African Emigration?

African immigrants to the US are preparing to leave in the wake of Trump’s victory, reports Quartz. Though not specifically a target of Trump’s assaults on immigrants, they feel they are not welcome.

That would be unfortunate, since Africans are among the most educated and qualified immigrants in the country: “Nigerians-Americans, the largest African immigrant group, are among the most educated groups in America with nearly two-thirds holding college degrees and higher levels of education have brought with it higher household incomes. African immigrants in fact outperform most other ethnic/racial groups in general.”

The article quotes a Bloomberg report: “African immigrants are also very likely to hold advanced degrees, many of which are earned at US universities. By many measures, African immigrants are as far ahead of American whites in the educational achievement as whites are ahead of African-Americans.”

Plus, African immigrants are overwhelmingly Christian, and form vibrant churches wherever they go. Some of the fastest-growing and most lively churches in the US and UK are African immigrant congregations.

It would indeed be unfortunate if Africans left or stopped coming. Fortunately, the Quartz report provides scant evidence that this is actually happening. NYU’s Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has threatened to tear up his green card; besides that, the report cites three tweets from Africans who have decided that it’s best to stay in Africa.

One suspects that many Africans aren’t on Twitter. Few are as embedded in the American/global establishment as Soyinka. And one wonders what they’re thinking right now. The Quartz piece gives us no help in answering that question.

Many Africans in the States see it as a mission field. They come from a continent where Christians are regularly slaughtered for their faith. Are they likely to be scared off by the Tweets of Donald Trump?

The article reads like an exercise in projection: How would I feel if I were an African immigrant?