I'm tired of historical analysis that conveniently ignores the role of Africans. After all Africa is not the only continent to have borrowed money from the West. Its about time that we set standards, and make ourselves accountable for our own actions instead of wasting time talking about the past. I think we are all well-acquainted with the past. What we are not acquainted with is where our future lies!!!The world is full of human fallacies and weaknesses, so what do you propose we do? Give into our weaknesses!!!! At what point do you take some responsibility for your own actions. The problem with Africans is that an African can do no wrong!!!! Its okay to steal and plunder from your country because several decades ago Africa was colonized....Unless, we start accusing and talking to each other about our lack of responsibility, we will never be in a position to talk to White people!!!!I don't think I ignored the role of Africans ("stupid lackeys"). sure there's moral responsibility, but it is still wrong & mailicious to bait HUMAN fallacies and weaknesses. Is it right to sell crack? Addicts don't have to buy, but you know they will. Is it right to find and fortify militarily weak-minded & greedy people out of a population to destroy a country. What about the morals of the people that didn't want to take the IMF loans, but had no choice against the military? We have morals.
As far as the past goes, my daughter of Africa, you should know that according to our worldview, the past is never dead and gone, it isn't even past.
Let me get this straight, I'm stuck in the past I can't think about the future???? May be that's why Africa is so screwed up, no one ever talks about the future. Yes, we built the pyramids BIG DEAL, does that mean that 70% of the population should go without electricity or runninig water???
So White folx plundered Africa, but they plundered China too, the last time I checked it was touted as being the next economic giant.... that Let's keep in mind /China was/is a communist nation which still pays its debt even those incurred before the communists took over. All Africa needs is good management and not this constant whining....--Erisa
China wasn't plundered 1/4 as much as Africa. The Chinese were left with more self-respect than we are. Whitey could only stay in China for relatively short periods of time before they would get thrown out, or it would get so hot there it wouldn't be worth it. A Chinese general in an early dynasty wrote a book about the art of war, and he said battles are won & lost, but the way to win a war is to attack (military), infiltrate (missionaries), and degrade a nations culture. That way you'll win probably without ever having to fight or lose a battle. And that victory will be more long lasting.
So what are you saying that the Chinese have moral and intellectual fortitude, and Africans don't???? Africans like ourselves have imbibed White culture from every angle. We've attended their universities, African men have slept with their women, we speak and write their languages well enough to win Noble Prizes; so when are we going to learn to hold our own against them???? Will we ever be de facto equal, or will we internally wring our hands and continue to strive to get Ph.Ds at Harvard, only to go back to Africa and repeat the same mistakes????
You're tired of the "constant whining"? Look at the constant barrage Africa has been under since 1492. Maybe the fatigue you're experiencing from "constant whining" would alleviate if you would stop projecting positions (African responsibility/irresponsibility) and actually engage in this dialogue.-Ira Siwatu
There is not a continent in the world that has not suffered from colonialism, but Africa is conspicuous in remaining worse off after colonialism than any other continent. Like I said we all know the past....Let's get into the business of discussing the future.
--Erisa
What's interesting about this whole discussion is that it is based on an idea of 'race'. Ironically, I think the different race idea came about from Europeans. Yet everyone here, including Africans, have swallowed this idea hook, line and sinker. There's even talk of a 'white' culture. Culture based on race? I thought culture was based on your ethnicity. And then why do the discussants stop at saying 'black' culture? What's the point of further propagating a differentiation between people that amounts to no more than a shade of skin? I think real differences exist between people culturally, and there is certainly a socio-political fallout from the historical use of racial categorizations. But where will it end? Is it possibly a start to begin conceptualizing people not solely by how they get categorized racially?
Being Black is more than just an abstract concept. People are killed because of their skin color. Now, we can all wish that color didn't matter but I would have to STUPID to pretend that color makes no difference. People are starved to death, murdered, and marginalised because of their color.
Not too long ago Whites in the South hunted and killed Blacks because of their color. Black S. Africans were murdered because of their color. It would be wonderful if we could all intellectualize about what the world could and should be like, but in the real world life is not that pleasant!The fact of the matter is that Africa is in dire straits, and I also find it astonishing that African-Americans are in the same precarious position as their brethren back home. Call it what you want I haven't met anyone who is enthusiastic about going back to change the situation. Of course, everyone is flocking to S. Africa but if Mandela continues the kinds of irrelevant polices that he has then Whites and Blacks we'll have to move back to the West, while the rest of Black S. Africans are left behind.
We don't have time to discuss the difference between race and ethnicity; such discussions should be left to doctoral candidates who have dissertations to write....
--Erisa
I concur with Elisa. If whites introduced the concept of race (which I don't think is true, read accounts of Shaka Zulu meeting europeans, & how tickled he was that they were so pale), then they are surely trying to destroy it now. It's quite neurotic actually to look at two different people like Blacks and whites and say there isn't a real difference. Poodles and wolves are both dogs, but there's a great difference. That difference should not be threatening, and the european tendency to question superiority is invalid. The differences are real and all equal under the Infinite, and we should not disrespect divine wisdom and ignore the reality we were created with.
-Ira