Commentarv
4/ Black Ink
People of African Descent, Who Are We?
Page 10
October 9
By Joel Winful
Contributor
Hello, my fellow American brothers and sisters of African
descent. The days of Coloreds and Negroes are behind us. But tell
me, are we Blacks, African-Americans, Afro-Americans, or maybe
even. Afros?! You may say “oh no, not that topic again,” but the
issue remains to be solved. Let’s define ourselves as a group,
before someone else does.
Many people, myself included, feel that we can do with a better
name than just blacks. In both literature and custom, the word
black has symbolized death, night, sadness and or evil, for ages.
Pardon me for saying so, but the word black will probably always
continue to carry those connotations. The usage of the word is not
a racist plot; actually it has little to do with us as a people, directly.
Regardless, we people of African descent do tend to get offended
by this negative baggage being associated with “our race.” When
a New York Times writer says, “It was a black day on the stock
market today, the Dow fell 52 points in low trading,” many of us
feel anger inside.
1 say let the name go. Our people are stmggling with lots of
other negative images already, why hold on to a name that just
heaps on loads more? The name doesn’t do us justice, it lacks a
geographical, cultural or historical identity. What it doesn’t lack is
a vast amount of negative imagery which dates back to ancient
times. Why should we short change ourselves? Let’s face up to it.
White Americans aren’t just white. They are “White” only in
relation to us being “Black.” Tme, their group name also lacks any
cultural significance; butmost Whites knowtheirhistory, and their
ethnic origins, whether Irish, German, Polish, or Italian, however
distant they may now be. On the other hand, we of African descent
do not know our heritage. Can we afford to have a name as
insignificant as a mere color? Really, look on any important
documents you might fill out; Hispanics and Latinos aren’t
“Browns,” Orientals and Asians aren’t “Yellows,” Native Ameri
cans aren’t “Reds!” It would reduce them to mere aayons, and
frankly I don’t think they would stand for it, they are too culturally
aware and proud to define themselves in relation to the White
person’s label. But we go on with our worn out, self-imposed,
crayon wrapper.
What of the name African-American? Definite geographical
and historical ties exist in the name. However, some people insist
that Americans of African descent are so far removed from Afri
cans, that the name says and presumes too much, it makes them
uneasy. Well what of the name Afro-Americans? It shows the
historical linkage to Africa, but in a somewhat toned down
manner. That name also allows room for the fact that, yes we are
of African descent, but many of us do have other races mixed in
as well. Some opponents of the term Afro-American, think it
doesn’t say enough, others feel that it is simply linking our race to
an outdated hairstyle.
Many of us like the argument that both Afro-Americans and
African-Americans are both too long to say and write, so we prefer
Blacks. Well under that premise, what about something short yet
positives, or at least not negatives. How about Afams, short for Af
rican-Americans? Possibly, Homies, Souls, Funkies, Darks, Cools,
Prouds, Buppies, or maybe we should check the box that says
“Other.” The point I am making is, I don’t feel we should choose
shortness over substance when deciding our group’s name. I
wouldn’t mind if we called ourselves DePees, short for Dark
People, if we could come to some consensus of agreement on it.
We just need something new, and preferably positive to call
ourselves. I will use the term African-American in my writing until
a descision has been reached. Maybe the Diaspora (dy-as-pora)
can show you why I prefer to use that term.
The Diaspora is the spreading out of people from their land of
native origin, to countries all around the world. It follows, in the
Diaspora framework that no matter where the people from the
original country, in this case Africa, were relocated or settled, they
shared many common experiences. These experiences can and
should be tied together intoa larger global view, or understanding
of the group of people in question.
There are several characteristics that are uniting factors in the
experiences of African people in the Diaspora.Firstly, in most
areas in the Diaspora, people of African descent have been
exposed to quite sever treatment and thorough western cultural
indoctrination; but cultural linkages have survived nevertheless.
Examples of these linkages are seen in African-American ex
tended families, and methods of religious worship. Another
common experience most African descendants have been in
volved with is the struggle against political and economic sup
pression. Nearly all of them, worldwide, have had to fight very
hard to gain rights, or to aeate a political voice for change within
their new society. Thirdly, and most importantly, people in the
African Diaspora usually have sources of dual or multiple per
sonal identity. Sometimes this sense of dual belonging is referred
to as being bicultural. The primary source of identity will un
doubtedly be with the country that they reside in, or are a citizen
of. The secondary source of identity, usually to African or African-
influenced customs, is important to the person on more of an in
dividual basis; and may become more important to the person
from time to time.
Throughout American history, because of eurocentric view
points, historians failed to see the validity existent in the estab
lished cultures of indigenous African groups. Africans, brought to
the U.S. as slaves, were thought to be heathen and needed to be
westernized. When one group sets out to change another group’s
culture, instead of mutually benefiting from both cultures, there
will be unaviodable conflict. I believe this to be the case, even if
one group genuinely desires to “uplift” or “save the souls oP’ the
other, there will still be conflict; regardless of religious beliefs, and
good intentions.
In the state of Virginia, home of Thomas Jefferson, third
president 1801-1809;James Madison, fourth president 1809-1817;
and James Monroe, fifth president 1817-1825; the issue of what to
do with African-Americans was a matter of prime concern in the
early 1800’s. As a matter of fact, in the early 1800’s, 40 percent of
all African-Amerians in the U.S. lived in the state of Virginia. All of
the formerly mentioned Virginians were staunch supporters of
plans to rid the U.S. of African-Americans by deportation. Patrick
Henry, another revered statesman from Virginia, expressed the
concerns of many people when he said in the 1780’s, “Our coun
try will be peopled. The question is shall it be with Europeans or
with Africans?” My answer to Patrick Henry’s question is: it has
been peopled with both of the above, but mostly with Americans.
His was such a worry by the mid 1800’s, that an African colony,
Liberia, was created as a place to retum American slaves. It was
founded during James Monroe’s presidency, and its capitol
Monrovia, is named after him.
I believe that it is quite ironic, and somewhat astounding that
200 years after Patrick Henry’s poignant statements, things un
folded as they have today. In November 1989, the state of Virginia
elected L. Douglas Wilder, as the first African-American governor
in the U.S. history. Ironic that this happened is the birthplace of the
effort to rid the U. S. of African-Americans. That twist of events just
shows the unpredictability of history. It also illustrates how the
African Diaspora framework can be used to help one understand
and appreciate the events in our world, and how we indeed fit in.
Just as the Diaspora showed us that previous, somewhat
pleasant irony, it also reveals troubling ones. Arising from the long
standing historical contempt for Africa, is a very sad aspect of the
African Diaspora: the problem of stratification of people of Afri
can descent by color within societies. This problem still exists in
the U.S. today, and is present in other places as well. A sociologist
looking at the situation commented, “It is no less ironic for all its
inevitability that [African-Americans], who were and who remain
the prime subjects of color disaimination, adopted color as an
index of social worth.” People of African descent in western
societies have found that power and freedom were represented
by white, and slavery and frustration were represented by black,
therefore color became a visual status indicator. Among our own
people, lighter on the scale became praised, and darker became
resented. The underlying evil present in this hypothesis, as well
as within African-Amerk:an society must be confronted and dis
mantled. Black, Colored, Afro-American, Negro, light, medium,
and dark, brothers and sisters, we need to work toward group
unity! Only then can African-Americans get past minute issues like
finding an appropriate name, and unite to address the larger
problems facing us all, and strive to be the most successful human
beings that we can be.
Joel K. Winful is a senior Political science/African Studies
major from Atlanta, GA