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30 April 2012 Final Paper: Question III Tedros A. Balema

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Final Paper

Question III

Over the course of our class concerning various Diasporas, we have seen the diverse range of

experiences and circumstances of what their Diaspora consists of and what legitimises their

experiences as a Diaspora. When one thinks of Diasporas one traditionally thinks of Jews as

the ideal example.1 The traditional definition of Diaspora before the colonial era was very

specific: it referred to the exile of the Jews from their homeland and their subsequence

dispersal throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.2 However within the post-colonial world we

see that the definition of Diaspora has changed because through studying the experiences of

many ethnic groups they seem to share common traits. Such as being away from the

perceived homeland; in addition, they attempt or maintain connections with the homeland

and are perceived as an “other” by the host society.

In the colonial era one could see the dispersion of various peoples on a larger scale.

One such group of peoples would be the West Africans in the New World. Africans were

brought to the New World through the Trans-Atlantic route as slaves to provide unskilled

labour needed to work the plantations, gold mines and build the infrastructure of the

European colonies. The African Diaspora has many similarities with the traditional Jewish

Diasporic experience. Like the Jews, there is a common trauma that uprooted them away

from their homeland. The trauma of first being physically captured (through African or

European raiders), shipped en masse through the infamous Middle Passage and finally put in

1 William Safran. Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and Return. Boulder, CO: University of

Colorado, 1991.

2

Safran, 84




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a situation of coerced labour are all very traumatic events to both individual African and to

groups of people, as attested by Olaudah Equiano.3

In terms of the classification system we adopted in class, the West African Diaspora is

clearly a “Victim Diaspora” because of the common traumatic events that comes with

becoming a slave and being a slave; which included the experience of being separated from

one’s native environment, the perils of the overseas journey, seasoning, beatings, resale and

forced labour.4 However we see that there is a greater focus on the movement of Africans to

the West than the East (the Arab-Islamic world) this is because unlike the East, Africans were

not absorbed into the host society. In the East, African slaves were predominantly female; the

children produced by a slave and her master were not automatically slaves like in the West.

They were instead counted as legitimate children of that master and hence would be

considered and raised as an Arab/Muslim.5 As a result the “Africaness” or outsider status of

the slave mother’s children dies with the mother.

In the West, however, we see that the nature of slavery was very unique because it

was racialised. This means that Africans and their descendants were normally slaves and

hence perceived with an eye of inferiority or contempt.6 This is important to note because

within the New World colonial society this paradigm dictated how the dominant

White/European culture would interact with their non-white subjects. Due to this mentality

we see that the Africans or Blacks would have a complicated relationship with their white

masters depending on the colonies they lived in. In the case of the United States, we see that

3 Olaudah Equiano. Equiano's Travels; the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus

Vassa, the African. New York: Praeger, 1967.

4 Robin Cohen. Global Diasporas: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2008.

5Michael A. Gomez. Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2008

6

Gomez, 109




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although the Blacks speak English (the language of the host society), dressed in the same

manner, followed the Christian faith and had a lot of similar moral/ethical views they were

still and often perceived as an unwanted “other” by White society.7

This social exclusion highlights their position as a Diasporic community. The host

society clearly marked them out as an alien populace and as a result many Blacks felt that

they were part of a different culture, a Black/Negro culture, since they were not fully

accepted as part of the host’s culture. During the early nineteenth to mid-twentieth century

we see that Blacks start defining their own culture through literature, arts and even

reconnecting with colonised Africa yet but still see themselves as US-citizens who deserve

same rights and privileges that an ordinary white man had.8 For example, Paul Cuffee,

Marcus Garvey and others encouraged American Blacks to connect or relocate to Africa. Yet,

most African Americans rejected colonisation and preferred full civil rights within the US. In

sum, we see that the Blacks do qualify as a Diasporic group because of their foreign ancestry,

their involuntary immigration, the host society’s discriminatory and exclusionary practices

that prevents them from assimilating and how they (the Blacks) define themselves as a

distinct ethno-cultural group in that host’s society.

