What lessons are Africans learning from the surge in popularity and acceptance of far-right politics in Europe and America?

This publication is purposely for jogging the memory, and querying the intelligence, of, fellow Africans, especially Ghanaians, about an article I published some time ago expressing fears about the surge of far-right politics in the Western developed world.

In contemporary times, we find ourselves in the Western world, the political parties doting and campaigning on anti-immigration, nativist, and xenophobic policies are enjoying a surge in popularity and acceptance by their people.

It suffices for a contesting political party to vociferously campaign on the policy of mass deportation and restriction of immigrants, especially, illegal immigrants, from the country, and bingo, that political party gets more votes or, gets elected.

What a mystery about these far-right parties is that when they talk about immigration, they don’t mean or incorporate those from say, Japan, China, Hong Kong, and other developed white man’s countries but Africans and South Americans, thus, those from the poor developing countries mocked as “shithole countries”. Why is this the case?

The hatred towards Africans and those immigrants from other third world countries is so pronounced not because of their skin colour but their lack of intelligence, generalised poverty, deplorable mentality peculiar to them and the eyesore state of their home countries.

They have come to identify immigrants befitting the above description hence deserving to be chased out of their adopted countries of residence in the white man’s land as mostly Africans whose conspicuously black skin colour gives them away.

There is nothing we can do as Africans in the white man’s countries to stop the ill sentiments of the far-right parties and their activists toward us and their surge in popularity, except we are able to develop our native/home countries and mentality to the standard of theirs.

Were the Chinese and the Japanese not once mocked as yellow-coloured persons with squinted eyes by these Caucasians in the developed Western countries? Why are they not teasing them now? Is it not because they are at par in development, intelligence, and whatnot, with those in the West, if not surpassing them?

Those black people who are supportive of, and vote the far-right parties come elections, should think twice before executing their selfish and diabolic views. Most often, one hears these legally settled immigrants say, “the immigrants are coming to take over our jobs and benefits” hence they vote these far-right political parties hoping that if they come to power, they will stop further illegal immigrants from entering the country, if not deport them to their countries of origin.

Some Ghanaians did vote for Brexit in the British referendum meant to decide whether the United Kingdom leave or stay in the European Union. Their reason like others’ was the immigrants are coming from Africa and other European countries to take over their jobs hence had better stop their influx into the UK.

Similarly, some legally settled third world countries’ immigrants in the USA are said to have voted Trump in the recent 5 November 2024 USA presidential election, although they know him to be openly racist, misogynist, xenophobic and harbours far-right sentiments against immigrants.

Do we blame these far-right activists and politicians? No. We must blame ourselves for failing to develop the countries in our continental Africa.

We Africans haven’t seen anything yet. The worst is about to happen if we should continue to stagnate and wobble in our near-chronic disastrous black mentality.

Let us change our selfish, malevolent, and vainglorious attitudes and mentality to rather pursue collectively selfless nationalistic policies and programmes to help uplift our image as human beings deserving respect and recognition.

Once our African countries develop with their citizens become intelligent and rational beings, we shall no longer be seen or insinuated as colored-skin people unworthy to live among the whites in their country.

Let us be farsighted and deep thinkers and aspire to leave the world better than we came to find it. Do our greedy short-sighted politicians and traditional leaders get the message?

Today, my deceased aunt Sarpong was buried in Kumawu, and I pray she left the world much better than she came to find it in her own little way.