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In all honesty, every African that enjoys the luxuries that a modern lifestyle allows can thank Europeans and Americans of European descent (as well as Asians)for electricity, cell phones, computers, automobiles, etc. etc. etc. Without European and Asian inventions, Africans would probably still be in the Stone Age. This isn't racist, this is reality.
Wouldn't matter if they were in the Stone Age, it would only matter if they are happy with their conditions...or not. The continent did just fine long before those things were ever invented, and they'd still be doing ok without them. Believe it or not, there are tribes all over the world on most continents that are content without cellphones. I know that's hard to believe for some people, but it's a fact. The African continent would've been better off without European occupation.
The mainstream media and our public schools teach us of the horrors of the European slave trade. They conveniently omit the Arab slave trade and the modern-day slavery that exists in Africa TO THIS DAY. They also forget to mention that it was Africans who sold fellow Africans to the Europeans as if they were cattle.
That's because the European slave trade was horrific. You aren't European, why are you attempting to mitigate their crimes? And it doesn't matter that Africans sold some Africans into slavery. Again, is the Holocaust less horrific because white Germans slaughtered millions of white Jews? Is the Holodomor in the Ukraine less horrific because 7 million white Ukranians were starved to death by fellow white Soviet government officials?
Your opinions are not racist at all. A small percentage of European men (and that point must be emphasized so that the descendants of the average European who played no direct role in creating any of these technological innovations do not take credit for marvels they played no role in creating) went a far way in establishing the foundations for the contemporary world. Without the Aristotle's, Galileo's, Copernicus's, the founders of the Royal Society of London, etc, the world would undoubtedly be completely different than it is today. I have no problem giving credit to white men who have made monumental discoveries which have advanced life for the rest of the world. BUT to thank random white people who have not made any accomplishments on their own for theories they did not write, for creations they did not make, and for scientific breakthroughs which they did not discover is illogical. And the bittersweet irony of it all is that for those who brag about such things, being white is the only thing that they have going for them.
Personally, I'm intelligent, good-looking, relatively wealthy, and of course, White. As a white man, I am valued by women in non-European countries. I have much to be grateful for. I am proud to be part of a group of people who have accomplished so much. I've worked hard for everything that I have, served my country, and have much more to contribute to society before I die!
I've heard it argued that post colonial Africa would have had fewer problems with civil wars and corruption after independence if more of it's new leaders had built on and modernized their indigenous styles of governing and used that as an influence on their new nations. Botswana was one of the few new African countries that did this where they use their kgotla debating tradition to debate and solve problems.
You are so right. The fact that African governments were modeled on the the governments of their former colonizers meant that only Africans who'd been effectively culturally brainwashed could lead the newly independent nations. This means that the entire ruling class essentially looked down upon their own people. They could do nothing else......they'd been taught to see themselves are savages in the missionary schools that created them. I still remember how former Nigerian president Obasanjo created a stir when he decided to wear African formal dress rather than western suits! To be an African elite is, in the overwhelming majority of the cases, to be someone who is very nominally African. And very proud of it...
Look at these African judges still wearing British style wigs: Our Judges Still Wearing Wigs - ModernGhana.com (http://www.modernghana.com/news/117909/50/our-judges-still-wearing-wigs.html - broken link)
There is a hilarious Senegalese movie called Xala which illustrates this quite nicely. In it a Senegalese official says that he can no longer vacation in Spain because there are too many negros there! This mindset is very common amongst the African elite and very disgusting. Truth is the political vocation is understand to be the most self-seeking by most Africans I know because the lack of concern has reverberated until today. This is the opposite of how things should be but it is how things are. How could it be anything else when you can't even identify with the people you govern?
I didn't know that about Botswana and I appreciate the information.
Did African's invent cell phones? If not, they are utilizing a technological device that was created by non-African's. Europeans constructed ships (unlike Africans) and was able to explore lands foreign to them, thus enabling access to African resources.
I am also aware that Africa had numerous civilizations thousands of years ago. The fact is, when Europeans sailed to Africa in the 1400's, the native populations had failed to even invent the wheel. They never constructed sailing vessels. Muslim influence probably has a lot to do with this.
