^^Black Inl^
Endsights:
Endsights
Page 11
December 3
4/
An afrocentric philosophy is needed. The essen
tial purpose is not to destroy eurocentnc views
but to identify or emphasize the role of Africa
and its people in the creation of world civiliza
tions by placing them at the center or near the
center of one's perception of their own culture
By Carlton Wilson
Contributor
In the foreword of Molefi Asante’s hoo^Afrocen-
tricity, Kariamir Welsh asks the questions: what is an
afrocentric philosophy and why is there a need for such
a philosophy? These questions should be posed to all
students both young and old, black and white.
Those who observe the sentiments of college students
across the nation have noticed an increase in black aware
ness among black students and even some white students.
This awareness is primarily displayed by an increasing
interest in black studies courses and the popularity of dis
playing some type of symbolic identification, e.g. the
wearing of ornaments or clothing, expressing a relation
ship with Africa. Recendy I asked a student who was
wearing a bracelet made of cowrie shell and a badge made
of kente cloth if he knew what those Afrocentric styles
symbolized? His vague response was, "I think they have
something to do with Africa." This is a minor reason why
there is a need for an afrocentric philosophy that stresses
the central role of Africa and people of African descent in
the development of cultures and civilizations throughout
the world. Generations of students and teachers have been
educated from a eurocentric perspective that has
downplayed or totally ignored African and the people of
African descent. As Carter G. Woodson asserted, this has
caused a substantial amount of mis-education. In order to
at least create a balance, blacks need to do more than wear
symbols. An afrocentric philosophy is needed. The essen
tial purpose is not to destroy eurocentric views but to
identify or emphasize the role of Africa and its people in the
creation of world civilizations by placing them at the center
of one’s perception of their own culture.
However, there are those, both students and teachers,
black and white, who will not even recognize a need or the
validity of an afrocentric philosophy. But even these indi
viduals must at least make a serious effort to acknowledge
the position of Africa and Africans in shaping cultures and
societies from Europe to the Americas, from antiquity to
the present. For example, the study of Greek and Roman
civilization should naturally include the presence of blacks
in antiquity, and studies of European societies should
recognize black people and black communities in Europe.
Furthermore, it is just as significant to study blacks in
colonial America or any other period of American history
as it is to examine the English, the Italians, or the Irish. All
of them contributed to the creation of American ideals and
institutions. It is important to understand the enlightened
philosophy of aThomas Jefferson, but it is just as important
to examine how such an individual could be an owner of
slaves. If these issues are not properly addressed then the
lessons being taught and learned are incomplete and false
hoods are being perpetuated.
In addition, afrocentricity involves more than the taking
or teaching of a course. Blacks should examine their inner-
self and come to terms with their own black experience. At
the same time black people in America must become more
sensitive to the presence of a worldwide black experience.
The African Diaspora involves much more than the United
States. Likewise, whites need to continue to work at being
more sensitive to the conditions that affect blacks in Amer
ica and elsewhere. Recognizing the importance or useful
ness of afrocentricity would help them and others realize
and understand that the black experience involves much
more than slavery. While attending a recent conference I
was dismayed to hear a white historian state that black
history only became significant after the appearance of
Roots. Surely, this individual needs a dose of afrocen
tricity. He needs to start at the beginning and digest the
works of Chancellor Williams, Cheikh Diop, Ivan Van
Sertima, or Frank Snowden.
From the “afrocentric style-wearing” college student to
the college professor, a broader and more precise under
standing of the Black Experience is needed. Perhaps this
will help to deter what appears to be agrowing insensitivity
toward blacks on various college campuses and throughout
American society.
Express yourself about issues that concern
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Search For A Past
Brothers and sisters, it has come to my attention that
we are a lost people- a people without a past, a peoplb
with a dismal present and hopeless future. That is the
message we as African-Americans have come to know
and cling to in this country .But I am here to tell you that
it is not so. African-Americans have a history so rich
and significant that the establishment has struggled to
keep it hidden. To tell a people they have no begin
nings, they have no significant contributions to the
world is to tell an entire race they have no worth, that
they come from nothing and that that is all they may
ever hope to achieve in their lifetime. Since birth,
Mrican Americans have been told that what is black is
bad. Bad guys always wore black and even evil magic
was called black; It was on the TV, at the movies, in the
books they read to us atschool. As achild you were hard
pressed to find a black Barbie doll or a black GI Joe.
These were your heroes, and they were all white.
Nowhere in your history books were blacks mentioned
except that one paragraph on the slave trade and the one
on Martin Luther King, which your teacher because of
time constraints decided to skip over, So you secretly
wondered if the stereotypes were right Were my people
the lazy, shiftless miscreants that society made them
out to be, because it seems they have not contributed
anything to this world but fried chicken recipes and
family reunions. So white must be right and what I am
must be wrong. That^ my friends, is the riiessage we
have come to know and cling to. B ut it is time, African^
Americans, to putaway our childhood heroes and to
look up and see the light of anew day. We area people,
a beautiful, intelligent people to be reckoned with, who
have endured and contributed our blood, sweat and
tears to make this world a better place. But that fact and
many others are somehow forgotten and looked over in
our textbooks. As black men and women, boys and
girls, we have to find our past And in our search we find
new heroes with timeless causes and pursuits. Did you
know black men and women invented the first pencil
sharpener, lawn mower, gas mask, and indoor toilet?
No, you didn’t, and you never will if you don’t make
the time to go to the library, the museum, take as many
AFAM courses as you can and find your past, find your
people. This country was built on the whipped-raw
backs of our ancestors. We, as a people, have survived
so much. Our ancestors have endured so much^ paved
the way for us to enjoy freedoms that would have
seemed ludicrous 10 or 20 years ago. Now it is our turn.
Our turn to take the establishment’s racist rules and
statistics and shove them. Our turn to cross religious
and economic barriers and take a stand for our people.
For more than anything we are a surviving people, a
people who turn the odds in our favor and snatch the
whip from the master’s hands and crush it. Armed with
the facts and deep sense of pride, we are unstopable.
FEAR OF A BLACK NATION? I think so.-- Teresa
Jefferson
Dec. 10- The Veldt