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==Critique==
==Afrocentric shcolarship: let's try this again==
{{Criticism-section}}
Wiki prefers for all critique to be written into the article and not stand alone (as is happening here) as a way to discredit Afrocentrism. In other words the critique should be mered into the natural flow of the content which gives greater balance.<small><span class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) </span></small><!-- Template:Unsigned -->


::No. That is very clearly a desire on your part to have criticism become lost in the text. Examples of "reception" sections containing criticisms are numerous on Misplaced Pages. Precedent abounds. ] (]) 03:20, 15 September 2024 (UTC)
Hopefuly the following list of works will get us one step closer towards getting an historiographically balanced article with respects to Afroecentric scholarship; and hopefuly these will also prove useful to address the two opposite concerns &mdash; the argument against Afrocentric scholarship's vilification posed by DC, and the argument against its overrepresentation as and/or vs. scholarly consensus, as posed by WW. :


==Clean it up please ==
* <small>Molefi Kete Asante, "In search of an Afrocentric historiography," ''Congress International d'estudis Africans'', Barcelona, Jan 12-15, 2004.
Very messy, not only a massive criticism section which I am guilt of adding to. But it speaks to the politics behind this article. Where the criticism is almost as large as any serious content. The tone, the sweeping range of topics doesn't flow. Almost like a haters dumping ground. Not to mention a lack of reply from reliable Afrocentrics such as Asante.--] (]) 21:51, 25 July 2011 (UTC)


I agree, the article has again been butchered by Afrocentrist editors. "A reading of world history" indeed. It is full of weasel words and hilariously bizarre statements.
* <small>Walker, Clarence E. ''We Can't Go Home Again: An Argument about Afrocentrism''(Oxford University Press, 2000)
A deep revert or radical cleanup is needed, dumping all the apologetics and primary sources, basing it on encyclopedic secondary literature.


While it is very easy to keep white racism out of Misplaced Pages, black counter-racism is perpetually allowed to creep back in, no matter how many times we clean it up.
* <small> Marry R. Lefkowitz, "Teaching Ancient History Through Controversy," ''The Occasional Papers of the American Philological Association's Committee on Ancient History'' 1 (2002) 14&#8211;26
This is of course the US doctrine of ], which basically states that racism and pseudohistory is ok as long as you are a miniority. Needless to say, this may be permissible in US society, but it certainly isn't so on Wikipeida, which is an encyclopedia project with international scope and dedication to neutrality. --] <small>]</small> 11:02, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
:::Strange considering as an African editor i find it impossible to keep the white supremacy out of wikipedia. You can read a section on Africa and never see an African opinion. Like they are discussing a people who have not learned to write and speak. So I am not sure how much "counter racism" exist in this little tiny insignificant article" The problem is what is "OKAY" to the white is certainly not OKAY to the Black (still fighting for freedom). With an critique section larger than the rest of the content clearly Afrocentrics are not doing a good job of reverse racism.--] (]) 12:06, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
The fact that African opinions are not included is good, not bad. Misplaced Pages isn't meant to include opinions.
] (]) 02:45, 16 January 2013 (UTC)


This article concept seems to be very important for the readers but it consists of many major problems which is little hard to figure out. Firstly, as mentioned above it is very messy, confused and all the data is dropped and it needs clean up.
* <small>W. C. Banks. "The theoretical and methodological crisis of Afrocentric conception," ''Journal of Negro Education'', 61 (3), 1992, 262-272.
] (]) 11:51, 7 October 2013 (UTC)


Under Misplaced Pages's current polices it is impossible for this article to be unbiased.
* <small>Kwame Appiah, "Europe Upside Down: Fallacies of the New Afrocentrism," repreinted in ''Times Literary Supplement'', 1993.
The Afrocentric movement is dominated by genocidal madmen but that's not something we are allowed to talk about. ] (]) 23:42, 7 October 2015 (UTC)


==First issue is a failure to understand Afrocentricity==
* <small>Collins, P. H. ''Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness and the politics of empowerment''. (Unwin Hyman, Boston, 1990)
The first problem is the white view of what Afrocentricity is. In their eyes Afrocentrism means not agreeing with the white assertions on Africa. So ANYONE who says '''Egypt is an African civilization''' is the bases for being Afrocentric or not. Now with the lack of media power you would have to believe me when I say Most Black people hold this position. Mummy Return does not change this. You can hold many positive views of Africa and not be Afrocentric (like me). So the first issue with this article is "What is Afrocentricity" it certainly is not identity politics because every white historical study is at its root identity politics. So i guess we see the racism again. Whites do identity politics and it is history, Africans do it and it is revisionism. What is Afrocentrism as a distinctive ideology is the first place to start this article.


