Viana
2 min readSep 29, 2020

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I mean if a person leaves an abusive family at age 18 and then moves back in with them again 6 months later,the abusive dynamic will only start up again. But if the person moves far away,builds a successful life and then meets those abusive family members again,on her own terms, as a successful 40 year old adult who sets clear boundaries,stays at a distance emotionally and doesn’t move in but only stops to visit them,the dynamic will be different. The family can’t abuse a financially independent person with their own business and their own life like they could a relatively helpless 18 year old. This is now an interaction of two parties meeting as equals,and at least one side,the side that fled the abuse,will have their guard up,the means to defend themselves and a home base to return to where the family cannot just intrude like walking into a teenager’s room. If the 18 year old had continued living in the house with the abusive family,they would not be able to avoid abuse, because even if the room is theirs the house still belongs to the parents. Plus, there’s no reason to believe that the abusers are ever going to give the abused teenager the resources to become an independent,functional adult,in fact,doing so would be against their interests because it would cost money. The only thing for the teen to do is to leave and cease interacting heavily with the family until she can meet them on her own terms as equals in power,if and when she chooses.

What I mean is, while it is also good to stay in the US, I think Black people who are leaving to build personal wealth in other countries are also making a smart move. Even better if they then move to Africa and use that wealth to establish a new home base for the Black American community there. At that point, any interactions with the White part of America will be entirely on their own terms and any issue mentioned here will be gone.

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