The curse of Ham is the curse that Noah is thought to have laid on his son Ham. It was the chief excuse White Americans used in the early 1800s to defend slavery and racism.
The curse of Ham comes from Genesis 9:20-27. It is after the Flood:
20. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25. And he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” 26. And he said, “Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
Things to know:
- Ham: was widely thought to mean “black” or “dark” in Hebrew. Some say he was black or, because of the curse, turned black.
- saw the nakedness of: can mean having sex with, in this case either with Noah himself (yes) or his wife.
The curse was fulfilled when the Canaanites became slaves to the Jews. That was 3,000 years ago, in the days after Moses. The Canaanites have long since disappeared from history.
That should have ended the matter, but thousands of years later whites brought the curse back from the dead:
Ham had four sons who peopled the following present-day countries:
- Cush: Sudan
- Mizraim: Egypt
- Phut: Libya
- Canaan: Israel
Presumably in time they filled the rest of Africa.
So blacks were seen as coming from Ham and therefore fell under his curse. Whites meanwhile came from Japheth and most people in Asia from Shem. Therefore it was simply God’s will that blacks be slaves to whites and Asians.
Some said that blacks got their dark skin from Ham – along with his low moral character. That made dark skin the sign of the curse, of a bad moral character, of the need to be controlled by whites.
Of course there is a huge, huge hole in all this that people from Africa quickly notice but which many white people have strangely overlooked: the curse falls on Canaan, not Ham! Nor does it does fall on Cush, Phut, Mizraim or anyone else in Africa.
No one seriously argues for the curse of Ham anymore, not even Mormons. But this idea that blacks are somehow ill-starred through no fault of white people is still with us, only now it is argued in terms of genetics and black pathologies instead of God’s will and Biblical curses.
See also:
you overlooked the simple fact that the stories in the old testament are fables, i.e made-up.
i will repeat that only black people worldwide can change their destinies. blacks don’t begin and end in america btw. read up on african countries if you truly want to understand the current condition of the black man. we were somewhat hindered by slavery/colonisation, yes, but our destinies remain firmly in our hands. we need to understand why things were allowed to happen, take some blame, learn from mistakes and use this to make a better future for ourselves.
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Sort of akin to thinking the universe revolves around the Earth or traveling too far will result in cliff-diving…
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“you overlooked the simple fact that the stories in the old testament are fables, i.e made-up.”
The argument is not based on the necessary veracity of the story, it is based on the willingness of White society to use the story as a justification for the position of Blacks, in the world, as slaves and servants.
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Tell it Abagond! Tell it!
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Liked your post, Abagond…
Thanks for pointing out the fact that these present day so called “white realists” are not original thinkers…
marginalization of black/brown people has been an ongoing practice in the United States since it’s inception.
Present day “white race realist” are only regurgitating racial viewpoints that past white American so called “religious scholars and financial/political powerholders” had been pushing as “fact” in order to feel justified in promoting black slavery and white supremecy in America in order to continue their economic prosperity…
and the rest of the white sheep (average every people) just followed along and continued the ignorance….
You should do a post on William Walker…in America he was seen as a visionary (Manifest Destiny) but to my brethren in Central America, he was a nightmare…
http://www.facesofcostarica.com/history/williamwalker.htm
There would have been no Civil War in the US if Walker had succeeded.
What should be taught in American schools is that when Abraham Lincoln had promised that “1 acre and a mule”,
he was intending to send the freed black American slaves to Central America….
this plan was squashed in 1862 because Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans, and Hondurans were still pissed off with the United States about William Walker.
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That’s what happens when you let a book (and a vaguely written one at that of which almost everyone has their own interpretation that suits their morality or sometimes the lack of it) take charge of your morality.
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Well, as a finn I have seen my father, mother, brother, sister, all uncles, aunts, cousins (male and female), all girlfriends, ex-wife, grandfathers and grandmothers, many neighbours (males and females), about 200 finnish soldiers and some others nude, absolutely nude, full monty, like the most of finns of my generation or earlier generations.
We are not totally nuts, at least clinically insane, as most of the population have been trough the same. Perhaps that is the reason why nobpdy here got too exited by Madonnas book. But I guess Noah missed the whole bunch, and bible writers, and some nutty yankees.
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The explanation is of course; sauna.
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anglesanddimensions, I think that you’re missing the main point. The point is that RACISTS will take ANYTHING to make their case, as it suits them. They are using science to do it right now! It’s not a case of the book, per se (Bible or Origin of The Species), it’s a case of using whatever is popular at the time to try and marginalize people who don’t look like you and share your culture.
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“we need to understand why things were allowed to happen, take some blame, learn from mistakes and use this to make a better future for ourselves.”
SMH. This is why I stay out of the comments section of your blog now, Abagond.
I actually LOLed when I saw this post today because I had had this conversation with a friend just last night.
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Just goes to show that if your looking for an excuse to be racist, you’ll find one somewhere.
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I’m kind of an agnostic, but I have to say Amen to this post. lol
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Abagond:
“There Is No Such Thing As Forever”
The Holy Bible, like other forms of white brainwashing, don’t last forever. Evil can hide the truth, but they can’t hide the truth forever. The truth always wins, Always! Brainwashing is temporary, and thus, can never be victorious over the long haul!!!
Tyrone,
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Tyrone,
I hope that’s true because I don’t think I can take anymore of living in this white racist world lol.
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Jerome of course you would syh and lol at a post that actually requires you to think, and know some history beyond the point of african american slavery, to understand.
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i would invite you to have a look at this blog http://irinajoyinbo.wordpress.com. it’s written by a white american boy who went on a school exchange to nigeria having learnt one of the ethnic languages and having a deep interest in the country and cultures. the point is not tat he is white, but actually the fact that he sees an african country through non-african eyes and writes an honest account of the situation there. i try to do this with my blog too, as as i am of nigerian descent, i have a strong connection to the country.
my point is that africa has a lot of problems. the reason it hasn’t been able to recover from colonisation is more to do with the way africa has been run from before the europeans discovered the continent. africa is a wonderful continent , as are africans in general. BUT more often than not, the african mentality hinders progression and development, and anybody who wants africa to start to truly go forward will admit that. otherwise, you can keep on blaming the west and white people and look for tokens of validation without doing what’s best for yourself. this can also pertain to african americans and affects african americans. you all complain about white racism but have you thought about why it is you are stuck there? have you thought about why you can’t really move to somewhere where people look like you?
i would once again advise you to pick up some books on blacks other than african americans to get a clearer understanding of the black people. then just maybe we can engage in debate which will be more constructive than the same old whining.
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There’s a popular expression: :”Even the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose .”
Lol!
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@ sailorscout1986
Yes yes yes, we get it. You love Africa. Now are you going to explain what your typical “Black Americans are bad! Native Africans are better!” tribalistic speech have to do with “The Curse of Ham? Or did you just take yet another opportunity to derail, and go off on a random tangent that puts Africans on a pedestal? This is coming from a black American btw, who is as pro-black and as pro-African as one can get. Your antics are slowly beginning to get on MY nerves; and that’s saying a lot.
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@Franklin – sailorscout1986 isn’t saying Africans are good while African Americans are bad.
He’s saying that Africa was effed up before the Europeans got there because Africans are innately backwards and stupid. Of course their not-so-distant relatives, African Americans, would suffer the same curse.
Unfortunately I’ve met other Africans who felt this way. Some even insist that Africa was better off under European rule. In order to be considered civilized and progressive, people like sailorscout1986 measure African countries against European ones. No European country was ever fraught with savagery and disease. Of course every country in the entire continent of Africa, as diverse as it is , is filled with the same lazy, stupid people that sailorscout has observed. The White boy confirmed it too.
