ARE YOU AFRICAN?

Posted on 23. Mar, 2009 by The Muse in The Muse

January 20, 2009 will be remembered in history for a million and one reasons (for those who are bad with dates like I am, it was the day President Barack Obama was inaugurated). A monumental date in black history but honestly, I will forever remember it for one reason and one reason alone. It was the only day the term “African” truly held any meaning amongst Africans. Nationality, statesmanship, religion, ethnicity, tribe, colonial history and language were all put aside and the whole of Africa celebrated him as one of their own. Or more appropriately, celebrated him as one of our own.

Even though just for a day, it took the achievements of a black American a continent away to give significance to the term African. To majority of Africans, that is exactly what it is - a “term”, we see it in the dictionary and we read it in magazines/newspapers and hear it on the news. It certainly has not brought us any closer as a people. I find it ironic how Africans abroad are outspoken about racism and are quick to oppose such attitudes and thoughts when Africa continues to be plagued by a pandemic in the form of “tribalism”.

Tribalism is a socio-political crisis that has brought about poverty, exploitation and genocide in Africa. Unfortunately, it continues to be the only commonality amongst African countries (Sudan, Angola, Nigeria, Rwanda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal…the list goes on).

If only the Kwame Nkrumah, Amilcar Cabral, Frantz Fanon & Co. could see their beloved Africa now…

Some blame it on hundred years of colonialism and the attempt by colonial masters to unify Africa’s over 800 existing tribes along national lines. This has led to the conclusion that the Europeans “divided” Africa by “uniting” Africa (might have to read that twice to catch my drift). And there is most certainly an element of truth in such statements and that is why I am angered by the way western media continuously portray Africans as incapable of governing themselves ever-ignoring the fact that they created the problems in the first place (For interested parties who might think this is an overstatement, King Leopold of Belgium’s execution of over 8 million Congolese in his bid to access Congo’s mineral resources is a genocide that outranks any that has occurred in the 20th century, a historical barbarity that has been conveniently forgotten – “ethnic cleansing” began long before Congo could dream of independence).

Cases in point;

Nigeria - Lord Lugard forced more than 250 ethnic groups involving today’s 130 million people into one political unit – Post civil war (Biafra) some argue that the colonialists went overboard in the quest for unity.

Uganda - The British fashioned a country out of a mixture of Nilotic and Bantu peoples, despite the fact they had been antagonists for centuries. The country fell apart as soon as the British departed. “Idi Amin’s murderous regime was the product of tribal enmity, not the cause”.

Sudan - The British merged together not just diverse African tribes but Arabs and Christians, two religious groups which clearly did not want to co-exist in nor as one state. War erupted 50 years ago, long before oil was even discovered in Sudan.

Sudan is African tribalism in its extreme. While some might argue that tribalism is the glue that holds ordinary society together, it is also the gunpowder that can tear it part when politics, economics and inequality combine to ignite the charge. We lull ourselves into a false sense of community/nationality but as soon as conflict erupts, the wrong name/language/religious belief or even the wrong tribal marks can sentence one to death.

In the words of Muzi Dlamini, a Swazi is more of a Swazi than a citizen of Swaziland, in the same way a Zulu is more of a Zulu than he is a South African citizen, and an Ndebele is more Ndebele than they are Zimbabwean/South African. A Shona is more Shona than they are Zambians/Zimbabwean. Tribal belonging is valued more than national identity. I agree that tribalism is at the heart of African history and culture and plays an important role within society.

But, the question remains, at what point do we begin to see ourselves as AFRICAN, at what point do we begin to see ourselves not just as a continent but as ONE PEOPLE. At what point do we see past the language, see past religion, see past colonial history, see past ethnicity and see past nationality/statesmanship. When do we begin to truly see? When do you begin to not just see me for me but see me as you see yourself?

For when I see you, I do not see a religion/tribe/language/ethnicity/country, I see another African. So my question to you is ARE YOU AFRICAN?

“Others may hate you, but those who hate you don’t win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself” Richard Nixon.

The Muse

Tags: africa, muse, The Muse, tribalism