a lot of this article is also confusing the personalities of people called Afrocentric with Afrocentricity. As if every last thing Karenga does is an aspect of his Afrocentric ideology. So it is incapable of understanding Karenga can be an Afrocentric but also something else when dealing with Kawida etc. This habit of condensing people into boxes is evident here. i have no idea why Kwanzaa is all mixed up in the history section. Or is Pan-African and Afrocentric now the same thing? --] (]) 12:21, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
* <small>Molefi Kete Asante, ''The Afrocentric Idea Revised and Expanded Edition''


:There is no such thing as "white assertions on Africa", any more than there are "brown assertions" or "black assertions". We don't judge the reliability sources in that way, surprisingly. ] (]) 17:27, 12 June 2012 (UTC)
* <small>J. S. D. Dei, "Knowledge and politics of social change: the implication of anti-racism." ''British Journal of Sociology of Education'', 20 (3), 395-409.
::There very much is with a catalogue of distortions ] (]) 23:52, 3 February 2024 (UTC)


* <small>Giddings, G. J., "Infusion of Afrocentric content into the school curriculum," ''Journal of Black Studies'', 31 (4), 2001, 462-482.


Halqh states "Whites do identity politics and it is history, Africans do it and it is revisionism."
* <small>C. D. Lee, K. Lomotey and M. Shujaa, "How shall we sing our sacred song in a strange land? The dilemma of double consciousness and the complexities of an african-centred pedagogy." ''Journal of Education'', 172 (2), 2001, 45-60.


That's a bit of a broad statement when "identity politics" encompasses so many different things and scenarios. That's not to say that White revisionism has never happened or never does happen; it certainly happens quite a bit with regards to US history (for example), which tends to overemphasize political markers (the Revolution, presidents, Constitution, even the Civil War -although slavery was a central cause- is a political marker), while ''under''-emphasizing ''ethnocultural'' developments, including the massive contributions that African-Americans have made to American society and culture. But it's also difficult to argue that some of the more extreme elements of Afrocentrism are not also revisionist to the nth degree (such as, for example, the bold -and whimsical- assertion that Greek civilization plagiarized African civilizations). Revisionism happens on both sides; the fact that it occurs on the White side (and -unfortunately- often goes unnoticed) doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't be able to identify revisionism when it occurs on the Black side.
* <small>Asante, M. K. ''Afrocentricity: The theory of social change''. (Amulefi, NY, 1980).


Having said that, you bring up a very important question: '''what exactly is Afrocentrism?''' And what are its geographic parameters? Yes, Egypt is in Africa, but '''I''' always understood Afrocentrism to consist of pride and nationalism for ''Sub-Saharan'' African peoples and civilizations and the diaspora Black cultures of the Americas (which are ''not'' located in Africa). In other words, the Black diaspora, which is ''not'' conterminous with the African ''continent''. Maybe this can be clarified in the article? Are there different strands of Afrocentrism? What about contemporary Egypt? Given that modern-day Egyptians ''do'' identify with ancient Egypt, and genetic testing has backed this up by proving a solid link between modern-day Egyptians and ancient Egyptians (despite the fact that the Arabic language has replaced Egyptian during the Islamic era); it would certainly be an interesting angle to examine whether or not Afrocentrism has any following in Egypt, or if Egyptians -rather- lean towards pan-Arabism or maybe some sort of pan-Semitism. Like I said, ''I'' always understood Afrocentrism to be a Black/sub-Saharan nationalist consciousness that excluded Semitic North Africa, and included the Black diaspora populations of the Americas (African-Americans, Afro-Brazilians, Afro-Caribbeans, etc). That's not to say that ''my'' understanding of Afrocentrism is "''the'' correct one". I'm simply asking the question: '''are there different strands of Afrocentrism''', some of which might include Egypt and North Africa, and others that might exclude it? And where does the Black diaspora of the Americas fit in?
* <small>Milam, J. H. ''The emerging paradigm of Afrocentric research methods.'' (Association for the Study of Higher Education, 1992).


