The parallels between the Black experience in America and the Palestinian experience

Students for Justice in Palestine hosted an event Nov. 7, 2023, one month after the Israel-Hamas war began, in an effort to educate and build solidarity among students of color who may not be fully aware of the historical oppression of Palestinians. | Credit: Amani Bayo, BLACKXBOLD Editor-in-Chief

“Our founding ideals of liberty and equality were false when they were written. Black Americans fought to make them true.”

This quote from journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones serves as a reflection of the progress Black Americans have made in the fight for equality and recognition. 

Ogechi Muruako, marketing chair of Black Students in Psychology and Neuroscience and second-year in psychology, said Black Americans have always recognized the most effective way to rise out of oppression is through persistence and a refusal to settle for anything less than absolute rights. 

 “We wouldn't stop fighting to get more rights than we had,” Muruako said. “Back in the day there would be a time of little bits of freedom but it didn't stop them from getting complete freedom.”

Although the fight is not quite finished, the achievements from past decades make the struggle deserving of acknowledgment. One way some students reflect on America’s history of oppression and progress toward equality is by recognizing other systems of oppression around the world.  

In an effort to promote solidarity between Black Americans and Palestinian Americans, Students for Justice in Palestine, BSPN and the Somali Student Association collaborated in an event one month after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Southern Israel to highlight parallels between the oppression of Black Americans and Palestinian people. 

“By drawing parallels between the African American plight and the Palestinian plight, we can build collective power so that we can call for the liberation of both parts,” said Angelina Atieh, a fourth-year in biomedical science and one of the presenters for the event.

Leaders of SJP said the unique experience of Black Americans makes it possible for this community particularly to understand the conditions of Palestinian oppression and help support their cause. 

Naima Wedow, a second-year in psychology and president of SSA, said her organization collaborated with SJP because it is important for all humans, not just Black students, to always stand up for human rights.

“To sit idly and watch a genocide happen is not something that I think is appropriate or acceptable for humans to be doing,” Wedow said. “I think it was important to be a part of an event that is solely based on educating people on the Palestinian movement and the country’s history.

Heba Latif, co-president of SJP and fourth-year in political science, outlined the history of Palestinian occupation to explain how poor living conditions and systematic oppression also relate to the historical experience of Black Americans. 

“There are 139 staff checkpoints with [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers and over 300 roadblocks, making it miserable for the Palestinians and difficult for them to move from one city to another,” Latif said. “When you are living in such a situation, it makes you not want to be there anymore.”

Tying this to the lynchings Black Americans experienced in the Jim Crow South, both Latif and Atieh said this lack of autonomy is present in all systems of oppression around the world. 

“Palestinians feel like low-class citizens even in their own country and the same can be said about African Americans,” Atieh said.

Another indicator of oppression outlined by the student organizations is the generational impacts that affect children who are socialized into oppression. 

While studying the apartheid regime in South Africa, writer Frank Chikane coined the term Continuous Traumatic Stress Disorder, or CTSD, to describe the impact violent oppression has on children. 

According to a 2022 World Social Psychiatry article on Continuous Traumatic Stress in Palestine, 97% of children had been exposed to the sound of explosions and/or bombs.  

“People living on apartheid were especially vulnerable to developing CTSD in response to inescapable long periods of political repression, civil conflict, violence and racism against their people,” Latif said.

Among many other examples, Mukuraro said the anxiety and paranoia Black men experience in America of becoming a victim of police brutality is an example of CTSD as well. This idea was also studied in a New York Times project last year.

“The violence they have to deal with, they’re forced to present themselves as strong people but that also presents this stigma towards mental health because they don't want to be considered as weak,” Mukuraro said.

These parallels are not new ones, civil rights leaders like Malcolm X also expressed strong solidarity for Palestinians.

According to NPR, Malcolm X was among the first Black activists to show support for Palestinians and was quoted in a 1958 press conference by the New York Amsterdam News saying, “People of color in the U.S. ‘would be completely in sympathy with the Arab cause. The only point is they are not familiar with the true problems existing in the Middle East.’”

Malcolm X later visited a Palestinian refugee camp in 1964 and went on to publish an article in the Egyptian Gazette titled, “Zionist Logic.” 

Murukaro said this long-term support is very telling of how similar oppression is around the world and further validates a need for Black Americans to stand with Palestine.

“It kind of tells us that this isn't a new relationship. People should support them [Palestinians] regardless, but it kind of gives them more encouragement seeing historical Black leaders stand in solidarity back in the day,” Murukaro said.

The ability to share empathy for groups suffering from oppression is possible through understanding others’ experiences. Murukaro said though many may not be fully aware of Palestinian oppression, most Americans understand the historical racism against Black Americans and can use this to draw parallels. 

“Take time to learn more about the history, not just the current history and be open-minded,” Murukaro said.

Celebrating Black History Month this year means turning the focus to systems of oppression that exists around the world and being willing to make these connections to continue advocating for freedom for all.