cruel. Those things must be judged through actions, not assumptions.
THE REAL QUESTIONS ABOUT POWER, WEALTH, AND RESOURCES
If we want to understand why division is so destructive, we must look beyond personal arguments and examine the larger economic questions. Africa possesses valuable natural resources, talented people, rich cultural traditions, and significant opportunities for development. Yet many communities continue to face serious economic challenges. Understanding those challenges requires more than blaming one group or celebrating another. We must examine history, political decisions, global markets, ownership, investment, education, infrastructure, and the distribution of wealth.
Colonial rule shaped many African economies around the extraction and export of raw materials. The effects of that history can still be seen in economic structures, trade relationships, and political institutions. However, modern problems also involve current leadership, local corruption, international business practices, debt, infrastructure gaps, and decisions made by governments and private interests. A serious conversation must make room for all these factors rather than pretending one explanation covers everything.
The same kind of examination is necessary when discussing the wealth created through the forced labor of African people in America. The history of slavery, segregation, and discrimination has had lasting effects on economic opportunity and family wealth. Those realities deserve honest discussion. So do the policies and decisions that continue to influence housing, employment, education, and access to capital.
But what happens when people from these different backgrounds spend more time fighting each other than examining the systems that shape their economic lives? They may miss opportunities to share knowledge, develop businesses, support one another, and push for policies that benefit their communities.
Consider the possibilities of responsible investment between African Americans and Africans on the continent. A partnership could support agriculture, housing, manufacturing, technology, tourism, education, or healthcare. Local knowledge could help investors understand the market, while professional skills and wider business networks could create new opportunities. The benefits wouldn’t have to stop with the owners. A well-run business can create jobs, develop skills, support suppliers, and provide useful services to the surrounding community.
None of this happens automatically. Businesses fail, partnerships break down, and political conditions can change. People must protect their interests, understand local laws, and make sure agreements are fair. But the existence of risks isn’t a reason to reject cooperation. It’s a reason to approach cooperation with knowledge and care.
We should also question why so many conversations about Africa focus almost entirely on what is wrong while giving little attention to what people are building. Problems deserve attention, but progress deserves examination too. If we’re serious about improving conditions, we must understand both the obstacles and the opportunities.
THE QUESTION ISN’T WHETHER AFRICA IS PERFECT OR WHETHER AMERICA IS BEYOND REPAIR. THE QUESTION IS WHETHER WE’RE WILLING TO THINK CLEARLY ENOUGH TO BUILD SOMETHING BETTER.
WHY WE MUST NOT ALLOW TRAGEDY TO BECOME A WEAPON
The death of a young person is not a debate tactic. It’s a human tragedy that demands compassion, accountability, and a careful examination of the facts. When a young Ghanaian is killed in an American city, the circumstances deserve to be investigated thoroughly. If bullying, prejudice, or hostility played a role, those issues must be confronted. If there were other factors, those facts must also be established. The truth matters because a family’s loss should never be reduced to a convenient story designed to attract attention.
At the same time, we must resist the temptation to turn an individual tragedy into a verdict against an entire population. An act of violence committed by one person doesn’t establish the character of millions of people who share that person’s nationality. Nor should an individual act of kindness be used to deny the existence of discrimination or danger. We must be capable of holding more than one truth in our minds at the same time.
As someone who grew up in New York City, I know that the city contains many different realities. People can grow up in the same borough and experience very different lives. Neighborhoods change, dangers change, and the circumstances surrounding an incident matter. Anyone who wants to understand a case must look carefully at the evidence instead of relying on rumors or emotionally charged commentary.
What concerns me is the possibility that a painful event could be used to deepen resentment between African Americans and Africans. Imagine a Ghanaian parent watching a report and deciding that all African Americans are dangerous. Imagine an African American parent seeing a story about hostility toward an immigrant and deciding that every African-born person is untrustworthy. Both reactions would allow fear to replace judgment, and both would punish people who had nothing to do with the incident.
We need to protect young people, challenge bullying, and teach children how to treat others with dignity. We need parents, schools, community leaders, and public officials to take threats seriously. We need fair investigations and accountability when wrongdoing occurs. These are practical steps that can save lives and help communities heal.
Most importantly, we must remember that unity doesn’t mean ignoring injustice. It means confronting injustice without losing our humanity. We can demand justice for a victim while refusing to spread hatred toward innocent people. We can stand with a grieving family without allowing others to turn that family’s pain into fuel for a larger conflict.