Another angle that should be explored in this article is whether or not there is some sort of ''spectrum'' of Afrocentrism? Just by reading the posts in the talk page (including the archived posts), it seems that there's a bit of a heated controversy over whether or not to include (within "Afrocentrism") some of the more extremist beliefs, such as the discredited Greek-Africa plagiarism theory I mentioned above. Because this theory ''has'' been associated with Afrocentrism, it would certainly be valuable if the article mentions that such extreme theories only exist within ''fringe'' elements of Afrocentrism, if that is in fact the case. Is there a different, more ''mainstream'' Afrocentrism? One that chronicles ethnocultural and historic events that are ''undeniably'' African and/or Black/Sub-Saharan, such as the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire, the advanced Swahili trading culture in East Africa and Black diaspora cultural movements from Jazz to Capoeira to Reggae to Candomblé? Is there a more ''uncontroversial'' Afrocentric mainstream that focuses on ''these'' things? And are discredited theories such as Black Aristotle limited to a ''fringe''? ] (]) 06:54, 14 June 2012 (UTC)
* <small>Ruth Reviere ''Rethinking Open and distance Education Practices: Barriers to Learning ''
::To repeat a critique in the article "Afrocentrism has never sat still long enough to be defined nor critiqued" The objection I am having is about mentioning Du Bois and other great scholars in this morass. They are not Afrocentric by the modern understanding. Afrocentrism (now it is my turn since Skyduster had a shot). Is a academic cult. It is purist history. The history of a certain type of African vs. the world. It is also a "religion" as it hates anything not jet black. So if Allah is Arabic, it rejects it as not pure enough. If something came from Yemen, like a language or a stone, it rejects it as not black enough. Its the history in reaction to Eurocentrism using all the same bad tools. I emphasis with it because it has legitimacy in challenging a very racist world. The issue is how it does it. Anyway I want to remove suggestions that greats like Du Bois and even Garvey were Afrocentric, although they paved the way for Afrocentrism they certainly were not talking like some of these other guys. Moreover Afrocentrics are almost never Muslim or Christian. Thats why I said it behaves like a religion or a cult. --] (]) 18:15, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
:Genetic evidence has not backed it up I find it interesting that you are concerned with Pseudohistory and yet cite a very problematic test about Modern Egyptians being linked with ancient Egyptians. That makes utterly no sense. The test was flawed for so many reasons and no one worth their salt would conduct such a test. The fact that it was done on a burial ground known to be a Roman one is only the start of the bogus tests. I can list them. ] (]) 00:06, 4 February 2024 (UTC)


== Title of criticism section ==
* <small>Nobles, W. W. ''African psychology: Toward its reclamation, reascension and revitalization.'' (Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, Oakland, CA, 1986).
The criticism section was titled "Attacks on Afrocentrism", so I revised it to "''Criticism'' of Afrocentrism". The word "attacks" sounds hostile and implies that criticisms of Afrocentrism stem solely from bias, rather than legitimate critical analysis and dialogue. Ironically, usage of the word "attacks" is itself a biased intent on the part of the author who titled it so. ] (]) 16:15, 12 June 2012 (UTC)


== Afrocentric =/= African Centered ==
* <small>E. Oliver, "An Afrocentric approach to literature: Putting the pieces back together," ''English Journal'', 77 (5), 1988, 49-53.
* <small>Ruth Reviere, "Towards an Afrocentric research methodology." ''Journal of Black Studies'', 31 (6), 2001, 709-728.


Back to the problem raised by editors in the above threads. Afrocentric =/= African centered. Although there is a serious relationship. I suspect Afrocentricity is a very specific kind of "academia". So Gates is 100% no fan of Afrocentrism and it no fan of his. But that encyclopedia is African Centered. Unesco work stresses an emphasis on the African worldview -- No one disagrees b/cuz worldviews are influenced by cultural and ethnic orientation -- we do not see the world the same. But Afrocentrism is a lot more than a African opinion on African history, or even an African "bias". It also has an attitude (like Eurocentrism) of Negation. So I do not think African centered education belongs here. Carter Wodson might have inspired today's Afrocentrics but did he call himself Afrocentric? I think this term should only apply to people who identify with the ideology. Like in Israel you have the "New Historians" but you cannot just call someone that, unless they identify with it. --] (]) 18:29, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
* <small>Myers, Linda James. Understanding an Afrocentric world view : introduction to an optimal psychology (Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 1993)
::By definition, the Nation of Islam is an Afrocentric group. The fact that a group is a black supremacist group as well does not negate the fact that it can also be Afrocentrist. Your logic is therefore flawed. Furthermore, the source cited for the opening paragraph in contention (Yaacov Shavit, History in Black: African-Americans in Search of an Ancient Past, Frank Cass Publishers, 2001) is both reliable and accurate. Any changes to the article in the future without talk page consensus or proof of unreliable sources will be met with immediate reversion. Thank you. ] (]) 05:20, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
:::You need to respect the talk page and the rules of Misplaced Pages. And try and make sense, All of my edits have references so what exactly are you on about? What consensus? When did you get here? By what definition of Afrocentrism? Afrocentrism doesnt equal Black supremacy, two different things. While I am sure some Afrocentrics are racist (like everyone else) that doesn't mean Afrocentrism is racist. What is the definition in Molefi Asante's book that allows NOI to be included? Where in Any Afrocentric book have they included NOI? When people cant even define the thing how can NOI be Afrocentric. Please state the rule of wikipedia which discusses you being the consensus maker? One ref doesn't make an entire group Afrocentric. It is not how references work. Now in the entire Misplaced Pages article of NOI, in major books on NOI by many scholars NO ONE, calls them an Afrocentric group. No one. You will be reported for you unproductive editing habits if you persist. It is very POV oriented. Username Malik Shabazz Zulu to insert Israeli Historians as authority on Afrocentrism is worrying. Utter nonsense. See How can they be Afrocentric when most Afrocentrics have issue with NOI? So hold the threats, newbie. --] (]) 08:38, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
* <small>Richard M. Huber, "Contending Viewpoints: Rethinking American Cultural Studies," ''Journal of American & Comparative Cultures'', Vol. 24 Isssue 3-4, 2001, 37-