Meanwhile when one looks at the Jews in the colonial realm we see a very interesting

mesh of perspectives. An interesting case would be that of French Jews. France, like many

European states in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, started thinking of itself as a

nation-state. In which membership is not defined by faith, ethnicity or race but rather by

citizenship. As a result, Jews were finally emancipated and given citizenship in 1791, during

7 Gomez, 162

8

Gomez, 195




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the French Revolution.9 Such a declaration meant that Jews could officially start assimilating

themselves in French society.

However what is really is interesting was the French Jewish concerns in Algeria. By

the mid-19th

century France had already colonised Algeria and made it a department of the

French state. Although Algeria was made an integral part of the French mainland, its people

were not. Berbers and Arabs (who were predominantly Muslims) were clearly not counted as

French citizens.10 Meanwhile Algerian Jews living there were put in an odd situation. In

1870, Algerian Jews were declared citizens by the Décrets Crémieux. The decree was passed

due to pressure from the continental French Jewish community. The decree, however, was

passed under the assumption that North African Jews were "backward" and hence had to be

forcefully brought into modernity.11 This is clearly an imperialistic sentiment that is very

similar to how French colonisers would perceive their subjects in Africa and Asia, where the

indigenous people were “backward” and needed the French to “civilise” them.

Both types of Jews had lacked of Diasporic consciousness. French Jews they had

become increasingly assimilated into French society where they thought themselves as

primarily French and even to the point of adopting French imperial attitudes. Algerian Jews,

prior to the French conquests they were counted as dhimmi; religious non-Muslim minorities

who were given protection by the state. In terms of culture they spoke a dialect of Arabic,

they were familiar with Arabic literature, art and science and also they had cultural practices

similar to their Muslim neighbours of the time such as polygamy.12 In terms of culture the

9 “ Jewish Life in Europe before the Holocaust ." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 30 Apr.

2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007689>.

10 Joshua Schreier. Arabs of the Jewish Faith: The Civilizing Mission in Colonial Algeria. New Brunswick, NJ:

Rutgers UP, 2010.

11 Schreier, 124

12 F. D Richards. The Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star. Vol. 29. London: Latter-Day Saints Depot, 1867.




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two groups, both Jewish and Diasporic, were completely different with one reflecting the

imperial metropole while the other reflected the colony.

Although the granting of citizenship to the Algerian Jews by the French state had

many benefits, it came with a price. The decree grouped the Algerian Jews with the detested

Pieds-noirs (white settlers) and the French colonial administration detested by the indigenous

Muslims. This meant when the Algerian war of independence erupted in the 1960s the

Algerian Jews were targeted along with the Pied-noirs.13 This resulted in many Jews leaving

Algeria and moving to France or Israel. It seems that the post-colonial world was when the

Algerian Jewish Diasporic consciousness became more apparent. Since Algerian Jews were

kicked out of their homes in Algeria and forced to flee. When some moved to Israel, they

now had to assume a new national identity; although Israel in the Jewish liturgy is considered

the “homeland” the modern state is not quite the same thing14. This “homeland” is more of a

spiritual reality, not necessarily a physical one. If anything, to an Algerian Jew his immediate

homeland was Algeria; In the same sense to a French Jew his immediate homeland would be

France but in both cases the spiritual/religious homeland is Israel.

Somehow in terms of Diasporic classifications it would seem that the Algerian Jews,

already in Diaspora, counted first as victim Diaspora (due to the sacking of Jerusalem in

antiquity or the migration/expulsion of the Spanish and Italian Jews during the middle-ages)

and trade based since Algeria was on the Mediterranean trade routes and some Jews used for

commerce as merchants. However, it seemed that after the 1870 French decree, the Algerian

Jews found themselves in a sort of institutional Diaspora in which they no longer counted as

part of the predominantly Arabic speaking culture but are counted as French citizens and part

13 Schreier, 160

14 Raymond P Scheindlin. A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary times to Modern Statehood .

New York: Oxford UP, 2000.