LIVING IN GHANA HAS TAUGHT ME TO LOOK BEYOND THE ARGUMENT
After spending years in America and building a life in Ghana, I’ve learned that a country can look completely different depending on where you’re standing and what you’re looking for. The place that one person considers an opportunity may feel restrictive to someone else. The lifestyle that brings peace to one family may frustrate another. What matters is whether people are honest about their needs, realistic about their expectations, and willing to learn before making major decisions.
For me, one of the greatest benefits of my life in Ghana has been the opportunity to rethink how I use my time. I value the ability to work on my projects, maintain my home, develop my ideas, and structure my days around priorities that matter to me. I’m not claiming that every day is easy or that every problem has disappeared. I’m saying that the balance I’ve found has been meaningful to me, and I believe people deserve the freedom to hear different perspectives before deciding what kind of life they want.
There are people who have moved to Ghana and loved it. Others have moved there and decided to return to America or settle somewhere else. Both experiences can be valid. A person may discover that the healthcare options don’t meet their needs, that the business environment isn’t right for them, or that distance from family is harder than expected. Another person may find a community, a pace of life, or an opportunity that makes the move worthwhile.
What I don’t support is the idea that one person’s decision should determine what everybody else does. If you love America, you should be able to explain what makes it right for you without attacking people who choose another country. If you love Ghana, you should be able to share that experience without pretending that its challenges don’t exist. If you leave either place, you should be able to speak honestly without turning disappointment into a campaign against the people who remain.
We need to make room for honest comparisons. How much does housing cost? What does healthcare look like? What are the residency rules? What opportunities exist for business owners? How safe is a particular area? What are the practical challenges of living far from family? These questions help people prepare for real life instead of chasing an image.
And for those who live on the continent and want better economic conditions, I believe cooperation deserves serious attention. People can study business, develop useful skills, build local industries, share knowledge, support education, and hold leaders accountable. They can learn from people abroad without believing that everything abroad is better. They can also recognize that some problems require public investment, policy changes, and collective action rather than individual effort alone.
We must never allow our love for a place to become an excuse for refusing to improve it. Nor should we allow our frustration with a place to blind us to its people, its culture, and its potential.
THE INTERNET HAS GIVEN US A CHOICE: DIVISION OR DIRECT CONNECTION
One of the greatest advantages of living in this age is that we can speak directly to people we might never meet otherwise. Someone in Ghana can explain their experience to someone in New York without waiting for a television station to decide whether the story deserves attention. Someone in America can ask questions about life in Ghana and receive answers from people who actually live there. Families can maintain relationships across borders, and business partners can discuss opportunities without traveling thousands of miles for every conversation.
We should be using that access to build understanding. Instead, too many conversations are shaped by people who appear more interested in winning arguments than learning anything. They make sweeping claims, insult entire populations, and treat every disagreement as a reason to attack. The audience becomes a cheering section rather than a community of people trying to understand the truth.
My advice is to develop relationships with real people. Ask questions. Listen to different experiences. Speak with people who have lived in both places. Seek information from reliable sources rather than depending on a single influencer. If someone makes a serious claim, look for evidence that supports it. If another person challenges that claim, examine their evidence too. Don’t confuse popularity with credibility, and don’t assume that someone is telling the truth simply because their message agrees with your feelings.
Also, pay attention to what the algorithm keeps putting in front of you. If you watch a few divisive videos, the platform may recommend more content along the same lines. Before long, you may believe that everybody is arguing, everybody is hostile, and nobody wants peace. But your feed isn’t a complete picture of humanity. It’s a selection of content shaped by your activity and the platform’s recommendation systems.
You have the power to change what you consume. You can follow thoughtful people, seek out educational material, support creators who encourage honest discussion, and refuse to reward content that depends on degrading others. You can also step away from arguments that offer nothing except anger. Not every provocation deserves a response, and not every person who challenges you deserves your time.
For those of us who create content, the responsibility is even greater. We must ask ourselves whether we’re informing people or simply provoking them. Are we explaining the facts, or are we leaving out information that complicates our story? Are we helping people recognize shared problems, or are we encouraging them to hate another group? Are we building a community that can think independently, or are we training an audience to repeat our opinions without question?
I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. I expect people to think for themselves. If my argument is weak, challenge it with evidence. If I make a mistake, correct it. But don’t allow anyone, including me, to replace your judgment with their own. The goal should be understanding, not blind loyalty.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE STOPPED FIGHTING AND STARTED BUILDING?
