p.c. africa intro paragraph (meh)
TRANSCRIPT
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Lauren Wilson
September 24th
, 2014
Mr. Boadi
Debunking the Negro Myth
Since the 15th
century, many Eurocentric scholars and historians have claimed
that Africa is a static, primitive continent with little or no progress. They believe that
Africans have not developed at nearly the rate as Europeans, and are therefore inferior.
This led to the justification of the Atlantic slave trade and later colonization. However, in
the last 50 years or so, some scholars have looked at history from the African point of
view and have tried to deflate these notions of an a-historic Africa. These Afrocentric
historians have looked to Ancient Egypt and to relations between Europeans and Africans
during antiquity, in order to prove that Africa is not a continent without history, but rather
a continent whose history was disrupted by imperialism and greed. What has yet to be
answered is whether or not Africas seemingly dull existence is the truth or a Negro
Myth. Although many historians have evidenceto prove Africa is a land with no
growth or progress, there is much more suggestion that Africa has just as much history as
anywhere else in the world.
To understand the debate regarding the Negro Myth, the topic itself must first be
explored. The Negro Myth is a belief that Africa is an undeveloped, unsophisticated
continent by means of its cultures and peoples. When many think of Africa, they see
dangerous animals, dancing tribes, and poverty and sickness.1This misconception came
about when the Portuguese first landed on the west coast seeking trade, but were
disappointed that the Africans were not as technologically advanced. They then began to
1Erik Gilbert and Jonathan Reynolds, Notions of Africa,Africa in World History,
(Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc., 2012) pp. xxi-xxiv
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question how organized, intellectual, and social the Africans were.2Now, after years of
these questions being answered with limited knowledge of what is the truth, Africa is
viewed poorly in relation to every other continent on the planet.
In response to the Negro Myth, a new group of historians called Afrocentrists
have emerged to falsify Eurocentric claims of an a-historic Africa. They aim to give
Africans the credit they deserve in shaping world history, and to acknowledge black
successes in general. According to historian Russell Adams, The purest form of
Afrocentrism places Africa at its center as the source of the worlds peoples and its most
fundamental ideas and inventions.
3
Some Afrocentric beliefs are that Ancient Egypts
inhabitants were black, and that many of Egypts achievements directly influenced the
Greek and Roman empires. Provocative Afrocentric thinkers, such as George James, have
gone as far to say that there is no such thing as Greek philosophy, only stolen Egyptian
philosophy.4They make these claims because of the staggering evidence they have
collected over the years. For one, the Pythagoren Theorem, a revolutionary mathematical
concept accredited to Pythagoras, was actually created by the Egyptians.5Pythagoras
even received his education in Egypt.6Along with that, interaction between Greeks and
Egyptians flourished, meaning ideas must have been exchanged between them all the
time. Overall, Afrocentrism is a point of view that aims to highlight the role Africans
have had in this world, and to take back their achievements as their own.
2Cheikh Anta Diop, Birth of the Negro Myth, The African Origin of Civilization
Myth or Reality, (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 1974) pp. 9-103Russell Adams, Afrocentricity,Africana Studies, (Durham: Carolina Academic Press,
1993) pp. 33-364George James, Stolen Legacy, Greek Philosophy is stolen Egyptian Philosophy,
(African American Images, 2001; First Published in 1954)5Diop, op.cit.
6James, loc.cit.
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Although Afrocentrism has sparked lots of conversation, some of it has taken the
form of debate. Eurocentric and Afrocentric scholars have clashed on some of the ideas
regarding Afrocentrism, especially George James view on stolen Egyptian history. One
notable response to his provocative book was Mary LefkowitzsNot Out of Africa, which
refutes that Greeks couldnt have gotten all of their ideas from Egypt because there was
no trustworthy communication between them. She uses Herodotus, a Greek historian
known to be unreliable, to show that many Greeks attempted to write about the
Egyptians, but cant be taken for word. She also states that it was difficult for Greeks to
even travel to Egypt during Persian rule, so if they learned about Egypt from any natives,
they were received faulty information.7Lefkowitz is not the first to write against
Afrocentric historians; many scholars have written in ill favor of certain Afrocentric
concepts, and continue to do so today.
There are many reasons why one might be against Afrocentric claims, since it
threatens the authenticity of Western Culture as a whole. However, there is so much
proof of African achievement andEuropean racism that makes it apparent that the notion
of an a-historic is a complete myth. Religion, for one, between the Ancient Egyptians and
Christianity has been found to be strikingly similar. Some themes that can be found of
Egyptian religion are the creation of the universe, the creation of man and his role in the
universal scheme.8The people of the Nile Valley were also the first to express a
profound belief of eternal life. Their Declarations of Innocence are also very
7Mary Lefkowitz. Ancient Myths of Cultural Dependency,Not Out of Africa, (New
York: Basic Books, 1996) p. 238Anthony Browder, Nile Valley Religion, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization,
(Washington DC: the Institute of Karmic Guidance, 1992) p. 27
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comparable to the morals stated in the Ten Commandments.9With all of these similarities
between the Egyptian and Christian religions, its almost impossible to not question what
other ideas were traded between Egyptians and the Europeans during antiquity.
Another issue that makes it clear that a-historic Africa is a myth is the amount
of racism projected on Africans during the time that this notion came to exist. When the
first modern contacts between Africa and Europe were established, Europe had already
become fascinated with rapidly developing technology. When Africans didnt have the
new guns or cannons that they had, they became fixated on converting them to be more
modern and civilizedpeople. They used the White Mans burden to suggest that they
wanted to help the Africans, when all they really wanted to conquer their rich resources
when the Industrial Revolution came around.10
For these reasons the Negro Myth cannot
be true, since Africans were projected as inferior in the name of power and greed.
Since the 15th
century, the outlook on Africa has been poor, and it continues to
suffer to this day. Because of Africas isolation, lack of communication, and racism,
Africa is now seen as a wasteland, and a place that is plagued by poverty and unrest. It is
the truth, however, that Africa has much more to offer the world, and that its people
have accomplished more than what is portrayed in the media. Ancient Egypt has proved
that, but there even more to be said about Africa and its dynamic culture. In the end,
what everyone should do is be conscious of what information they are being fed, and to
be more curious about the world they live in. If they all did that, many myths, including
the Negro Myth, would be debunked.
9ibid
10Curtis Keim, The Origins of Darkest Africa,Mistaking AfricaCuriosities and
Inventions of the American Mind, (Boulder: Westview Press, 2014) pp. 41-45
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