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@saadiyah:
Well, if he is comparing Africa with Europe he forgets at least one thing: just over 60 years ago we were killing each other so fast that it makes any epidemic look like a snail. WW2 cost us couple dozen million dead, soviets murdered perhaps 14 million of their own etc.
600 years ago we had the Black Death, 1918 we had the spanish flu, after 1945 polio epidemic etc.
It may look rosy now, but we have had our share of all kinds of things, man made mainly.
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@saadiyah:
I cosign 100% of your post, punctuation included.
Now, get out of my head!
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“Of course every country in the entire continent of Africa, as diverse as it is , is filled with the same lazy, stupid people that sailorscout has observed. The White boy confirmed it too.”
LOL! Exactly.
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This talk about how Africans and African Americans are lazy and stupid and Europe is more civilized is starting to get depressing. At least, to me it is.
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It doesn’t depress me any more than news that the Easter Bunny smokes unfiltered cigarettes…
And for the exact same reason.
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LOL, King.
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Oy vay, just another example of the extent people will go justify their %^&*&^%ish behavior.
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well first of all i’m a she. and secondly, i don’t think one of you understood the point i was getting at with my post.
franklin – you’re easily worked up. especially as you don’t even seem to understand my posts
saadiyah – i didn’t say africa was effed up and nor did i say that africans are innately stupid. i don’t believe that – i’m an african myself and i don’t believe i’m stupid, obviously. i’m trying to get people to seed things from another point of view – which is why i write my blog. culture and ways of thinking develop for various reasons and can hinder or advance a society. asians did well following the teaching of a man called Confucius as well as peaceful religions that dominated their global area. i’m saying that we can all make a change. instead of sticking your fingers in your ears, try to understand where i am coming from.
sam – i just can’t believe that the west had any wars or plagues. europe has been smelling of roses since day one
-_-. please read my actual post before you start people-pleasing.
nigeria was doing very well under british rule. it was one of the richest countries in the world. education was prized, and infrastructure was there. since independence, it has all pretty much declined. am i saying it was better for the country to be under colonial rule? NO of course not. am i saying the standard of life was better under colonial rule. YES. there is a difference.
And no, I am not saying that Nigeria declined because Africans are not capable of running a country. Nigeria declined for many reasons,and this is why I ask you to read a book about Africa. Africa can be great, and I always say that there is plenty of future and history in the world yet, but instead of sitting around and waiting for other people to sort ills out, i believe in our generation trying to actively make a change. i’m afraid this means thinking outside the box and self-reflection, and not jumping on the first person who doesn’t blame whites for africa and african-american problems.
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and also, Franklin, I would just love to know how you are pro-African exactly. What are you doing to make a change in Africa? I sincerely hope that it’s not just another meaningless moniker like ‘pro-black’.
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@sailorscout1986
Don’t accuse me of getting worked up, while misunderstanding your posts. I can just spot a person with an agenda who uses any and all opportunities to further said agenda, a mile away. King already pointed out how your comment was off the wall and irrelevant, and yet you went even MORE off topic, and posted comment relating to a blog about some random white boy hob-knobbing with Yorubas.
Now, how am I “pro-African”? I’ll tell you, and it has nothing to do with simply wearing a T-Shirt with Africa on it. It’s because I’ve spent close to a decade working towards the recovery and translation of the lost texts of Timbuktu. The greatest place of learning on the continent, that is considered a “myth”, even to native Africans. I think that constitutes as me being somewhat pro-African. So you can take your “shot in the dark dismissals” elsewhere, missy.
Now I ask, what have gives YOU the right and what have YOU done other than sit there “as an African” while being an arm-chair, internet, dictator over what people need to do, to get their acts together” ?
“i just can’t believe that the west had any wars or plagues. europe has been smelling of roses since day one”
And you have the audacity to accuse others of needing to read. I’d suggest you start reading the basics of actual European history/known conflicts, and just WHY the GDP of many sub-Saharan African countries are so low. Not to mention reading up on the current positive rate of development with countries like Botswana and Ghana, and what they’re doing.
Now, speaking to you on a more peaceful and slightly off topic note, when you mentioned Asians, culture, and Confucianism; it make me wonder (again) why most Nigerians (mainly speaking of Yorubas) don’t follow the teachings of Ifa and instead follow Islam and Christianity.
@ saadiyah
I would have posted earlier to correct you, but you would have known sailorscout was a girl, if you knew what the name was referrencing. But it’s kind of eclectic, so it’s understandable.
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@Sailor scout
So are you saying that Africans have a culture of inefficiency? I always thought that Africa was way too diverse, being the second biggest continent with thousands of languages and ethnic groups, to develop a common culture. Maybe I’m wrong…
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I always thought colonialism and the region’s post-WWII relationship with Western corporations was the common bond that left SSA undeveloped & impoverished…
Of course there is corruption, but I always believed Western corporations needed and supported that corruption in order to ensure their interest. Or do I just have “blame the white man syndrome.”
@Sailorscout
You don’t believe those two factors have had any effects on Africa’s economy?
Do you believe Africans are inherently corrupt?
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If Africans are inherently corrupt, they got if from the white savage who came from over the hillside of the caucus mountains and underdeveloped Africa as it is today. Believe me they are the real reason a africas corruption.
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“I just can’t believe that the west had any wars or plagues. europe has been smelling of roses since day one.”
-Sailor scout
“Roses really smell like boo boo…”
-Outkast
I couldn’t resist. lol
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well i was obviously being sarcastic when i wrote “I just can’t believe that the west had any wars or plagues. europe has been smelling of roses since day one.” But never mind.
Franklin that is honourable and I’m actually fascinated by what exciting but hard work that must be. However, you’re still sticking your fingers in your ear to what I am saying. What I am talking about is not off-topic. I’m not writing ‘you tell em Abagond!’ but I am talking about race, which is essentially what this post (and blog) is about.
Now I have lived in Nigeria for nearly two years in total, and come from African descent so I am surrounded by Africans a lot of the time. I also have a blog on Nigerian politics and would like to become a journalist specialising in Nigerian politics. That is what I want to do to take an active part in Africa. Now don’t get me wrong, I am very critical – and not just about Africa. I just believe that constructive analysis and criticism of the facts is important to working out problems.
Well Ghana’s GDP took a sharp dip in 2008 but yes, it has been increasing slightly since then. And a few African countries to seem to be making slow and steady progress. But I still think Africa can do better. Only 3 sub-Saharan countries are defined as semi-periphery (which is developing but industrialising at the same time.) It’s not good enough. I know that Africa has a huge amount of potential and the way to reach is not to sit back and wait for explanations and hand-outs. Answer me this – why have asian countries who were colonised been able to (in general) do well well in the last few decades in comparison to African countries?
My expertise is Nigeria and that country has such a vast amount of wealth (culture, history and resources), beautiful landscape, weather and beaches, as well as generally welcoming a nice people that it could be heaven on earth. But all this potential is being squandered, and I’m sorry but it’s got nothing to do with the white man this time round. It’s just a wrong mentality.
And yes, Franklin, that is a great point about the teachings of Ife. I have wanted to do a blog on these non-native religions (Islam and Christianity) on my blog for a while, but it is a topic that even I am wary of touching. However, I think I may just bite the bullet and do it.