== POV agenda Edits - Point by point ==
* <small>Asante, Molefi K. ''Afrocentricity'' (Africa World Press, 1988)


Let us look at the unreferenced material Zulu Shabazz, Jr is adding in:
* <small>Mills, Charles W. ''Blackness visible : essays on philosophy and race'' (Cornell University Press, 1998).


* ''Furthermore, Afrocentrism regularly denies, outright ignores, or reinterprets certain negative aspects of black Africans, most notably the selling of African slaves by other Africans to the Europeans, the ], and the ongoing struggles against rape and violence in many African nations today, generally placing blame for these atrocities directly or indirectly on the Europeans and denying any serious culpability on part of black Africa.'' (Excuse me? All Afrocentrics do this? Where is the reference? Asante Book on Africa did not ignore or minimize the Mfecane or Rwanda, so how is this true. It needs to be re-written with some NPOV references" It is a terrible violation of NPOV. Again Where is the consensus and the R.S? So why is it there? The entire tone is not Wiki standard, it is an editors opinionand agenda driven.
<small>] 06:40, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
* "''Black supremacist groups like the New Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam '''are examples of extreme Afrocentrism'''''" ] is not Afrocentric. No search results apart from the Israeli historian admit to this. No where in their article is a reference to Afrocentrism. Molefi and other Afrocentric never called them Afrocentric. THEY do not call themselves Afrocentric. It is a opinion of one person. R.S but it fails ] and is a reliable opinion ] not an establish fact, it contradicts every other source.
: I'm reading Not out of Africa by Mary Leftkowitz and Afrocentrism by Stephen Howe right now. Leftkowitz's book is relatively narrow as it mainly focuses on debunking various claims of Afrocentrism, namely, how the greeks stole their knowledge from the mythicl egypt. Howe's book is more encompassing as it describes the origin, pscyhology, profiles on almost every afrocentrist, and why it persists. Both books don't really shine well on afrocentric scholarship. ] ]] 07:28, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
* ''In general, Afrocentrism is usually manifested in a focus on African American culture and the history of black Africa (sub-Saharan Africa), and involves a '''refashioning''' of that history and culture to portray the achievements and development of a race of people (Negroid) independently from other races.'' (Is this NPOV?) is not the opinion of editors rather than references? Where is the ref, then why is it in the lead? This issue is already discussed in the lede no need for it again.


Strange that you accuse me of POV. Yet have not shown it. --] (]) 09:18, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
::Of course, though, Wareware, they are both notable ''critics'' of Afrocentric scholarship. Do you plan to read any of the works by the more notable Afrocentric scholars, such as Asante though? Don't you have mid-terms to attend to, anyway? ;) ] 07:45, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:: Not strange at all- you've removed cited, accurate information, and in doing so have demonstrated that you have an Afrocentrist bias. Do not continue to edit this page if you cannot be impartial. Furthermore, I've reported you for defacing my talk page. ] (]) 16:38, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
::my midterms are done this week thx for asking:) But I still got lots to do but I'll try to contribute. I don't think I'm going to devote my time reading pro-afrocentric works, especially by Asante. I'll read about his positions and reasoning from criticial sources. I can't really trust Asante because he wrote that Aristotle studied at the Library of Alexandria and appropriated egyptian philosophy, while in reality the library was built after both Alexander's and Aristotle's death. Mary Leftkowitz challenged him in this point during a seminar at Wellsely and Asante refused to cite his sources or how he arrived at this conclusion and instead accused her of racist motives. That alone pretty much persuaded me not to read any afrocentric work. But the book by Howe is pretty valuable in that it presents the origin and reasoning, not just point-by-point refutation, so I'll read that and find something. ] ]] 09:57, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:::Are you aware of wikipedia rules? Then this is the talk page, above are the issues, none of which you have replied to, deal with them and less with the editing of this editor, Please no advice about where to edit.So passionate have you edited, you deleted your own edits. --] (])
--
16:47, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
"Ancient Egypt&#8217;s Role in European History"
::Actually, I've replied to all your points. The passages in question are reliably sourced. The only one "passionate" here is you in your effort to insert Afrocentrist bias in the article] (]) 18:00, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
:::Malik, Inayity has listed three bulleted items above that he believes are unsourced. Can you rebut this? Do you have the sources? Part of Yaacov Shavit's book is available online through Google Books, but in the portion which is visible I can't see any mention of the issues you are sourcing to it in . If Shavit says something about the New Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam can you quote what we actually says, and give us the page numbers? You stated "Black supremacist groups like the New Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam are examples of extreme Afrocentrism" and cited this to Shavit. Thank you, ] (]) 22:47, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
::::Allow one clarification WRT Shavit, even if he said it, it is contradictory to every fact known. NOI might be Black supremacist, (many ref can be found to that) but they are certainly not Afrocentric. Doesn't make sense, it is like saying "they are racist so they are KKK", Afrocentrics are never radical Muslims. The two ideologies are at odds. No one else calls them Afrocentric. So at best Shavit is an Opinion ],(his and his alone) and not lead worthy. Not sure who put it in the article originally. --] (]) 11:26, 22 July 2012 (UTC)