I am also aware that many Africans have made significant contributions to modern society. When I mentioned "luxuries", I was thinking cell phones, computers, cars, planes, etc. I know a black man was the first to perform open heart surgery. I'm not completely ignorant to African history, but I was thinking more along the lines of technology, not health care. Interesting stuff though, I just wiki'd Percy Lavon Julian and he surely was a great man.
If they had needed the wheel, they would have invented it. Actually hardly any people around the world invented the wheel independently, most just copied it from others, in the end probably all from the same source, maybe the Sumerians, dunno.
I read somewhere that paying per cell phone was invented in Africa, not sure though if that is correct.
That Time article regarding Ghana was pretty nice. What stuck out to me was the mutual benefit aspect: Ghana benefit from the technology and investment of those from the diaspora and the other Blacks finds a good market to make cash in.
I really don't think that most of those from the diaspora would be hurt (surprised a little) by some of the Africans seeing them as foreigners. That's fine, just working with one another would be good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Motion
I've heard it argued that post colonial Africa would have had fewer problems with civil wars and corruption after independence if more of it's new leaders had built on and modernized their indigenous styles of governing and used that as an influence on their new nations. Botswana was one of the few new African countries that did this where they use their kgotla debating tradition to debate and solve problems.
I mentioned the Luba empire of current day D.R Congo. That Luba empire from what I've read had a very sophisticated way of organizing and managing themselves politically that could be used today as an influence for that area.
I've always thought about that. Not this particular group but I know that Africans had successful ways that they governed themselves and I wondered why they haven't returned to that form with a little tweaks added.
EDIT: I'm actually reading up on this Kgotla System and it does seem pretty interesting. I haven't everything on this system but I did see that it is great in settling disputes. How effective would this be in settling some of the tribal & leadership disputes that are happening in certain parts Africa (a modernized version off course)?
Last edited by David Alleyne; 05-28-2011 at 01:22 PM..
In all honesty, every African that enjoys the luxuries that a modern lifestyle allows can thank Europeans and Americans of European descent (as well as Asians)for electricity, cell phones, computers, automobiles, etc. etc. etc. Without European and Asian inventions, Africans would probably still be in the Stone Age. This isn't racist, this is reality.
The mainstream media and our public schools teach us of the horrors of the European slave trade. They conveniently omit the Arab slave trade and the modern-day slavery that exists in Africa TO THIS DAY. They also forget to mention that it was Africans who sold fellow Africans to the Europeans as if they were cattle.
I wish the best for the continent of Africa. Having visited West Africa while in the military, I was pleasantly surprised at the kindness of the native peoples of Ghana and Senegal. These people experience true hardship. Numerous members of the African diaspora have proven time and again that their values are incompatible with Western values (some, NOT ALL). They are a problem (in terms of criminality) in the Western countries they reside in. I'm sure hundreds of years of slavery and the feelings of inferiority that resulted from that don't help, but cultural paradigms need to shift in their communities and they must assimilate into the mainstream, and many already have.
I hope African leaders can find ways to become autonomous, which will ease the burdens on the European and Asian countries that basically prevent them from ruin. With their natural resources, they can (and will) become an economically viable region.
People all over this planet are benefiting and living better, and safer lives due to the inventions/ improvement of existing inventions of black people in America.
Take those inventions/improvements out of daily life and we all would go backwards a hundred years!!
Eurocentric doesn't equal stupidity, please do a little research before posting much of this non-sense in the future.
Personally, I'm intelligent, good-looking, relatively wealthy, and of course, White. As a white man, I am valued by women in non-European countries. I have much to be grateful for. I am proud to be part of a group of people who have accomplished so much. I've worked hard for everything that I have, served my country, and have much more to contribute to society before I die!
Cool story bro, I could care less what you look like and I did not question your intelligence or your wealth. The world is heavily euro-centric so the fact that you are seen as desirable by those in foreign lands comes as no surprise. There is nothing wrong with being proud of who you are, the problem comes when you start to demean other people for who they are (not you personally). Glad you plan on contributing more to society btw!
I would love, in my lifetime, to see African countries take back complete control (and profits) of their natural resources.
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