Afrocentrism

[Septima]

What are your thoughts?

[Sikeliot]

I agree with Afrocentrists on some points and not so much others. Afrocentrists are often the ones to point out that many Latin Americans, Cape Verdeans, and Creoles are quick to distance themselves from their African ancestry, and they are often accurate in their representation of African influences in Latin America.

However, I disagree with one of their fundamental arguments; that West Africans and Ancient Egyptians are related. Genetics shows this not to be true.

[Edelmann]

Just like any ideologically motivated reading of history, it should be viciously opposed as intellectually dishonest and subjective.

[Sikeliot]

Overall though, any "-centrism" is bound to be inaccurate and full of wishful thinking.

[Pretan]

It's pathetic.

Edit: The way they try to steal Ancient Egyptian history from its Native Arabs is really desperate.

[Maddy]

It's sort of weird.....I went to this African American museum (was geared towards black history).....there was a whole big display of Ancient Egypt....there was even a mummy. I know Egypt is in Africa....but I've never associated it with African Americans.....

[Geroth]

Afrocentrism is like “therapeutic mythology”, a way to promote the self-esteem of Africans. The early scholars and teachers of Afrocentrism admit it's purpose is to build racial pride and self esteem rather than provide historically accurate information. However, most of these idiots are too stupid to realize that by claiming European civilization as a byproduct of Black Africans, Afrocentrism has actually made blacks responsible for the culture which justified their enslavement and so called "oppression" for centuries.

[Xenomorph]

All societies around the world have been interconnected in some form or another. To continually view the whole of human history from the point of view of one ethnicity doesn't make sense, at least if without bothering to use other centrisms as well.

That being said, I do think that afrocentrism was initially justified as it was a good counter to the centuries of Western scholarship that repeatedly heaped insults upon African history and culture. Even today, there are major gaps in our knowledge of African history because previous generations were either not interested in studying it or credited any unusual discoveries with whites or Semitics. I thnk nowadays, a more appropriate way to view the development of human history is to study the connections that cultures have had over the millenia and try to piece things together rather than studying cultures in complete isolation.

[Xenomorph]

It's sort of weird.....I went to this African American museum (was geared towards black history).....there was a whole big display of Ancient Egypt....there was even a mummy. I know Egypt is in Africa....but I've never associated it with African Americans.....

It's traditionally been a "crossroads" culture due to its geography, but it has had considerable connections with sub-Saharan regions.

[Sikeliot]

It's traditionally been a "crossroads" culture due to its geography, but it has had considerable connections with sub-Saharan regions.

Sudan and Ethiopia yes, but not West Africa. Although some West Africans (Fulanis and Yoruba I believe) do believe they came from the Nile Valley, which may or may not have some truth, I couldn't say.