== Throwing Tags around does not help anyone ==
A link of possible interest: http://www.trinicenter.com/kwame/20010615c.htm


Per ] Tagging has to be constructive. The fact that a section has a tag, means that section has an issue. Not necessarily the entire article. Tags do not stay on indefinitely. You must justify the tags you place. It means :
Note that Prof. Nantambu is a history professor at Kent State U. -- not some "radical" crackpot publishing vanity tracts using Publish-It in his basement. ] 10:36, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)
''Even if the problem seems obvious, it's useful to leave a short note on the talk page describing the issue, and suggesting an approach to fixing it if you know how. Some editors feel this should be mandatory and "drive-by" tagging should be prohibited.''
The talk page is therefore key in explaining why tags are necessary for the entire article. It is like beating a child but not explaining what the lashes are for. Section tags are enough for violating sections. Other areas have already been re-written. --] (]) 23:20, 6 November 2012 (UTC)


== A Couple of Disingenuous Statements: Making It Clear ==
:It's already a given that Afrocentric scholars are ''scholars''. Whether they are radical &ndash;in the positive or negative sense of the word&ndash; is not relevanet to the fact that they write scholarly works, publish articles in academic journals, hold professorial positions and instruct students; none of these things are being &ndash;nor had they come under&ndash; dispute here. ] 10:58, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)


'''1)''' ''"Afrocentrics have been accused of regularly denying, mitigating, or outright ignoring, or reinterprets certain negative aspects of Africans; most notably the selling of African slaves by other Africans to the Europeans, the Rwandan Genocide, and the ongoing struggles against rape and violence in many African nations today, generally placing blame for these atrocities directly or indirectly on the Europeans and Arabs, and denying any serious culpability on part of Africans."''
And to say that is to say what? You asked for evidence of support for Afrocentric views among scholars. Presumably, the list of scholars and academicians provided in the article was insufficient. So, as I come across support for such views in mainstream academia (this is not a concerted/focused endeavor), I'm inserting that info in the discussion. I mention "radical," because this article -- unfortunately -- has lapsed back into the same vague language about "radical" Afrocentrism. (I have deleted references, when I saw them, to "black supremacy" and may do so again w/regard to the "radical" business.) Since this article discounts "radical" Afrocentrism outright without even defining it in any acceptable manner, I have no idea what "qualifies" someone to comment on, presumably, mainstream garden-variety Afrocentrism. I mention Nantambu's credentials because, presumably, the man has some credibility; he's on the faculty of a fairly mainstream U.S. university with a strong reputation -- which, to my way of thinking, means he's not some crackpot "radical" Afrocentrist. If, however, you would like to define the precepts of "radical Afrocentrism" in mainstream academia so as to provide some guidance to us regarding who does or doesn't have sufficient credibility to support or debunk the Afrocentric approach to the study of history, have at it. ] 05:59, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Afrocentrics have indeed recognized the selling of Africans by Africans to Europeans. Tribal lifestyle all across Africa, West Africa in particular, was disrupted by the infiltration of Europeans. Many Tribal leaders were desperate and had to consider the well being of the community over individuals. Therefore, the decision to sell fellow Africans was an economic one based upon survival. Most of these were servants or people deemed as not contributing to the community, such as transgressors of Tribal Law. In addition, many of the 'Africans' selling Africans were of Arab descent. All cultures all over the world have some form of human trafficking for various services from sex to domestic work. Africans were not alone in this yet the European aspect of the trade was based on pure greed and assumed that the African people were animals. Slaves from Africa were stripped of language, culture, cosmology and even their Tribal names which in Africa have a Divine Spiritual purpose based on Sacred Mathematics and other Esoteric connotations. They were bound, shackled, muzzled and whipped. People in African households employed as servants were not treated in this manner.
::No, not merely among scholars, but what is generally considered to be the &ndash;consensus&ndash; among them regarding Afrocentric scholarship (or notable currents therein). That is what I asked for, repeatedly. Regardless how well-respected they might be within academia, their views may still be marganalized within the mainstream scholarship, and in that case, the article needs to reflect that. I will get this point across even if ... I will get this point across. ] 10:57, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