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of the much hated colonial administration. At the same time the Algerian Jews now have to

adopt a foreign culture because the previous culture they had was considered incompatible

with the modern world. As a result the Algerian Jews seem to be in a cultural limbo, a

cultural Diaspora where they were uprooted from one culture and transplanted into another

without any consultation. Unsurprisingly they didn’t assimilate easily into the new culture.15

In the case of the South Asian Diaspora we see a much more direct relationship with

the colonial system, seeing that their Diaspora is predominantly a product of the colonial

imperial system. In the colonial era, what was then called India (modern day India, Pakistan

and Bangladesh) was part of the British colonial empire. The empire in 1833 abolished

slavery in all her holdings; with the exception of Ceylon, Saint Helena and possessions of the

East India Company which were later repealed.16 This meant that territories that the British

empire possessed which depended heavily on West African slaves as a source of unskilled

labour now had to find a new cheap source of unskilled labour since many former slaves no

longer had any inclination to stay on the mines and plantations of their former masters. 17 This

results in the creation of the indentured labour system. This system of recruitment of labour

ensured that the territories where the British had a lack of cheap unskilled labourers now had

them readily available. 18 These indentured labourers or “coolies” were clearly in a state one

would call a labour Diaspora considering that these South Asians were shipped to the

colonies solely for the purpose of providing cheap unskilled labour. 19

15 Schreier, 180

16 William Loney. United Kingdom. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Slavery Abolition Act 1833; Section

LXIV . London, 1833.

17 Judith M. Brown. Global South Asians: Introducing the Global Diaspora. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP,

2006.

18 Brown, 30

19 Brown, 34




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What is interesting is that a large number of these labourers remained behind in the

colonies they were shipped to. While in their new homes, these transplanted Indians didn’t

rush to assimilate within the Afro-European Caribbean culture. One could see that many

Indians felt the need to preserve their culture; this included superficial trappings such as

decorations from a distant memory, preservation of traditional eating habits and cuisine hence

resulting in their subsequent isolation from the rest of the other peoples of the region.20

These

traits are clearly very diasporic since they show an obvious yearning to recreate the perceived

homeland, South Asia in this instance.

Another aspect that makes these Indo-Caribbean peoples Diasporic is how they relate

to other South Asian peoples. In the text written by Naipaul we see that Indo-Caribbean

peoples are not perceived as “true Indians” by South Asians from the subcontinent. An

example of this gulf between homelanders and the Diasporic implies that the feeling of being

Diasporic also suggests a cultural limbo. They were often perceived as a foreign element by

the host society and at the same time as a foreign or superficial offshoot by the peoples of the

perceived homeland 21

.

The South Asian case also displays elements of an imperial Diaspora. When one looks

at the term imperial Diaspora we see that South Asians wouldn’t count as such considering

that there has never has been an extensive South Asian overseas empire. However some

South Asian ethnic groups have been used on behalf of the British Empire to serve in their

armies and navies in order to police, protect and even expand the holdings of the Empire. One

such ethnic group were the Sikhs. In the ethno-racial hierarchy of the colonial era, the Sikhs

20 V. S Naipaul and Mishra Pankaj. Literary Occasions: Essays. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

21

Naipaul, 189




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were considered a “martial race”.22

This meant that the Sikhs were stereotyped to be a people

racially fit for military service. Under the British, Sikhs of the Punjab were shipped off to

Hong Kong, Malaya, and even British East Africa (modern day Kenya, Uganda and later

Tanzania).23 In either case, both imperial and labour, clearly served British imperial interests

and as a result created the perception that these Diasporic South Asians were definitely part

of the much detested colonial system.

