Mzungu mchagga
aimless wanderer
Hey there,
recently there have already been lots of discussions in this forum about what makes a certain culture superior or inferior to others, what has history shown and what are the reasons for it. Everyone came up with his own explanation, and in the end all explanations differed widely (climate, religion, mentality, genetics, even nutrition played a role). In the end it has always been Sub-Saharan Africa or black people in general as the best example of world history's worst performer.
Having lived in Tanzania, occasionally at a local family, with an African girlfriend (of Chagga tribe, got it?
), also deep in touch with other white people, Indians, Christian and Muslim culture, and a job at a psychiatry, I just didn't get around being confronted with a lot of questions, among other things why black people around the world perform so bad. The economic strength of southern Africa is at world's bottom, so is the social status of blacks in all mixed cultures. All the explanations basically swayed between these two extremes:
The first one was: “It is the aggressiveness of the non-black world, especially white European Western world, which doesn't allow black people to do any better. There is something like a (subconscious) racism among all Whites, that sets obstacles in front of blacks in order to let them be subdued, in small private as well as on international basis. In order to help the Pan-African World, we need to educate white people to let racism be and give black people the capital to allow them to do their own business.”
The second went like: ”Black people already had enough time to improve their conditions! Slavery, colonialism, and now even segregation are all long ago, Blacks had their opportunity! Ever wondered why black students and nations are doing so bad compared to other post-colonial people and countries? Asians are by far better! We can't deny differences in mental abilities anymore, but that doesn't imply blacks are less valuable human beings. We can live either side by side, or even in a harmonic symbiosis together, as we do with and therefor need our digestive bacteria.”
When hearing this my ears keep bleeding! And in either way I feel attacked. With this thread I don't want to give any answers, but just want to share some of my deep observations, experiences and impressions I have made with African culture, compared to European. Later on it will inevitable lead to the questions “Does it make sense to impose Western values on other cultures?”, “Is development aid necessary or helpful?”, “Are cultural differences based on genetic abilities?”. But we can go deeper into that later on! My impressions first:
Hierarchy
Not that Europeans don't know any hierarchy between social classes, people's age, sexes or ethnic background (YES, even that exists in Europe!), but in Africa it has completely different dimensions. The aims, thoughts and activities of people with a higher status, like of wealth, age, sex, clan status, are NEVER questioned. It is the sole right of the most powerful to do what ever he wants to, and all the others are his devoted subjects. For me it was always impossible to do a good team work formed out of a group of Africans, as the most powerful guy of the group was never questioned in his thoughts. As me being white, it were always my ideas unreflected taken over by the others.
Moreover, also crimes done by people of a higher status were often not questioned, as in this case it simply was no crime. So many things, regarded as crime in our eyes, like corruption, were no crime on African standards. Anyhow they are of course hidden in front of others, as the out-coming makes life more complicated. If the one in power shows any weakness, he will inevitable lose respect and soon his power.
Family Matters
Very simple and short, blood is heavier than water! It is the family, or further extended the clan, Africans feel devoted to, not the whole society or nation or unknown stranger. Even though national identities do sometimes exist, it is the family that goes first. Paying taxes for a welfare state that helps people far away you have never met, while at the same time your granny suffers alone with dementia at an old people's home? Unbelievable and unheard of in Tanzania! But on the other hand, if welfare and insurances do not exist, or you can't pay them, what other help do you have besides your family? Sadly this also applies to politics, were the families of politicians go first and political parties are based only on family bounds and friends, not on abstract ideologies.
recently there have already been lots of discussions in this forum about what makes a certain culture superior or inferior to others, what has history shown and what are the reasons for it. Everyone came up with his own explanation, and in the end all explanations differed widely (climate, religion, mentality, genetics, even nutrition played a role). In the end it has always been Sub-Saharan Africa or black people in general as the best example of world history's worst performer.
Having lived in Tanzania, occasionally at a local family, with an African girlfriend (of Chagga tribe, got it?
), also deep in touch with other white people, Indians, Christian and Muslim culture, and a job at a psychiatry, I just didn't get around being confronted with a lot of questions, among other things why black people around the world perform so bad. The economic strength of southern Africa is at world's bottom, so is the social status of blacks in all mixed cultures. All the explanations basically swayed between these two extremes:The first one was: “It is the aggressiveness of the non-black world, especially white European Western world, which doesn't allow black people to do any better. There is something like a (subconscious) racism among all Whites, that sets obstacles in front of blacks in order to let them be subdued, in small private as well as on international basis. In order to help the Pan-African World, we need to educate white people to let racism be and give black people the capital to allow them to do their own business.”
The second went like: ”Black people already had enough time to improve their conditions! Slavery, colonialism, and now even segregation are all long ago, Blacks had their opportunity! Ever wondered why black students and nations are doing so bad compared to other post-colonial people and countries? Asians are by far better! We can't deny differences in mental abilities anymore, but that doesn't imply blacks are less valuable human beings. We can live either side by side, or even in a harmonic symbiosis together, as we do with and therefor need our digestive bacteria.”
When hearing this my ears keep bleeding! And in either way I feel attacked. With this thread I don't want to give any answers, but just want to share some of my deep observations, experiences and impressions I have made with African culture, compared to European. Later on it will inevitable lead to the questions “Does it make sense to impose Western values on other cultures?”, “Is development aid necessary or helpful?”, “Are cultural differences based on genetic abilities?”. But we can go deeper into that later on! My impressions first:
Hierarchy
Not that Europeans don't know any hierarchy between social classes, people's age, sexes or ethnic background (YES, even that exists in Europe!), but in Africa it has completely different dimensions. The aims, thoughts and activities of people with a higher status, like of wealth, age, sex, clan status, are NEVER questioned. It is the sole right of the most powerful to do what ever he wants to, and all the others are his devoted subjects. For me it was always impossible to do a good team work formed out of a group of Africans, as the most powerful guy of the group was never questioned in his thoughts. As me being white, it were always my ideas unreflected taken over by the others.
Moreover, also crimes done by people of a higher status were often not questioned, as in this case it simply was no crime. So many things, regarded as crime in our eyes, like corruption, were no crime on African standards. Anyhow they are of course hidden in front of others, as the out-coming makes life more complicated. If the one in power shows any weakness, he will inevitable lose respect and soon his power.
Family Matters
Very simple and short, blood is heavier than water! It is the family, or further extended the clan, Africans feel devoted to, not the whole society or nation or unknown stranger. Even though national identities do sometimes exist, it is the family that goes first. Paying taxes for a welfare state that helps people far away you have never met, while at the same time your granny suffers alone with dementia at an old people's home? Unbelievable and unheard of in Tanzania! But on the other hand, if welfare and insurances do not exist, or you can't pay them, what other help do you have besides your family? Sadly this also applies to politics, were the families of politicians go first and political parties are based only on family bounds and friends, not on abstract ideologies.
)
), and second until about the 1960's Blacks were practically kept away from Whites, so it was not possible to assimilate. LeBrok, have you actually read my posts above? Please go back to post #7!
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