The behaviors found in many African nations such as Rwanda are recent. The kind of violence found in Africa today developed AFTER European infiltration. The codependent, neurotic relationship between European 'masters' and African servants/slaves and the stripping of language, culture and cosmology by missionaries has been studied by many scholars like Yosef Ben-Jochannan and Cheikh Anta Diop. The stress put on the minds, bodies and spirits of Africans: being made slaves in their own land and deprived of the archetypical belief systems that make all people human has resulted in identity confusion, disassociation and other personality disorders which have been the direct result of the vestiges of chattel slavery. 'Acting out' would be the expected response, according to the The American Psychiatric Association's DSM IV. Dr. Joy DeGroy's dissertation on Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome (PTSS) is a timely and scholarly look at the trauma of slavery being passed down to subsequent generations. This same phenomenon was proven to be valid in the case of the progeny of Holocaust survivors.
: ''racist, white supremacist assumptions regarding the contributions of nonwhite peoples to world history.'' What's this, a strawman attack that makes all Western research "white supremacist"? You gotta be kidding me. Renaissance, the Enlightenment, nationalism and related ideas and philosophies are ''western'' ideas, so what's so "white supremacist" about it. I don't think any Chinese person that I've talked to regard history as white supremacist or Eurocentric at best. Saying so is rather vitriolic. ] ]] 03:03, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


'''2)''' ''"Van Sertima said that the Olmec civilization was a hybrid one of Africans and Native Americans. His theory of pre-Columbian American-African contact has since met with considerable and detailed opposition by scholars of Mesoamerica. Van Sertima has been accused of "doctoring" and twisting data to fit his conclusions, inventing evidence, and ignoring the work of respected Central and South American scholars in the advance of his own theory, and his claims are not taken seriously by mainstream scholars."''
==What's with the teeny, weeny print?==


Dr. Van Sertima proved his assertions using the the standard 12-criteria format, that is required for archaeological studies, by Oxford University. He presented his findings to a panel of Oxford Scholars and his work could not be disputed by them because he used their very criteria to prove it. In addition, the last statement is untrue. There are several archaeologists and scholars on Ancient Cultures, such as David Hatcher Childress, who have said that the Olmecs were a multi-cultural society that included Asian, African, Eastern European and Indigenous peoples.
Why is the bibliography in a smaller font than the rest of the piece? (Am I suddenly in need of bifocals?) Is this Wiki style? ] 06:00, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


] (]) 06:18, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
:<small>Many things; appearence; possibly; sure. ] 07:43, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)</small>


David Hatcher Childress is not an archaeologist nor is he a legitimate scholar on any American cultures or civilizations. And because he attended a university for about 1 year (and whether it was ten yrs), he has to provide evidence for his claims. He is basically a story teller. Van Sertima was a professor but his claims were just as absurd as Pierre Honore (scientist and diplomat) and his "Quest of the White God." http://www.amazon.com/Quest-White-God-pierre-honore/dp/B000H4MQS8
Come on. Serious question. The bifocals thing was facetious, of course; I can read it fine. But why is the print a different size? IS it Wiki style? I haven't noticed it elsewhere. If not, it should be changed. ] 08:16, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Also: "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity"www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/current/vansertima.pdf‎
:The Wiki is loose, so these sort of modifications are considered to be within the realm of editorial discretion (rather than a binding manual of style formula). I find using footnote-sized font for the references to be of some minor cosmetic benefit when these are lengthy reference lists, which tends to be the case for articles I am involved in. Since I was the one who created the references section and added all the scholarly works into it (''i.e.'' with normal fonts it was disporportionately lengthy versus the body of the article), it reflects my preference on this front. ] 10:45, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


And especially see http://statigr.am/native_faces ] (]) 02:46, 9 May 2013 (UTC)
Cool. ''This'' explanation was at least helpful. I've got no problem with it. In light of the other articles I've seen on Wiki, it just looked weird. ] 13:52, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:I am afraid you only confirm the first point. Direct and indirect assigning culpability outside of Africa. Because this is all that they are describing. Everything bad that happens in Africa is because of someone else (even if removed) like Rwanda. Van Sertima section seems a little biased and you can provide ref to balance the claims of his detractors. The article does need work. In some places you can see no fan of Afrocentrism wrote it, and it is my belief no good article should ever expose the politics of its editors --] (]) 09:47, 9 May 2013 (UTC)


