DIASPORA (1)
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DIASPORA (1) This word brings to mind mainly the Jewish diaspora, which is not true. Black diaspora, Chinese diaspora, Armenian diaspora are other types of diaspora. What is important here is that the content of the concept of diaspora has changed over time. The word is the same but has a different content. In the second half of the 19th century, Marx and Engels were advocating a world revolution. Their understanding of the "world" was Britain, France, Germany and the countries around them. Neither the USA, nor Japan, nor Russia, nor China (which was a semi-colony in those years) existed in this world. Today, when we talk about "world revolution", the concept is the same, but the content is different. It would not be correct to use the concept without taking this into account. The characteristics of the diaspora of one people cannot be generalised for other peoples. The characteristics of the diaspora of each section must be analysed separately. Starting with the Jewish diaspora, diaspora carries a negative religious connotation. It means having to leave the territory of the country and travelling long or short distances to other areas. The important feature of this first period diaspora is the longing for return. People who leave their country think that one day they will return. Just as Jews have been thinking for years about returning to the area where Israel is located today. Similar characteristics are absent in the black diaspora. Blacks were forcibly brought to the Americas from the West African coast about 500 years ago. Even though the first settlers told the next generations about their homeland, there is no thought of return among US blacks. Where would they go back to? The countries where their ancestors lived 500 years ago do not exist, they have been replaced by others. The black diaspora is not Africa-centred, it is urban-centred, especially in the USA. It has created a different culture in the country where it lives and this culture has become a part of the US culture. In addition to music movements such as jazz and blues, the "citizen movement" led by Martin Luther King, which rose in the 1960s, is also an important part of US history and culture. The black diaspora has made a place for itself in the country where it lives instead of constantly thinking of returning - there is no country to return to. Diasporas in this country have an important role in the US moving away from the nation mentality of immigrants from Europe, recognising dual citizenship, seeing people's association with two nations as a richness, and cosmopolitan internationalism. This development has been characterised by conflicts between those who came from Europe and those who later came from other parts of the world. The Chinese diaspora is another important diaspora. Between 1838 and 1870, some 500,000 Chinese and South Asians moved to Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Trinidad and other neighbouring countries. The prohibition of bringing slaves from Africa to the Americas was the main reason for the movement of these people as labour. The main Chinese settlement in the USA is in California. Here and in other cities, areas called "China town" where Chinese people live together have been established. The people living here have no intention of returning. Tensions between the Chinese, and Asians in general, and those who came from Europe lasted for years. The reason given was that the Asians had corrupted the European race. The Chinese settled and some of them became rich. In 1991, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Singapore estimated that around 25 million Chinese lived outside China. In the following years this number has increased. These people live in a large area and play an important role in trade, especially between the Pacific region and the USA. The idea of "returning", which was an important component of the diaspora in previous years, is absent among these people. In the next part of the article, the contradictions between different diasporas will be analysed to explain why there is no unity among migrants.