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Oh and The Cynic, yes trust me I know that the west are out for their own gain and will manipulate for their own interests as much as they can. It’s all about power and economy. The chinese, for example know this very very well. But we’re not helpless and we should be able to off-set that and find a way out of that bondage. I don’t believe in playing the victim ,I believe in playing smart. And like I say, Nigeria is an example of a country that could have a great standard of living, as it is insanely rich in resources. However, the government are greedy ass-holes who would rather keep billions in Swiss accounts than feed the 50% of the population that are living below the poverty line. Are we going to blame whites for that? No..
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@ Sailorscout1986
“why have asian countries who were colonised been able to (in general) do well well in the last few decades in comparison to African countries?
It’s late (but off the top of my head):
– They didn’t have to worry about repaying back loans (with massive interest) from Western Nations, which left next to no money in their OWN coffers.
– They weren’t pillaged nearly as much, or had their kingdoms outright destroyed.
– Their cultures weren’t labeled as worthless and eventually replaced to please their new leaders in order to gain their support. (China mainly had their opium business quashed, and Japan mainly modeled their struggling militaries after Western ones. But the two still had their cultures left in tact.)
– Their own natural territories weren’t divided up in a way that didn’t mesh well with the existing groups that caused/and still cause bloody conflicts.
That being said, it’s inarguable that a lot of Africa’s problems come from it’s own inhabitants and corrupt politicians. The Nigerian board I frequent constantly re-affirms this, with comments from fed up Naija men and women that are tired and want all this crap to end, just as well. But lets not completely ignore certain things and adopt this idealistic method of “bootstrapping” because we don’t want to recognize the main reasons for a problem. All because it’s one that we’re tired of hearing, as it’s constantly being pointed two.
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Back when i was in high school, when dinosaurs roamed the earth (late 1960’s) I had a coouple of friends who were LDS (Mormon). At that time, the Mormon church officially viewed and treated black people as lesser than whites. i remember asking my friends about this, and one of them said “It is the mark of Cain. Cain was turned black.” I said “How do you know Cain wasn’t turned WHITE???” They stopped hanging out with me after that…also because I was not down to be a Mormon. I am not a fan of fear based Patriarchal religions. I was such a literal minded child. In Parochial school, when I learned the story of Cain and Abel at the tender age of 6, I thought that the mark of Cain meant he got a great big “C” put on his forehead….doesn’t really address the Ham issue…but honestly the vengeful God of the old testament was never one I could relate to.
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@franklin
True that they had their kingdoms destroyed but if you’re referring to the robbing of natural resources when you say pillage, then that’s an invalid excuse. Yes, they robbed a lot of natural resources and precious metals, as well as ancient African artifacts that are kept in their (european) museums today.
But, Africa is still vastly rich in natural resources and most countries are now not making the best of them. In fact the worst legacy the colonisers left with African economy was purely gearing their production and export towards raw materials, and not industrialising the colonies – this has left Africa at a world disadvantage because industrialised goods generate far more profit and stimulate infrasture far more than raw materials and resources. But of course, they didn’t want their colonies to be self-sufficient. South America realised this and Brazil, for example, has done very well since industrialing. Nigeria, has altogether forgotten about any other industry other than oil – 85% of the govt revenue comes from oil. Do you not think that is ridiculous?!
As for their cultures, well most African people i know still have a strong national or ethnic culture. But in terms of self-esteem, then yes that has largely been quashed with the effects of colonisation.
Yes, the borders Europeans drew up for the colonies were deliberately insensitive of the ethnic differences of the people they either grouped together, or split up. The wars that have arisen out of ethnic conflicts have had a crazy effect on Africa’s wellbeing. Countries that cannot work together should be having referendums to split up, just like Sudan has recently done.
But I am glad you recognise that some of the problems come from Africans themselves. Dictators who won’t give up their seat in way for a democratic system that often ends in bloodshed, corruption in all levels of society (not just the people at the top), people who will kill their members of family for black magic (blood money), groups who destroy govt. projects for the greater good because it will affect their business, agreements and conventions that end up dead in the water because the member countries do not keep them up, negative trade policies between african countries, buying an inconceivable amount of arms from abroad, people and the govt refusing the understand that tax is how a developed society functions. The Italians, for example, have become famous for tax-skipping and their economy is starting to creak.
You may be referring to Nairaland, and I go there a lot myself. I really want solutions and I;m still adamant, that although Africa has been subjected to a lot, it is up to the people to get their act together and start to work towards solving the ills of the past and just getting on with it!
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Mr. Weld, in his American Slavery as It Is, describes the condition of the slaves as follows:–
They are overworked, underfed, wretchedly clad and lodged, and have insufficient sleep; they are often made to wear round their necks iron collars armed with prongs, to drag heavy chains and weights at their feet while working in the fields….They are frequently flogged with the terrible severity, have red pepper rubbed into their lacerated flesh, and hot brine, spirits of turpentine, etc., poured over the gashes to increase the torture….Their ears are often cut off, their eyes knocked out, their bones broken, their flesh branded with hot irons….We shall show, not merely that such deeds are committed, but that they are frequent; not done in corners, but before the sun…perpetrated by magistrates, by professors of religion, by preachers of the Gospels, by governors of States, by gentlemen of standing, and by delicate females moving in the highest circles of society.
— Christianity, Slavery and Labour, by Chapman Cohen
Three kinds of religious arguments in behalf of slavery were most common.
To Southerners steeped in the Bible and predisposed to look to precedent for guidance, the facts that the ancient Hebrews (God’s chosen people) owned slaves and that Jesus, who was not hesitant to condemn behavior that he considered immoral, never criticized slavery or reproached anyone for owning slaves seemed to provide clear divine sanction for the peculiar institution.
So, too, did the specific biblical precedent provided by Noah’s curse of his son Ham, and through him his grandson Canaan, for Ham’s indiscreet gaze upon his father as he lay drunk and naked in his tent (Genesis 9:25: “Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers”), a story that white Southerners frequently cited to indicate God’s condemnation of the black (or Hamitic) peoples to eternal slavery.
But probably the most widespread and effective religious argument was the simple suggestion that slavery was part of God’s plan to expose a hitherto heathen people to the blessings of Christianity.
— American Slavery, 1619-1877, by Peter Kolchin
As Presbyterian minister (and Georgia slave owner) Charles C. Jones argued in The Religious Instruction of the Negroes (1842), blacks “were placed under our control…not exclusively for our benefit but theirs also,” so they could receive moral and religious uplift; “we cannot disregard this obligation thus divinely imposed, without forfeiting our humanity, our gratitude, our consistency, and our claim to the spirit of christianity itself.”
Not only did the slaves adopt the general religion of their masters – christianity – but they also adhered to the same specific (usually protestant) denominations. … most often Baptists and Methodists, with much smaller numbers of Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, and members of other sects.
— American Slavery, 1619-1877, by Peter Kolchin
But despite all the horror and degradation of Christian slavery, less than a hundred years ago, the Churches stood as its great bulwark, supplying a religious sanction and a moral justification. Thus, in 1836, the Charlestown Union Presbytery resolved–
that in the opinion of this Presbytery, the holding of slaves, so far from being a SIN in the sight of God, is nowhere condemned in his holy word; that it is in accordance with the example, or consistent with the precepts of patriarchs, apostles, and prophets, and that it is compatible with the most fraternal regard to the best good of those servants whom God may have committed to our charge.
— Christianity, Slavery and Labour, by Chapman Cohen
Slave dungeons (with central Churches) built on indigenous shrines to Gods
In what is now Burkina Faso, Ghana’s neighbor to the north, the population was nearly decimated by the slave trade. Most who survived the raids came to either Cape Coast or Elmina (Portuguese for “the mine”). The Dutch and Portuguese bought slaves from Elmina and shipped them via seagoing communal coffins to Brazil, Surinam and other colonies. Slaves from Cape Coast went to the Caribbean and the United States.