Right about the first point about Childress? Wrong about Van Sertima? Not sure I understand your point. Van Sertima's claims were as absurd as Honore's. So your point about politics is also unclear, if not absurd. <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 15:54, 10 April 2014 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
==Deleted==


==Why does this article describe Afrocentrism as a "fringe theory?"==
<blockquote>Areas of study by Afrocentrists</blockquote>
I noticed that this article has been placed in ''Category:Fringe theories'', even though this assertion is not supported by the article's text. Why is the article categorized this way? ] (]) 20:02, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
::It is true, although parts (large parts) of Afrocentrism is fringe it certainly cannot be used on the entire thing. B/c it is not a clarified ideology to pin such a tag on it.--] (]) 21:42, 22 February 2013 (UTC)


== See also Rationale is not a shopping list ==
<blockquote>Afrocentric history traces and emphasizes important contributions of blacks, beginning with the high civilizations of Africa, particularly ] and ]. It also focuses on black, or ], southern ] before the ]n incursions, as well as on the black African participation in the ]ish domination of the ] peninsula during the ]&mdash; and, among others, on the sizable empires of ], ], and ].</blockquote>


Edit this article and not the editor. See Also is for is not a shopping list of anything with centrism in the end. What is the rationale, what is the relationship. If an edit is reverted take it to the talk page. So see also is not a dust bin. Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism share a history of antagonism. That is the rationale. The burden of inclusion is on you to bring the argument here. Not interested in Ownership interested in your rationale and compliance with the Talk Page. --] (]) 08:12, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
The introductory definition mentions "black contributions." Listing these specific areas of interest, I think, gives the wrong impression; it is too limiting. There are Afrocentric scholars (in terms of the lens through which they interpret history) who focus on black contributions throughout history and across the globe -- and in the modern era, as well. I think it's best to simply leave this out. If there is a desire to mention these areas of focus (and I can see that it could be useful to do so), it should be included in the article in another fashion -- one that won't give the false impression that these are the only areas of study, or even the primary, areas of study/expertise of Afrocentric historians. That is simply not the case. ] 08:24, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


=== I did bring a "rationale" that you just ignored ===
:I have no objections to that change as such, but that section should exist with a more pertinent account regarding areas of studies (at least some of the more notable current therein &ndash; déjà vu). ] 11:06, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


it went beyond just you don't own...but if you bothered to read the whole thing, you would have seen...I said...
==Objectivity==


Of course it has a relation.
There are ways to cover this topic without collapsing into Deeceevoice's compulsive, Tourette's-ish need to pile on descriptions of omnipresent white racism (prejudicial evil racist white supremacist bigotry paradigms, and so forth), and also to avoid the sort of scoffing condescension of some of the rest of the article ("contempt" and "dismissiveness" toward a "therapeutic" ideology). The Encarta Africana article on Afrocentricity is written by ] and I think he provides an excellent descriptive account that people from most perspectives could agree upon. I think we should use that as a sort of guide. If you guys don't have access to it, I'll provide an excerpt here that I think is "fair use." This is the "Origins and Orientations" section of the article. Have a read. ] 15:25, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


'''They're both continental "centrisms". How is that totally irrelevant? It's not like I put "Germans in the Civil War" or something, that has nothing to do with anything, out of left field. But this here is a continental or regional "centrist" view article.''' Obviously there's relation. So I will not put up with front excuses that are not really valid, to cover your real reason for removing, which obviously is you just "don't like".
II ORIGINS AND ORIENTATIONS


I mean, how exactly is there "no relation"?
"Afrocentricity is an intellectual perspective deriving its name from the centrality of African people and phenomena in the interpretation of data. Maulana Karenga, a major figure in the Afrocentric Movement, says, &#8220;It is a quality of thought that is rooted in the cultural image and human interest of African people.&#8221; The Afrocentric school was founded by Molefi Kete Asante in the late 20th century with the launching of the book, Afrocentricity, in which theory and practice were merged as necessary elements in a rise to consciousness. Among the early influences were Kariamu Welsh, Abu Abarry, C.T. Keto, Linda James Myers, J. A. Sofola, and others. Afrocentricity examined some of the same issues that confronted a group calling themselves the Black Psychologists, who argued along lines established by Bobby Wright, Amos Wilson, Na&#8217;im Akbar, Kobi Kambon, Wade Nobles, Patricia Newton, and several others. African American scholars trained in political science and sociology, such as Leonard Jeffries, Tony Martin, Vivian Gordon, Kwame Nantambu, Barbara Wheeler, James Turner, and Charshee McIntyre, were greatly influenced by the works of Yosef Ben-Jochannon and John Henrik Clarke and had already begun the process of seeking a non-European way to conceptualize the African experience prior to the development of Afrocentric theory.


