Akon has come under fire after a series of outlandish comments he made about the way that African Americans approach the history of slavery in the US.
In a recent interview with VladTV, the 47-year-old musician was asked about the way slavery is viewed in his childhood country of Senegal. Akon claimed Senegalese do not meditate on slavery because they have “overcome” its horrors, unlike African Americans.
“In Senegal, we’ve kind of overcome the thought of slavery, we don’t even think about it,” he mused. “The only time we think about it, honestly, is when we’re doing tours at Goree Island. Outside of that, people have lived and moved way beyond the slavery concept.”
Akon has clearly been taking advice on how to overcome trauma from the Frozen bible, claiming that Black Americans would benefit by “letting go” of the trauma of slavery.
“I think it’s the art of just letting the past go and moving towards the future,” he continued. “And I think, in the U.S., they have this stigma of just not letting go of the past and blaming the past on every mishap or, you know, disappointment. I think as long as you hold onto that past, there’s a lot of weight that you carry with you everywhere you go. It’s hard to move forward and move fast when you got a weight on your back. You just gotta let it go.”
The musician continued to muse that African Americans must “understand their worth” and accept that America will never atone for their racist history.
“They’re not sorry. They don’t care. It’s obvious,” he shared.
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The musician went on to encourage Black People to move to Africa, “Do you want to stay here and continued to be treated this way? Or just go back home, where you’re not no longer the minority,” he shared.
“You actually are the majority, and you control your destiny, your future, and your land … They just need to go … America did a good job at brainwashing. The moment you mention Africa, they start shaking. They don’t even know why.”
Check out Akon weigh in on slavery in an interview with VladTV:
