Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a five-part series about African students’ experiences in the United States.

Their worlds clashed several years ago. He was a janitor at Stonegate Elementary school in Oklahoma City from Nigeria. She was the fourth-grade teacher, an African-American. David Inyang, director of environmental health and safety, met his wife Cheryl in the corridors of that elementary school and they have been married for 22 years.

As they sit and tell their story, the picture they paint is a blend of two cultures that have come together. However, on the ISU campus, the picture of Africans and African-Americans is one where like colors don’t always mix.

An examination of this issue requires a look beyond the surface. Carlie Tartakov, lecturer of curriculum and instruction, sees an African-American who has formed a different identity from Africans – a strong one, an identity that was shaped by trying to survive during times of slavery and oppression.

“We were enslaved and we had to survive, and we have invented and developed a rich culture,” she said. “We have historical ties, but culturally we are different. There is an expectation between African-Americans and Africans to think the same or be the same. I think it is a societal expectation as well as [an] individual expectation.”

Peter Eyongeseh, African Ames resident, sees things a little differently. He sees African-Americans who are still bearing some of the widespread consequences of slavery and oppression. He said this includes a loss of culture and identity, insecurity and hostility. He sees an African, on the other hand, whose culture is rich and who has not been under the same slavery and oppression burden from the time he or she was born.

“Religions were banned. Names were banned. You could not keep an African name. You could not speak an African language. People who were seen to be the same in face, feature and language were separated,” Eyongeseh said. “A strong policy of basically trying to eliminate any form of African culture within the slaves was carried out in America. Religion was pushed on slaves. The only slaves that were allowed to read were the preacher men. And we can see the result of this church business. All the leaders in African-American society are church people.”

Tartakov said the issue is part of a bigger problem in a “racialized society,” and is not specific to Africans and African-Americans.

She said the history and reality of race in this country causes many people to subconsciously see themselves in terms of color. Tension and resentment arises between groups of people who may look the same, but construct the view of the world and their place in it in different ways.

“There are some significant cultural differences, and I don’t think that on either side people acknowledge that the cultures are different,” she said.

“And I also think that there are stereotypes that are on both sides.”

She said the social construct of the American system doesn’t provide the opportunity for people to interact and get beyond those stereotypes.

Tartakov said she has been able to move beyond those stereotypes herself.

Tartakov, who is African-American, was a faculty advisor for the African Students Association on-campus for many years, as well as an advisor for the Black Students Graduate Association.

“We are more segregated now than we were before Brown vs. Board of Education,” Tartakov said. “We are really a segregated and racialized society. Most people don’t want to go beyond their comfort level. We have the thinking: ‘This is their folks’ music. That is these folks’ music. This is how we are supposed to dance, sing, work, walk and talk. This is the way they are supposed to do it.'”

Tartakov said that frame of mind increases the differences between Africans and African-Americans.

“Yes, we have differences, but humans are more like each other really, we essentially strive for the same things,” she said. “Fortunately, I have enjoyed richness of both cultures, here in the United States and in five different countries in Africa. Building a bridge to fill in the gaps between people can only enrich our lives.”

Jonnell Marion, president of the Black Student Alliance, said communication is the key to understanding and improving relationships with one another, and an effort should be made from all sides.

“It comes all down to addressing several social issues an tensions that are within the community here,” he said.