It was not surprising that when independence came to many of these colonies, the

South Asian communities were definitely subject to suspicion and even became targets of

abuse, the extreme case being the forced deportation of “Asians” from Uganda under the Idi

Amin regime.24

This colonial legacy marked the South Asian community out as outsiders

regardless of how much they assimilated (since they were marked out as a distinct group,

they did not assimilate very much) since a lot of the rhetoric of independence movement in

Africa and many parts of Asia tended to possess a nationalist element. This means by default

the South Asians would not be considered full allies of such movements; firstly they are not

indigenous to the region (Eastern Africa and South-East Asia).25

Secondly and perhaps most

importantly, they were brought to the region to serve the interests of the British colonial

system. This exclusion on the part of the indigenous peoples enhanced the foreignness of the

South Asians and, as I have mentioned before in the case of the Indo-Caribbean migrants,

made the South Asians go inward for their sense of community. This does have a parallel

with the Jewish case in which, Eastern European Jews were often perceived of as an desired

22 Brown, 17

23 Brown, 18

24 Brown, 48

25

Brown, 47




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foreign element and hence suffered many attacks from the indigenous people, forcing many

to go inward for a sense of community.26

Through this paper I have looked at three distinct groups of people with very different

circumstances within the colonial world, regardless whether it’s the French, Anglo-American

or the British system. It would seem that for a people to be Diasporic it is not enough to be

simply placed in a foreign land because there is always the chance of assimilation and hence

the disappearance of that people as a distinct culture. This means that to be a Diasporic

population, one must not only consider their physical displacement but their relationship to

the host society and homeland. It would seem that in many cases Diasporic populations are

often prevented from assimilating whether it’s due to the prejudice of the host society (in the

case of West Africans in the Americas) or the legacy of the colonial past (in the case of

Indians in East Africa); either way, there must be a distinction between host and the

perceived foreigner.

At the same time there also has to be a distinction between the Diasporic and the

people still in the perceived homeland ; if we look at the case of the Indo-Caribbeans although

they perceive themselves as Indian they are perceived of as an “other” by Indians from the

sub-continent. Another example was when Langston Hughs on his travels tried to bond with

the Africans on the ship to Africa, with the American definition of blackness as a basis for

kinship with darker skinned Africans, he was laughed at and called a white man due to his

mulato appearance. Thus there must be an acknowledgement on the part of the Diasporic

society that they do not belong in their new host society and some kind of separateness or

distinction from their perceived brethren back in the homeland.

26

Scheindlin, 174




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As time progresses in the modern age I feel that as new economic opportunities and

socio-political developments occur around the world, we should be seeing more Diasporas as

people move to new lands for greener pastures. At the same time the definition of Diaspora

may be further loosened to not just include disenfranchised and formerly colonised peoples

but it may even be extended to peoples of European descent. As the concept of Diaspora is

further deconstructed to include new sets of circumstances, however the use of the word

“Diaspora” outside the Jewish definition is still being developed and hence is opens to

debate.

Bibliography

· Brown, Judith M. Global South Asians: Introducing the Global Diaspora. Cambridge,

UK: Cambridge UP, 2006.

· Cohen, Robin. Global Diasporas: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2008.

· Equiano, Olaudah. Equiano's Travels; the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah

Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. New York: Praeger, 1967.

· Gomez, Michael A. Reversing Sail: A History of the African Diaspora. Cambridge,

UK: Cambridge UP, 2008.

· Loney, William. United Kingdom. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Slavery

Abolition Act 1833; Section LXIV . London, 1833.

· Naipaul, V. S., and Pankaj Mishra. Literary Occasions: Essays. New York: Alfred A.

Knopf, 2003.




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· Richards, F. D. The Latter-Day Saints' Millennial Star. Vol. 29. London: Latter-Day

Saints Depot, 1867.

· Safran, William. Diasporas in Modern Societies: Myths of Homeland and Return.

Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, 1991.

· Scheindlin, Raymond P. A Short History of the Jewish People: From Legendary times

to Modern Statehood . New York: Oxford UP, 2000.

· Schreier, Joshua. Arabs of the Jewish Faith: The Civilizing Mission in Colonial

Algeria. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2010.

· " Jewish Life in Europe before the Holocaust ." United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.

<http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007689>.

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