Elmina, built by the Portuguese in 1482, was the first substantial structure erected by Europeans on the African continent. Around 1792, when trade in the black gold of human bondage became more profitable than looting yellow gold from the land, the storehouses at Elmina were converted into slave dungeons where men, women and children were held for months at a time. The governor had his pick of the women. The difficult ones were chained to cannonballs in the courtyard and made to stand in the hot sun for hours. Two female slave dungeons held 150 slaves each. And a thousand men at a time were crowded into a space only slightly larger.
Today there is a shrine in one of these vaults, erected by the people of Elmina. And deep inside the dungeon at Cape Coast there is another, reclaiming the land that had been profaned for more than 200 years. The slave castles had been built on sites held sacred by the indigenous peoples. At Cape Coast, the colonizers had replaced a shrine dedicated to one of the 77 tutelary gods, Nana Taabiri, with the imposing structure of the church that stands at the center of every slave castle. The church sat uncomfortably atop another shrine at Christianborg (now Osu Castle and the seat of state) in Accra and on still others at many other forts and castles. And in every case, the strategy had been the same: The church, backed by cannons and fortified by stone, was intended to obliterate the Africans’ link to their gods, their ancestors and anything else that empowered them. After independence the shrines were reestablished, in stone, on their original sites, where the people continue to pay their respects to their traditional deities today.
From: Through slavery’s darkest passages – Ghana’s slave dungeons – Essence, Special Travel Section, October 1992.
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Shem was the son who came directly under God’s blessing -thus, shouldn’t the whites be Shem?
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@ Abagond
Do you have a thread where one could reply to Sailorscout1986 without further derailing this one?
If not, I would welcome a post about the economical & political consequences of colonization or the current economical situation of Africa.
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You can reply to her here.
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Thanks. It makes things simpler.
@ Sailorscout1986
Let me quote you:
Wow. That’s some attitude you’ve got there.
This bumptiousness is coming from an individual who can barely claim 2 years of life in Nigeria. The very individual who just recommended us the subjective account of a white-American-vacationist who-spent-three-months-there as an accurate depiction of the country…
Whatever expertise you think you have sure doesn’t show in your posts so far. For instance:
I dare you to come up with figures to back this up.
Last time I checked, Nigeria accessed independence in the same conditions as any other African countries: little to no infrastructure, structural dependency from foreign funding, no industry worth mentioning, rampant famine and school attendance rates that would make the more incompetent dictator of the seventies look like an enlightened ruler.
Today Nigeria is the second largest economy in Africa, only toped by South Africa, and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. What decline are you talking about?
I’m under the impression that Westerners believe that poverty, hunger and violence popped up in Africa the day of the Independence. That’s because the plunder, exactions and destruction that were going on under European rule were not publicized. Besides, the colonial propaganda fed the white world with a mythology of hard working colonists covering Africa with roads, hospitals and schools. So when we eventually managed to get rid of those “benefactors” (that nobody invited in the first place), the world suddenly took notice of our underdevelopment. Shock: the roads, hospitals and schools were not there! Logical conclusion: the continent declined!!
I think you’re making the same mistake.
Please feel free to prove me wrong by sharing the sources that led you to believe that Nigeria was “one of the richest countries in the world” under colonial rule.
I can’t wait to read you.
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In the meantime…
I just found this paper on the net. It’s titled “Aspect of British colonial impact on Nigeria (1900 – 1945)”:
Click to access aspects%20of%20british%20colonial%20economic%20impact%20on%20nigeria.pdf
Here is the author’s conclusion:
“nigeria was doing very well under british rule”, eh? “one of the richest countries in the world”?
Yeah, sure…
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Abagond:
The foundation has already been paid for with the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors. Are we going to pay them back and make them proud of their offspring, or, are we gonna continue to make them weep from the heavens? As I’ve said before numerous times on this blog, blackness is a blessing that all african people should love and respect to the utmost, regardless of whatever. Black Love is the key to our salvation, but, some of us are still blinded by the light of ignorance and self-hatred, especially amongst many of our young brothas throughout the diaspora. Blackness is worth fighting for and dying for. Abagond, we’ve come a long way, but, we have many more bridges to cross in the future. Black people, pray for our sistas and brothas in Africa, Europe, America, The Caribbean, Latin-America, and The Pacific-Rim, because “Black Love” has to win, and win big. Brothas, always remember the power of 5…God…Life…Health…Freedom…Blackwomen
Tyrone
Political Power…Economic Power…Cultural Power…Sexual Power
The Power of 4
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Very interesting post.
As a Christian I have often had debates with others about this. I know that there was no real basis for racism that white racist try to justify in the Bible. However I also know that people have tried to use anything to justify their morality in order to feel better about what they do. Instead of admitting something was wrong, they would rather dig up bad justifications so that they can take away any responsibility. It is like the people who believe the Bible promotes misogny.
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@ dahomen – 1st taking of all taking my replies to various people and lining them up out of context means nothing.
“This bumptiousness is coming from an individual who can barely claim 2 years of life in Nigeria. The very individual who just recommended us the subjective account of a white-American-vacationist who-spent-three-months-there as an accurate depiction of the country…”
2 years is enough time to get a general scope of how things are in a country. 2 years is a lot more than most black americans have lived outside of the usa, let alone nigeria. like i have said before, i also have nigerian parents, who are invaluable as 1st person sources of their experiences and opinions on their country. plus, the link i posted was about a white american student who had learnt the yoruba language, is studying the culture and is staying there for a year. please don’t discredit something that was hard for him to do – especially as he got kicked out of his american programme because they deemed the country too dangerous for an american to live. but i guess the fact that he is white makes him a fail already right?
now, getting onto the meat of the argument, i have to admit that i made a mistake. my mother would always recount to me how much a better place her city (Lagos) was when she was young. how people were much better off and poverty was not as rampant. But my mistake was forgetting that this was in the 70s and 80s. not before the 60s. thank you for bringing me up on that.
“I’m under the impression that Westerners believe that poverty, hunger and violence popped up in Africa the day of the Independence. That’s because the plunder, exactions and destruction that were going on under European rule were not publicized. Besides, the colonial propaganda fed the white world with a mythology of hard working colonists covering Africa with roads, hospitals and schools. So when we eventually managed to get rid of those “benefactors” (that nobody invited in the first place), the world suddenly took notice of our underdevelopment. Shock: the roads, hospitals and schools were not there! Logical conclusion: the continent declined!!
Well it depends on which colonialist one is talking about. some countries (the dutch and those bloody french) were said to be partic. brutal with their colonies in comparison with the british for example. how much this is true i dont know. i do know that the french kept a really tight hold on their ex-colonies for a long time after they left, for their (the french) benefit. but anyway, in nigeria there are still school and hospital buildings that were built by the british – they don’t just suddenly disappear if they existed in the first place, but they are often not maintained or renovated since they were first built. also the military rule that took over nigeria soon after independence was the cause of the decline that i refer too. ‘democracy’ has now taken it’s place, but military rule screwed that country up and left it in an absolute state. plus the ‘democracy’ that has replaced it isnt much better.
