What is humanity? I guess this is the question I have been trying to answer ever since I decided to take this class. So far, I haven’t found an answer yet but it is coming pretty clear that culture is one of the most important factors that make a human being human. Now, if culture is that important, how come African Culture or elements of it are absent in the contemporary world? Where is the place of African people all over the world? Where is the civilization of black people? Where is their religion? Where is there dignity? Is true that black people were savages as portrayed in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness which is a major book that critique’s the original intentions of explorers. Well as long as civilization is concerned, the place for Africa has been already set. They are uncivilized and they are to be civilized to be in conformity with the European ways. This had to be done through slavery, colonization, Christianization and lately neo-colonization.
I for a long time questioned this but I had no proof until I heard Melefe Asante’s lecture on the African Civilization. Asante raised insights that not only blew my mind but also opened my eyes about the creativity and the might of the people of the lovely continent Africa. If Africa is the cradle of Mankind, then common sense has it that the great things of the world must start from there. Well, Asante takes it more that- he proves it. He explains how slavery was possible and how Mamadou Zongo became Bob Smith a product of slavery, he the product of colonization. Asante’s words may be politically incorrect for some ears. However, what he is doing is empowering the people of Africa, giving them a sense of pride and teaching the world a repeated lie that has been made to be true. The way I see, it the product of Afro Centrism is not black supremacy, it is not a struggle against Europeans; it is a struggle for Black people’s rights across the world. These rights are vital and they include the correct history of the African people, dignity of the African Culture and gratitude for their contribution in the development of modern science and modern civilization. I am tired of listening to people referring to Africans as losers. I am tired of Euro Centric view of the world. We are not as hopeless as the Economist Magazine recently described the whole of Africa. We are hopeful; it is only that we are suffering from the dogma of rationalism. The thinking that everything uneuropean is not classy or good. It is this dogma that has degenerated a perpetual thinking that blacks are not smart. Why can’t we see models with African physique- plumb, big hips and very dark skinned. Even Alek Wek that has become the symbol of black beauty universally is not a symbol of African beauty. Apart from her dark skin look, Alek may pose for any a European model. This is what Asante is challenging- The dogma of rationalism.
The seasoning process “a calculated move to strip of the recently immigrated African slave his identity, culture and lifestyle by constantly reminding him that he is not a person” pg. 14. This process is still going on even today. A process that if not stopped, we are going to lose all the pride that is of being African. Now, I am not saying that we have to rub all that is European, or that all that is European is bad. I am just saying that the Afro centric people should learn to be plural and to appreciate the culture of Africa while enlightening people that hey, there was a culture in the motherland, it is just that some white scholar hid it so that the Africans would be enslaved or be colonized ( Asante, 2012, pg, 14),
Racism has affected my life in passive manner in that I personally have not been subjected to the cruelty of racism but my close family members faced it. For example, my grand father who worked as a colonial chief always tells me that his bosses called him a savage. He admits that he was always manipulated to do what was against his wish to his
Fellow black people and to call them baboons. This affected his performance in work and he had to resign because his instinct did not allow him to work in this environment. His story made me know the truth. That truth which people fear to talk about; the truth that no black person can escape racism because it always comes in a manner you fail to understand but deep inside your heart you feel that there is a problem. The problem is always the color line. It may be the look in the eye, the words which are assumed to be caused by ignorance but they are still racist and you never know this until you read beyond the scripts.
I have witnessed situations where people with my skin color being dehumanized and tortured because of their inability to acquire justice. My country still lies in poverty because of policies which were racial in their approaches and greed for dominance.
My most positive experience with racism is coming to study in a college, which is multiracial. I have got the opportunity to learn people and to acknowledge that race is nothing but illusion. Race is not real and it was created to justify exploitation, oppression and slavery. I live in one room with a white man he is a very good friend of mine we share our experiences. I now know that not all white people are bad and nobody should be judged by the sins of others committed out of ignorance. My stay here has enabled me to mend the ribbon. I have the courage to talk about race boldly and to pin point the crimes whites committed to Africans and other races. I know I am taking a political view of this but that is the only way I can tackle it.
References
Conrad, Joseph. The Heart of Darkness. London, UK: Plain Level, Books, 1975. Print
Jon, M. R., & Warms, R. (2008). Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. New York, USA: McGraw Hill.
Kerbo, H. R. (2008). Social stratification and inequality: class conflict in the United States. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,
Melefi, Asante ( 2010) The Afro centric Idea. Temple University, New York, USA.
