Fans have had mixed opinions about Burna Boy‘s recent comments, which has caused him to speak out and respond to them.

The Afrobeats star made some remarks about the African diaspora and returning to the continent.

It all started Friday, Mar. 17, when Chakabars asked the 31-year-old, “Why is it important that the diaspora come home?”

He explained that most Black people in America don’t know their ancestry, and are unable to pinpoint where in Africa they came from. The “Last Last” singer then compared the Black American experience to that of other traditionally considered minority communities, The Jasmine Brand reports.

“Let’s use America,” he urged Black Americans before asking, rhetorically, “why do you think the Chinese American has their respect?”

He continued, explaining his claims further.

“The Chinese-American has a base,” he said. “He knows he’s from China. The Italian-American knows where their grandparents came from in Italy. They know the first person from their family to come to America and start that line to make them Italian-American. Same goes to everyone else except the African-American. How can an African-American and an Italian American be on the same field when… .”

After a clip of the informal interview made its way on Twitter, discourse ensued.

“Black Americans don’t have an identity crisis,” one person said. “We know exactly who we are & where we are from. There’s no confusion there at all. It’s Africans who keep trying to transform us into Africans that have a problem understanding identity.”

“The argument isn’t that Black Americans don’t have Sub Saharan African genome/ancestry,” someone else wrote. “The point is that you’re dismissing the foundational history of Black Americans in the US.”

And one user argued that the debate is distracting from the real issue.

“Y’all be fighting yourself whiles the real enemy out there playing y’all like video games,” they wrote.

Burna Boy responded to all of the conversations earlier this week on Instagram Stories, Vibe reports.

“It’s sad to see that in 2023 there are still such black people who would prefer we stay divided and conquered,” he wrote. “Maybe it’s my accent or something but I never said you are African and not Americans. I also did not say Africa is part of Heaven. You deserve all the Land and reparations you want from America and I’m 100% in support of that.”

He made it clear that he’s always intended to unique Black Americans with Africans, writing on his Instagram story, “all I’ve ever tried to do is make you understand that you have Africa too that loves you and I believe coming together as brothers and sisters is the only way forward for US black people worldwide. You work against the progress of our people worldwide if your goal is to keep us divided.”

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