“Today Nigeria is the second largest economy in Africa, only toped by South Africa, and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. What decline are you talking about?”
the decline i’m talking about comes from knowing the country past Google. the decline i’m talking about is the fact that people still don’t have constant electricity. and in some areas the amount of time they are without is getting longer. some people my family know recently had no electricity for 3 days, and it never used to be like that – maybe a few hours at most, but never a 3 days stretch.
the decline i’m talking about are universities that are going on strike for months at a time, sometimes for a couple of times a year. a cousin of mine was doing a 3 year degree, and because of strikes he spent 6 years. there are private and state-owned unis in the country and it’s the state-owned that have these problems because the conditions the staff work in are often unacceptable. sometimes lecs won’t get paid for months, the facilities in many unis are way below standard. it’s a mess and the govt should have education as it’s top priorities.
the decline i am talking about is the corruption that means that the govt rely solely on the oil for their revenue ( and look up who owns these refineries!). they import pretty much all their sophisticated goods because the manufacturing industry doesn’t exist. farmers are being left to rot because the govt doesn’t help out with agriculture.
it’s one the fastest growing economies in the world because it is the 6th largest oil exporter in the world. this doesn’t feed back to the people though. the money lines a few’s pockets and others are left to rot. infrastructure was forgotten about for decades and is only starting to be focused on again thanks to the chinese coming in and filling the skill-gap nigeria has in construction because the useless govt hasn’t made a push for young nigerians to be trained in this field. the thing is that the chinese bring more problems because they have notoriously bad business practices (and like everyone with money are simply in it for themselves with no consideration for their new environment) and they are snapping up humongous oil deals in return for their skills. the government of nigeria (gon) could had saved a lot of money and oil revenue on construction if they had trained up their own citizens.
the decline i am talking about are the clashes that kill thousands every year in the delta region and the gon is not doing much about it. people there are getting frustrated at the foreign oil companies doing whatever they like on their land and are revolting. but the gon won’t listen to their concerns because the money feels good lining their pockets and the foreigners have the refineries and technology that would take nigeria a lot of time and money to replace with their own – and why bother eh?
read this news extract “Nairobi/Abuja – Hundreds of people attempting to steal fuel from a pipeline in Nigeria were burnt to death on Tuesday, proving that as the West African nation becomes wealthier from its oil riches, the country’s poor suffer.
Tuesday’s blast came after oil thieves vandalized the pipeline, which ran through one of the commercial capital Lagos’ suburbs. Hundreds had rushed in to scoop up the precious oil, when the fire erupted.
‘It is pandemonium,’ said Ige Oladimeji, a Nigerian Red Cross officer on the scene, where some 10,000 people had gathered to witness the disaster. ‘Over 200 people are burnt beyond recognition.’
The oil pipeline from Tuesday’s incident ran through one of the city’s poor suburbs. The residents, who don’t see much material benefit from the country’s oil wealth, ran to grab a piece for themselves. Then came the explosion.”
people are desperate and no-ne, even their own government (own PEOPLE) seem to give a damn. this is why i want people to see that people are wicked to each other -it’s not always about race. when greed and money comes into play then forget about brotherhood
about 70% of nigerians are currently living below the poverty line – various sources cite this figure give or take a few percent. it’s all very well to say that they are growing and bla bla but personal experience of the country and more research says that it’s still not good enough for most of the people that live there.
and the reason i talk about nigeria is that it is one of the few african countries that have the power/money to reclaim some autonomy over their affairs and shake off some off the chains of the west. they don’t seem to be taking the opportunity with both hands. the people in power are just lazy and greedy and i’m afraid that in the 21st century, not all the country’s failures can be blamed on the west. this is why i use that term that people on this blog so very hate: ‘personal responsibility’
but thanks for actually giving me thought on this and engaging in some actual debate rather than just calling me ‘ignorant’. i will check back for the link you posted later, as it wouldn’t load when i tried to open it
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and btw the blog about the american blog who is studying at a nigerian university is not a negative blog. it’s honest – which means that although it exposes a lot of the things i have banged on about it also talks about how wonderful the country can be. the culture, the language and the people. i would say take some time to read it. if any of you are somewhat interested in other cultures – it should delight you because the Yoruba culture is mostly very wonderful.
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these articles may be of interest to you:
http://www.geoexpro.com/country_profile/nigeria/
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/198/40222.html
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@ sailorscout1986
For a Black Nigerian Brit you seem to know very little about Black Americans, despite how much you act. Seems ironic after seeing your “Read More About Nigeria!” speech. No one here has ever hinted at disliking personal responsibility. It gets thrown in our (Black Americans specifically) faces at constant intervals enough where it’s damn near forced. And we do take personal responsibility far more than we ever get credit for, but that’s “boring news” which gets ignored. On all issues? No. But it happens with most.
On the flip-side it’s never a bad issue to go more deeply into the oustide forces that cause problems as well. Deeply in a sense that you’re saying more than the vague “this is bad in general”, like Americans have been doing for decades.
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of course i will never know more about black americans that black americans themselves do, and if i am wrong about something then tell me in a non-attacking manner and i will put my hands up. i have fam over there who i talk to about american society but most of my comments are actually pretty general about the black disapora and i take observations from from blacks here ( the Uk) who still, on the whole, struggle more than other ethnic groups.
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@ Franklin
THIS!!
Welcome to the club.
I suspect it won’t be a consolation, but we (Africans) get our fair share of this treatment too.
@ Sailorscout1986
Or not.
They didn’t teach me anything that I didn’t know.
See, my point is not that everything in current day Nigeria is fine and dandy. My point is that, contrary to a popular belief, the country (the whole continent actually) is doing waaay better now than it did under European rule.
You say that Nigerians still don’t have constant electricity, that universities are going on strike for months at a time, that about 70% of Nigerians are currently living below the poverty line, etc…
It’s true. You just fail to realize that electricity, universities (or the mere right to go on strike, for what it matters) were virtually inexistent under colonial rule, and that it was not 70% percent but the quasi totality of the population who survived below the poverty line.
What I’m trying to tell you is that the economy of Nigeria has been steadily progressing since the independence. According to some, your country will be the largest African economy within 12 years.
http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/nigeria-to-take-top-african-spot-within-12-years-1.1064426
This certitude of yours that Nigeria is “declining” is contradicted by every economical analyst out there.
Regarding this:
I’m not discrediting. My issue is not with the guy, actually. I just find it interesting that, despite the Nigerian blogosphere being the richest and most active of the continent, it’s this blog that you spontaneously recommend. It’s quite telling, as is the subtitle of your own blog (“News and views on Nigerian politics from a western perspective “).
It’s a pdf file. If it doesn’t automatically open, try and right click then “save as…”
If it still doesn’t work, try and google the title.
Another good read on the topic is Walter Rodney’s famous book, “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa”, which is freely available online, here:
http://www.marxistsfr.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/how-europe/index.htm
Obviously, I don’t expect you to read the whole book before posting, but at least have a look at the chapter titled “The Supposed Benefits of Colonialism to Africa” here:
http://www.marxistsfr.org/subject/africa/rodney-walter/how-europe/ch06.htm#s1
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@ Dahoman X:
Thanks for the Rodney links! I did not know it was online.
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@ Dahoman X
1. How do you quote people?
I suspect it won’t be a consolation, but we (Africans) get our fair share of this treatment too.
2. That’s why I prefer sites like AfricaGoodNews.com, which talks about the positive developments of Africa that are (damn near) intentionally left out of the “Schadenfreude Loving” Western media. If I only listened to American and Euro news about Africa, I’d think that it was nothing but Darfur and Rwanda all over the entire continent.
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“If I only listened to American and Euro news about Africa, I’d think that it was nothing but Darfur and Rwanda all over the entire continent.”
…Not to mention the portrayal that poverty, disease, and violence are seemingly continental also according the Western and Euro news.
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@ Abagond
You’re welcome.
Don’t you think Rodney’s life is worth a post? (hint, hint…)
@ Franklin
In the following example, replace [ by
To quote, put [blockquote] at the beginning of what you want to quote and [/blockquote] at the end.
