Critical Essay on Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi

Introduction

"Ghana Must Go" is a Novel by Taiye Selasi as he tells the story of immigrants as they move out of West Africa into the United States. Selasi himself was born in London to Ghanaian and Nigerian parents. He was raised in Massachusetts. "Ghana Must Go," tells the story of an immigrant family from Ghana. The main character is Folasade Savage who is an immigrant from Lagos, Nigeria and travels to Pennsylvania where she meets her Ghanian husband, Kweku Sai. The family then separates after a series of unfortunate events affect Sai's parents and career. "Behold the dreamers" is another novel by Imbolo Mbue that tells the story of an immigrant family from Cameroon during the 2008 financial crisis. Mbue herself is a native of Cameroon who lost her job during the 2008 financial crisis. The novel tells the story of Jende Jonga who is an immigrant who gets employed as a chauffeur for Lehman Brothers. During his employment, he pays school fees for his wife and sends money back home to support the rest of his family. Jenda Jonga is also seeking permanent residency in the United States. The 2008 financial crisis derail the aspirations of both families in their quests to achieve the American dream.

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The events of the two families represent the quest of immigrant families in a bid to achieve the American dream. There are similarities between Sai parents and Jonga parents. Both sets of parents are immigrants from West Africa. While the Sai parents immigrated in search of white collar jobs, the Jonga parents were simply looking for greener pastures. However, the fate of both sets of parents meets when they both encounter difficulties in their new found jobs. Sai is dismissed from work, and his license to practice medicine revoked hence making him unable to fend for his family. On the other hand, Jonga's employer is affected by the financial crisis that threatens Jonga's and his family's wellbeing. He finds it difficult to secure permanent residency in the United States. Both sets of parents find it hard to achieve the American dream.

Another relationship between both sets of parents is that they are the breadwinners to their families. Jonga's wife is without a job, and he happens to be the one paying her school fees. On the other hand, Folasade Savage dropped out of Law school to take care of her four children. She depended on her husband to fend for her and her children. The demise of the breadwinners of both families shatters the financial and social well-being of the families.

American Lifestyle

In America, Sai's parents are well educated, and this affords them a certain lifestyle that was well above that of the Jonga's. The Sai's are very aware of the various mistreatment that they undergo in the hands of the natural born citizens. Their financial status, however, shields them from some of these mistreatments, especially ones to do with social status. Jonga, on the other hand, is of the lower class and is subjected to racism and discrimination due to social class. However, he is so focused on achieving the goal that he chooses to ignore most of these mistreatments. When both sets of parents lose their jobs, the financial strain negatively impacts the relationships they have with their spouses. Sai gives up on Folasade and his children and returns to Ghana alone leaving Folasade to take care of the family. Jende unemployment status combined with the decline of permanent residence in America pushed him to argue with his wife to the point where he physically abused her.

Women in "I am too American to be African, Too African to be American" are suffering from identity crisis. The women find themselves suffering rejection from their African counterparts because they consider them as Americans. To other Africans, the American women have been influenced by western ways and do not belong as one of them. On the other hand, their position as Africans makes them less acceptable to the Americans because of their origins and skin color. The Americans regard them as Africans which makes them less cultured in the Americans eyes.

At the center of this identity crisis is racism. The women who are born from African parents in America, experience discrimination within the American society. Their skin color makes them a target for racial supremacists who consider Africans inferior. The seven women each encounter challenges related to race throughout the film. Each of them is unable to access some of the basic opportunities available to their American counterparts. As the film explains, they are still tied to their heritage despite their very American mannerism. As they grew up, they thought they would become accepted, but it only became worse.

Placing the blame for identity crisis on race alone is being too critical. It should be noted that they are women, to begin with. This places them as a target for sexism. They get to experience the challenges that come with being a woman except in this case they are also black women. For those who can look past their skin color, they are unable to look past their sexuality. Not only do they undergo sexual harassment, but they are also expected to offer sexual favors to access the opportunities that their male counterparts have. For the achievements that they have accomplished, most people get to assume they got these achievements because of their sexuality. No one seems to be seeing them for what they truly are as hardworking, American women.

These women get to realize that they do not have a place they can identify with. They don't belong in their ancestral home neither do they belong in their homeland. The whole lack of identity is brought about by the idea that the American culture is superior to all other cultures. Americans get to discriminate anyone whose identity is not American. Different cultures have different standards and using the American culture to judge other cultures based on the American standards is Americentrism. The seven women are victims of Americentrism because they are treated as outcasts in a country they consider their own. They feel that they have to prove themselves to their fellow countrymen that they belong in America. It is ironical considering that America is a country built by immigrants. One would expect to be more accepted in America than in all other countries. Instead they find themselves rejected because of their roots. The women do not know whether to present themselves as Africans or whether to present themselves as Americans because when they present themselves as Africans, their American heritage betrays them and when they present themselves as Americans, their African roots betrays them...