Imagine what could happen if we redirected even a portion of the energy spent on online arguments toward practical goals. Instead of debating whether African Americans or Africans are better, we could be discussing how to develop businesses that create jobs. Instead of competing over whose culture deserves more respect, we could be sharing our music, history, literature, food, and traditions. Instead of insulting one another over accents and national origins, we could be teaching young people how to communicate across cultures and build lasting relationships.
Think about the knowledge that could be exchanged. People who have spent decades working in American industries may have experience with business systems, technology, management, or professional networks. People living in Ghana and other African nations may understand local markets, community needs, agricultural conditions, languages, and cultural practices. When people approach one another with respect, those different kinds of knowledge can complement each other.
We could create mentorship programs that connect young people across borders. We could support responsible businesses that hire locally and develop skills. We could organize discussions that address the realities of migration, including both the benefits and the challenges. We could help people understand how to protect themselves from scams, discrimination, and unrealistic promises. We could create cultural exchanges that replace stereotypes with real relationships.
None of these ideas requires us to pretend that every person will cooperate or that every project will succeed. It simply requires us to recognize that conflict isn’t the only way to relate to one another. We can protect our interests while seeking common ground. We can celebrate our identities without making someone else’s identity a threat.
We also need to remember that unity begins at the personal level. It begins when we refuse to repeat a stereotype without examining it. It begins when we correct misinformation instead of sharing it because it supports our side. It begins when we treat a person as an individual rather than assuming we know their character because of their birthplace. These actions may seem small, but they help shape the culture in which larger decisions are made.
And if we want to build economic strength, we must move beyond emotional declarations. We need education, planning, reliable partnerships, clear agreements, responsible leadership, and long-term thinking. We need people who can disagree without destroying relationships and who can work together without demanding that everyone become identical. We need to measure progress by what we build, what we learn, and how we improve the lives of the people around us.
The greatest response to division isn’t another divisive speech. It’s a better way of living, thinking, working, and relating to one another.
WHO REALLY BENEFITS FROM OUR SEPARATION?
After everything we’ve discussed, I want you to return to the question that started this conversation: WHO BENEFITS FROM OUR SEPARATION? Who gains when African Americans and Africans on the continent distrust one another? Who gains when people spend their time arguing about accents, nationalities, skin tones, and cultural differences instead of discussing education, economic opportunity, political accountability, and the future of their children? We may not always be able to identify a single person or organization responsible for every disagreement, but we can recognize when division serves somebody’s interests while leaving ordinary people with less understanding and fewer opportunities.
I’m not asking you to believe that every disagreement is manufactured or that every person who criticizes another culture has a hidden agenda. I’m asking you to become more thoughtful about what you accept as truth. Examine the evidence, challenge exaggerated claims, and refuse to let somebody else’s bitterness become your own. We have enough real problems to address without creating additional enemies through careless assumptions. We should be able to tell the truth about America, tell the truth about Ghana, and tell the truth about ourselves without using one truth to erase another.
I also want people to understand that unity isn’t about everybody moving to Africa, everybody staying in America, or everybody agreeing on the same political and cultural questions. Unity means respecting one another’s humanity while recognizing that cooperation can make us stronger. It means understanding that our differences don’t have to prevent us from learning, building, trading, investing, and supporting one another. It means refusing to let strangers on the internet dictate who we should hate. We can be proud of where we come from while remaining open to the possibilities that exist beyond the places we know.
As I look at my own journey from New York City to Ghana, I recognize that my experience has given me a different view of the world. I have no desire to convince everybody to follow my path, because each person must make decisions based on their own circumstances. But I will continue to encourage people to question the narratives placed before them, explore the world with open eyes, and recognize the value of building genuine relationships across borders. We have more to gain from understanding one another than we will ever gain from allowing prejudice to control our conversations.
So I leave you with this challenge: the next time you see a video designed to make you angry at an African American, an African, a Caribbean person, or anybody else, stop before you react. Ask yourself what the person is showing you, what they may be leaving out, and whether their message encourages understanding or simply profits from resentment. We cannot control every voice on the internet, but we can control what we believe, what we share, and how we treat one another. Let’s choose wisdom over manipulation, cooperation over needless conflict, and truth over propaganda. This is LanceScurv, and I wish you nothing less than peace, healing, tranquility, and balance in your life. Peace.