Boldface and italics work the same way. Just replace blockquote by b and i.
@ Franklin & brothawolf
Africa is a land of contrasts:
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:20563739~menuPK:1613741~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258644,00.html
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Oops, didn’t work, Franklin
> should be placed after the e of blockquote
< should be placed before the b
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i read as much as the linked chapter as i could. and i got the general idea.
‘the quasi totality of the population who survived below the poverty line.’
i would like your source for the above statement
http://www.onlinenigeria.com/links/adv.asp?blurb=467 — this is a neutral, sensible piece on colonial nigeria. the smartest point it makes is that the most negative effect on colonial rule was gearing all of african industry towards producing raw materials for the their benefit. this can be slowly but surely changed though and brazil is a good example.
now, last year when they celebrated their 50th year of independence, a lot of nigerians were asking what the point of celebrating it was – as things have not improved as much as they could. you’re looking at this from a narrow perspective. i already told you that nigeria is a big economy in africa because they are the biggest exporter of oil in the continent. oil brings big money but it means NOTHING if the country is not using the money to improve the life for the people. if the money is not being used to train, educate, build and subsidise industry and infrastructure then what is the point of having a big economy? do you not get that?! china recently took over japan as 2nd largest econmy in the world but the japanese still indivually have a better standard of living overall. that is what matters.
the state of nigeria has little to do with colonialism now – in the 21st century the poverty that people face everyday is not because of outside influence. i can admit that there are other african counties are tragically still at the mercy of the west because of tiny economies, puppet dictators, climate problems and war (which we all know the west likes to exacerbate in africa). but Nigeria, which is a standing example of a country that could really show the world what africa has got, is not doing that and it is not the west’s fault. i have repeated myself a lot of times in different ways just to make the message go in. and by the way 70% are living below the poverty line but that doesnt mean that that other 30% are rich. a large proportion of those above the poverty line as JUST above it and would still be classified as poor by any standards.
also you say that universities have the right to strike now – well yes. that’s a good thing but students having to double the years of their degree because of strikes is a joke. you can’t just shrug it off and say ‘well at least they’re allowed to strike now!’ What? yeah they can strike but that is not the point!! have higher standards.
‘I’m not discrediting. My issue is not with the guy, actually. I just find it interesting that, despite the Nigerian blogosphere being the richest and most active of the continent, it’s this blog that you spontaneously recommend. It’s quite telling, as is the subtitle of your own blog (“News and views on Nigerian politics from a western perspective “).’
*sigh* it was not spontaneous at all. i recommended this blog because it is written from an outsiders point of view. nothing to do with his colour. if he was a blk american boy i would have posted the link too. well it’s very predictable of you to write me off as white-washed because of my views (and the the blog suggestion), but you already know that i couldn’t give a damn about that. now in this blog, the country is seen with an outsider’s eyes which is invaluable in terms of objectivity. if you look at my blogroll, you will see an array of nigerian blogs written by nigerian people, but they’re not looking at the country through rose-tinted glasses either. and unlike here, they appreciate honest comments about the situation of the country. but i guess that’s because they live there and actually know what it’s like.
positive economic projections don’t mean anything to them when they don’t see improvements where they live and they know that their state governer is sending money that is supposed to be used for infrastructure and indusrty to personal foreign bank accounts.
the subtitle of my blog tells you one thing: that it is news and views on nigerian politics from a western perspective. that is because i live in the west, and i have a western perspective. pretty simple really. no, i don’t think the west is anything near perfect but i live here, so i will write from a western perspective. if that offends you, then i am sorry.
but hey if you don’t know about this forum already then have a look see : http://www.nairaland.com and go to the politics section. i promise that it is made by and for black nigerians and you’ll see that people are talking about present day issues and how to fix them rather than whining about the colonial past for the most part.
analysis is analysis. it deals with figures and money but i am trying to tell you that the country is extremely poor and people are suffereing and it is not going to get better for the majority because of the political system. even when they become the largest economy in 12 years it will mean NOTHING for most of the people there. that is what i care about. and the point that i have been trying to make all along is that it is because of the people in power. they are not colonial masters. they are nigerians and they do not care about their own people. this is not hard to understand.
also, i am not saying that people here do not take peronal responsibility. but if you’re trying to say that the statistics relating to black imprisonment, single mothers etc is just to do with racist motives/reasons, then you’re not helping the black community at all. just like if i was going to narrowly focus on the fact that nigeria is doing economically better than under colonial rule and dismiss the fact that the system is still screwed up for the average working person 50yrs after independence (and doesn’t look like it will be changing any time soon) then i’m doing a discredit to nigerians.
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Is my English really this bad or is it just you having a hard time trying to understand?
This discussion is getting real weird.
I never stated the contrary.
When did I say it was?
Er… I don’t remember saying that either.
Here, let me remind you the actual sequence (summarized version):
Sailorscout: Nigeria was doing well under colonial rule and it’s been declining since independence.
Dahoman X: Nope. Nigeria is doing better today than it did yesterday and probably will do better tomorrow.
Sailorscout: What?! You’re blaming the whites! Nigeria still has a lot of issues so you’re wrong. Stop being so satisfied, have higher standards! And stop blaming the whites!!
Geee… Were you multitasking while reading my posts or something?
Alright, I’ll try and make it simple this time: Walter Rodney and the first link I provided are there to make you realize that colonial Nigeria was not the Land of Milk & Honey that you thought it was; the reference to the “second largest economy in Africa” and “one of the fastest growing economies in the world” is meant to let you know that, currently, the country is not going downhill; the latest link simply states that the prospects for the next decade are not bad either.
Does this mean that the country is the new Land of Plenty? No. Am I disserting on the actual level of responsibility of whites in the ills the country faces? Nope. Did my posts imply that I’m quite happy with the current economical situation and that I will move there tomorrow? Definitely not.
I’m just calling bullsh!t on your initial claim (“nigeria was doing very well under british rule. (…) since independence, it has all pretty much declined.”).
Nothing more, nothing less.
Do you get it, now?
Is it really this simple?
Does this imply that you had the African perspective when you lived in Nigeria? Or that you will switch to the Chinese perspective should you ever move to China?
I somehow have a hard time believing this.
See, where one stands is not just a matter of geographical location. An outsider’s eye is not a guaranty of neutrality or objectivity. The western perspective comes with its own bias, especially where Africa and Blacks are concerned.
Is it so far-fetched to suggest that maybe, just maybe, your views on colonization or black mentality are somehow affected by the perspective you claim?
As far as I can tell, neither Abagond nor the commenters who agree with his analysis ever said that racism is sufficient to explain every single problem Blacks face in America.
This said, any attempt to “fix” the AA community without tackling the superstructure of white supremacy which prevails in the USA would be akin to a doctor trying to heal a third-degree burn without pulling his patient’s hand out of the fire.
Good luck with that.
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@Sailorscout1986
Why is it that corruption is so widespread across the African continent?
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I believe these links pertain to the conversation btwn SailorScout1986 & DahomanX.
@Abagond
If you feel this comment is veering off from the original topic of the post then feel free to delete this.
Short doc on Nigeria, resource exploitation, oil…
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-This video is a short explanation of what John Perkins mentioned in the 1st video(IMF/World Bank & other intnl banking institutions exploiting the resources of the 3rd world thru debt)
-An article from The Guardian on Shell’s infiltration of Nigeria’s government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying
@SailorScout1986
I was not trying to attack you my last question, just wanted to spark a discussion. I want to know what you think is behind the widespread corruption in Africa? Do you believe it is a fluke or that it’s cultural flaw that predates colonialism? You can do a quick google search of corruption rankings across the globe and you’ll see that African countries are always ranked on top(as well as other developing states).
I had always assumed that the multinational corporations that exploit the 3rd world ensure this corruption for their own economic interest. I know for a fact that theses multinationals have meddled in the politics of these poor countries, but I have nv been sure of the extent of which they do it. What are your thoughts on all of this?
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@SailorScout1986
A map of most(and least) corrupt countries ranked by Transparency International.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/10/26/130827981/most-and-least-corrupt-countries
Did Europeans miss out on the corrupt gene that seems to be plaguing Africa? Maybe the curse of Ham is real after all.(these rankings do appear to be slightly biased to me, however, I still believe this report is useful)
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@dahomen x
look i am just following and responding to your line of argument.
‘is doing waaay better now than it did under European rule.’
‘waaay’ implies that it is doing a lot better than what is the actual reality. and i carried on to explain why how well the economy is doing means nothing for most nigerians. i then concluded with the fact that not everything ties back to racism. a lot of people (maybe you’re not included but some commenters here) blame colonisation for everything to do with the way things are now in africa and i don’t believe in that. end point.
‘Is it really this simple?
Does this imply that you had the African perspective when you lived in Nigeria? Or that you will switch to the Chinese perspective should you ever move to China?’
don’t be silly.
‘Is it so far-fetched to suggest that maybe, just maybe, your views on colonization or black mentality are somehow affected by the perspective you claim?’
i know what you think my views on colonisation or black mentality are but you don’t.
‘This said, any attempt to “fix” the AA community without tackling the superstructure of white supremacy which prevails in the USA would be akin to a doctor trying to heal a third-degree burn without pulling his patient’s hand out of the fire.’
i acknowledge that white supremacy still reigns in america. and to expel white supremacy is a mammoth task. what i always say, is that fixing internal problems first makes a lot more sense. and that addressing the reasons why the black community have certain issues like disproportionately high single motherhood and so on should be an easier feat than getting white people to create a fairer, less racist society. that is just my reasoning.
@cynic
Hi cynic that’s an interesting question that was brought up on one of my blog posts. if abagond doesn’t mind i’ll just post the link http://thenigerianarchive.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/which-came-first-the-corrupt-citizen-or-the-corrupt-government/
i had a discussion with eurasian sensation and he attributed endemic corruption in some countries with the the strong family ties that these countries often have. asian and african countries tend to have strong family and tribal bonds. this means that people will be more concerned with helping their own attain power rather than someone from anywhere that has the best skills for the job. and when they are in power, they will have to do favours for the people that gave them a hand. you should also read my post on the ‘zoning’ political system in nigeria.
the interesting thing is that china is very corrupt still, but a decent proportion of the country can still boast successful modernisation and a good standard of living.
Thank you for the videos. my residence halls have crappy internet connection so i’ll buffer them for a while before watching. i read the link though and i actually posted that wikileaks cable on my blog. it’s disgusting how shell behave in nigeria. but mncs are purely in it for the money. they are a big business so i cant really blame them. i blame the govt of nigeria who have allowed this rampage to continue for decades. asking Shell to play fair is like asking an untamed Lion to not eat you if you allow it into your home. it’s the gon who should be protecting the country’s affairs and the interests of their own people.
europeans seemed not to have tribes for as long as african/asians/aborginals/native americans and so on did. i remember watching a documentary about when the romans came over to england and the english were seen, b y the romans, as barbaric, tribal and even stupid. they united the tribes in england and taught the english skills such as construction, gave them roads and introduced them to the written language. this was a turning point in england’s history.
it’s nothing to do with a curse. and it’s nothing to do with intelligence. it’s culture and i always say that culture can and should be changed. and should be if it is holding you back.
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Hi y’all
Due to a submarine cable failure, my country (Benin) and other West African countries have been cut off the internet since Sunday may 8.
http://www.africa-times-news.com/2011/05/benintogoniger-importante-panne-internet/
(Sorry, it’s in French. I couldn’t find an English link)
This morning internet resumed working…more or less. It’s very slow, and most times pages do not load entirely. I’m afraid I won’t be able to comment here until it’s fully restored (hopepully by the end of next week).
See ya then
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http://www.africaeconomicanalysis.org/articles/gen/corruptiondikehtm.html
this is a great analysis of the problem of corruption in nigeria and the developing world in general. mad-made problem that has nothing to do with a curse or outsiders.
this next link makes for slightly lighter reading. it talks about colonisation and underdevelopment in africa in a clear, reasonable way and pretty much sums up everything i have talked since the beginning, including my comment ‘africa’s problems today have just as much to do with the way the continent was run before the europeans discovered it as colonisation does’
http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/ud/kampanjer/refleks/innspill/afrika/simensen.html?id=533474
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@ The Cynic
My 2 cents: in countries where a significant part of the population lives below the poverty line, corruption is mostly a survival strategy (the corrupt officials who embezzle public funds are just the trees which hide the forest). Add weak institutions – especially dysfunctional penal and judicial system – in the mix and you have your explanation.
Notice how the less corrupted countries on the map you provided are also the richest ones: North America, Japan, western Europe and Australia.
This said, I take this map with a huge ladle of salt. What it reports is perceived corruption. I can tell from experience that the average African has an annoying tendency to believe that everything is worse in Africa than everywhere else…
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If is wasn’t for those with the ‘mark of Ham’, there wouldn’t be Judaism and by extension Christianity and Islam, monotheistic religions.
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so what did happen to the Canaanites?
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Thank you for this article. I am african and this truth brought me closer to God by seeing that He is Just and not unfair to let a group of people suffer because of the sin of 1 single man. Greatly appreciated and left me illuminated. God bless you!
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Funny thing about the curse of Ham: It was first identified with black people in the Talmud! From there, it spread to Christianity and Islam, although most people in the Muslim world (the scholars, at least) didn’t buy it. Not sure how or why it entered the Talmud, but D.M. Goldenberg has written extensively about it.
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/7641.html
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OK
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Just saw this thread today. But still think it’s necessary to put some things right as per the submissions of @sailorscout1986, even if it’s more than one year after.
It is extremely naïve to think that people who came and occupied the continent by force and pillaged it for centuries, suddenly became angels and departed. Colonialism was fought at every point by Africans until independence was achieved. But so far independence is still a work in progress, only the rudiments have been touched, I’d say about 20% of independence has been achieved, mainly because the erstwhile colonial masters are still very much around, albeit in more subtle, destructive ways.
@sailorscout1986, You need to base your arguments on facts. So far, they’re mostly based on sentiments, namely, we shouldn’t blame racism, colonialism, neocolonialism, and imperialism for the plight of the African, with particular reference to Nigeria. The sentiment is this: having lived all her life in the West, with a brief visit to Nigeria, she wants a Nigeria that will be at a par with whatever Western country she’s living in (constant power supply, good education system, good transportation, etc). For that to happen, we need to stop blaming colonialism, imperialism, etc., and get to work. So, to repeat, all she wants is a transposition of the West into Africa. If the West did it, Africa should be able to do it. And that is why she proudly announces that she’s talking from a “Western perspective” and in line with that, wholly subscribes to what a young Western college student says about a particular Nigerian culture, namely the Yoruba culture. Based on that endorsement, she could proudly announce to us that the “Yoruba culture is mostly very wonderful.” In the process, she managed to insult the cultural pride of the Yoruba, or does she think that a Westerner would rely on her endorsement of his or her culture to know how wonderful such a culture is, even if she has lived all her life there? When Franklin wondered why millions of Yorubas “don’t follow the teachings of Ifa and instead follow Islam and Christianity”, she simply glossed over it thus: “And yes, Franklin, that is a great point about the teachings of Ife. I have wanted to do a blog on these non-native religions (Islam and Christianity) on my blog for a while, but it is a topic that even I am wary of touching. However, I think I may just bite the bullet and do it.” Notice that Ifa became Ife…two completely different things as Ife is a city while the IFA is a very rich religious belief system. But she’s ‘wary of touching’ it, reinforcing the agenda she has been championing all along about the inferiority of African cultures. To even find Ifa worthy of her time would be contradicting that stance.
Let’s get to the points in contention now.
1. Your argument that Nigeria declined after independence is not based on any verifiable fact. Indeed, given the facts on the ground, the opposite is the truth. Westerners had ruled Nigeria directly or indirectly for centuries before independence on 1st October 1960. Those centuries weren’t enough time for them to establish solid structures in the colonies. At the time of independence, there was only one university for over 50 million people. Now there are hundreds. I know many of my classmates couldn’t have gotten secondary education if it were not for independence because our parents might not have afforded it (many of us are now highly educated professionals). Same goes for all amenities. Electricity came to my village, brought by my dad and likeminded people, in the mid-1980s, through self-help. Thereafter industries started to spring up, small and large scale industries. Then the president of the country, who made this possible after overthrowing the previous very corrupt govt, was himself overthrown in a palace coup for refusing to accept IMF and WB prescribed economic and financial policies. He’s once again the president, this time through democratic elections. And a few weeks ago he said publicly that his first overthrow in the mid-1980s was because he had refused IMF and WB policies which he judged detrimental to the development of his country. Now the man who overthrew him wasted no time in implementing those imperialists policies. Indeed, British PM Margret Thatcher came all the way to Lagos to praise him for implementing those policies, revealing how the UK had helped him in securing the IMF deal and describing him as “a forceful, intelligent man trying to put Nigeria’s economy on to a sound footing.’’ And he also went and had dinner with the Queen, even though he was a military dictator. With the introduction of the imperialist policies championed by the Breton woods institutes (IMF WB, Paris Club of creditors, etc.,) Nigerians were told that it was the era of structural adjustment program (SAP). With SAP, the nascent industries in my village and in many parts of the country stagnated, what with the influx of cheap goods from outside the country in the name of free trade (never mind that the West always protected their industries against such influx) because investment in social infrastructure was prohibited by the imposed imperialist policies. Publicly funded schools that were doing so well began to flounder. This is probably what @sailorscout1986 calls the decline of the country which she cleverly blames on a retrogressive culture!!! I put it to you that without those policies deliberately formulated to stifle the progress of the country, Nigeria would have progressed much faster in all facets.
2. When shown evidence of how multinational companies in Nigeria, notably Royal Dutch Shell (but also many others including Julius Berger, Pfizer, etc.,) shortchange Nigerians and desecrate their environment, she says this: “asking Shell to play fair is like asking an untamed Lion to not eat you if you allow it into your home. it’s the gon who should be protecting the country’s affairs and the interests of their own people.” Wow!!!
I’ve just shown you what happened to a president who wanted to protect the country from such acts: he was removed and put in prison. Also, I thought we were lectured on how Europeans are the paragons of progress and morality. So how come we’re now being asked to see them as hungry lions? I don’t know if any of you followed what happened in Nigeria in the mid-1990s, particularly with a man called Ken Saro-Wiwa who hailed from the Niger Delta, the bastion of the oil industry, and also of environmental pollution of global scale (studies have shown that it is the worst polluted area in the world, again you wonder how come all the Western oil companies who were making a kill in the region didn’t think of keeping the environment clean as they do in their home climes, racism or opportunism?). Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 of his kinsmen were hanged in 1995 for agitating for clean environment in their native towns. The Nigerian government hanged them, it seemed. But then it emerged that Shell had approached Ken in prison and asked to help free him in exchange for stopping his environmental activism. The evidence was incontrovertible, and Shell decided to avoid public humiliation by settling the case out of court for $15.5: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/08/nigeria-usa
I used to think that we’re the architects of our problems. But when I began to understand who imperialism works, I had a rethink. If the industries in my village were working, many young people would choose to stay there and make their living, raise their families, send their children to good public schools like many do in the West, etc. That’s a tiny example, but those industries died not because they people were lazy or un-resourceful or uneducated, etc., they died because of economic and financial policies imposed on them, and in which they had no say, don’t even understand. But then a clever argument is developed through which they’re told to blame themselves for those ills.
Now you may want to ask me, how about that president who said publicly that his ouster in the 1980s was due to his refusal to implement imperialist policies, now that he is back, what is he doing? Well he has resorted to complaining that they’ve forced him to devalue the local currency, making the people poorer in the process, and that they’re pushing for more devaluation and the hiking of the prices of essential commodities. He is resisting, but hasn’t been quite successful. He probably has reasoned that if becomes adamant in his refusal, he’ll be pushed out again, or worse, and that his people will be the worse off for it…
3. So, @sailorscout1986, if you’re really serious about making a contribution, you need to have a more balanced view. For instance, Shell, a wholly Western company operating in Nigeria, has made it clear that it has plants in all the ministries in the country. Such should be taken seriously, given some of the examples I’ve cited here. It could be a matter of life and death. Lives and livelihood of thousands, if not millions of Nigerians have been ruined by that one company alone, simply because they’ve the power. And understand it or not, they couldn’t have had such powers without the historical events of slavery of colonialism: they come as your masters, as your overlords, and if you contest it, well…
So, for the sake of honesty, criticize the locals all you want for the part they play in the carnage. But to let their foreign masters, go scot free betrays a deeply flawed misunderstanding of the situation in all its complexities. And it makes your constant bashing of the locals seem hollow, may be because they’re a soft target.
4. The worst thing colonialism, worse than the transatlantic slave trade, did is to destroy the psyche of the colonized. I’ve travelled around the world a bit, something my great grandfather couldn’t have dreamt of, and really didn’t need to have dreamt of, for my travels were not always for pleasure, for most cases it was for sheer survival. When I look at the life of my forebears who didn’t have to deal with colonialism, their lives were much more dignified compared to ours today. Without colonialism, Africa would have developed, at much slower rate, no doubt, but it’d have been much more authentic. We wouldn’t have lost our culture, which really means losing everything. We wouldn’t have lost our gods, which also means losing our deepest selves. It is going to take centuries for us to recover from such devastation, and the recovery will never be full. Our task is made much more difficult because Africa is full of natural resources which the powerful nations NEED. So, they’re going to keep a tab the continent. When multinationals say they have plants in all the ministries, we need to pay serious attention to that. They don’t only plant people in the ministries, they also plant presidents and ministers, etc. And yes, they also depose presidents. I can give you very recent examples if you don’t know already.
It’s very important to point out that any real development in Africa is thanks to the effort of Africans. Their encounter with Europeans sure gave them some impetus for development, but it was in spite of the Europeans who didn’t want real development in Africa. The education they introduced was meant to brainwash young Africans to further the colonial agenda. You only have to look at the curricula which are still in use today in schools throughout Africa. The Belgians ran the present day Democratic Republic of Congo for over a century. And when they were kicked out after independence, there was only one Congolese graduate in that vast country.
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I BEAT BLACK WOMAN
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Huh?
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@ v8driver
An it harm nane, Thomas. Beating anyone is harmful. Beating someone you love is shameful. Would you raise a fist to the goddess? She is in us all.
You can be better than who you have been.
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