There's Eurocentrism, Afrocentrism, and Asiocentrism. (Yes, such a thing does exist.)
"On the other hand, Afrocentricity finds its inspirational source in the Kawaida philosophy&#8217;s long-standing concern that the cultural crisis is a defining characteristic of 20th century African reality in the diaspora just as the nationality crisis is the principal issue on the African continent. (Developed by Karenga, professor and chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, Kawaida is defined briefly as &#8220;an ongoing synthesis of the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.&#8221;) Afrocentricity sought to address these crises by repositioning the African person and African reality from the margins of European thought, attitude, and doctrines to a centered, therefore positively located, place within the realm of science and culture. Afrocentricity finds its grounding in the intellectual and activist precursors who first suggested culture as a critical corrective to a displaced agency among Africans. Recognizing that Africans in the diaspora had been deliberately deculturalized and made to accept the conqueror&#8217;s codes of conduct and modes of behavior, the Afrocentrist discovered that the interpretative and theoretical grounds had also been moved. Thus, synthesizing the best of Alexander Crummel, Martin Robison Delany, Edward Wilmot Blyden, Marcus Garvey, Paul Robeson, Anna Julia Cooper, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Larry Neal, Carter G. Woodson, Willie Abraham, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Cheikh Anta Diop, and W. E. B. Du Bois in his later writings, Afrocentricity projects an innovation in criticism and interpretation. It is therefore in some sense a paradigm, a framework, and a dynamic. However, it is not a worldview and should not be confused with Africanity, which is essentially the way African people, any African people, live according to the customs, traditions, and mores of their society. One can be born in Africa, follow African styles and modes of living, and practice an African religion and not be Afrocentric. To be Afrocentric one has to have a self-conscious awareness of the need for centering. Thus, those individuals who live in Africa and recognize the decentering of their minds because of European colonization may self-consciously choose to be demonstratively in tune with their own agency. If so, this becomes a revolutionary act of will that cannot be achieved merely by wearing African clothes or having an African name."


You never bothered to address any of that, but simply edit-warred again, with nonsense excuses of your own, reverted, and removed the comment from your page. I'm done trying to reason with you, as you proved (I kinda knew it from the beginning actually) that you simply can't be reasoned with. There doesn't seem to be much of a point. You have uptight over-scrupulous NON-Misplaced Pages ideas and notions here.
] 15:25, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Check it...


Or look up what "See also" articles are allowed to be. '''They don't have to always 100% "directly related" to the main article, in the sense you're thinking. They can have some relation or commonality.''' It's whatever. I don't have time or patience for uptight nonsense or bullying disrespectful dishonest junk. Regards. ] (]) 08:15, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
::I certainly do not think that Asante's account should form the basis of this article. For a start, its comments at the end about 'the need for centring' seem to correspond to the claims of those whio say that Afrocentrism is theraputic in character. Secondly it is entirely dogmatic in tone.
:Maybe you are new, but you are the one refusing to use the talk page and you are the one failing to explain a direct relationship between Afrocentrism and Assiocentrism. I do not care if it exist or not. See Also is not a shopping list of things ending in centrism. That would be for the ] article. What is the relationship!!!! simple question sense you are driven to add it.--] (]) 08:24, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
::In all the books on Afrocentrism you will find the word Eurocentrism, where is the book on Afrocentrism that see also it to Asiocentrism? It is then POV poshing. You created that page, and now are pushing it as some MAJOR race centric theory. We need some criteria or else we will get a list so long it becomes useless. Should we link Afrocentrism to Pan-Africanism? Yes, because there is a strong relationship. What about Civil rights, what about maafa, what about on and on. How does it end?--] (]) 08:29, 7 August 2013 (UTC)


:::I already stated that I'm not really bothering with this anymore. I'm not saying that the thing would not be better in as you said "Ethnocentrism", but it could arguably (it would not have been so terrible or out-of-left-field) have been in the See also for the Afrocentrism article also. I agreed (somewhat) with some of your OTHER removals of wikilinks that were in the See also section, I just think you went a bit overboard, and became over-scrupulous much, for something that could have gone either way.
::As a matter of fact it was me who created this page. I was surprised by the fact that it remained unassailed by Afrocentrist contributers for so long. Initially my account of Afrocentrism was more or less the same as the 'Skeptic Dictionary's. A later contributer then redefined this component as Radical Afrocentrism, adding the section on Historical Afrocentrism. I was not entirely happy about this, since it seemed to imply that anyone who studied African history was 'Afrocentrist'. That's as logical as saying that specialist in European history is automatically 'Eurocentrist', or a specialist in Chinese history is 'Sinocentrist'. However, it seemed proper to accept that scholarship looking at African history was an important corrective to over-emphasis of Europe. Then along came Mr deceevoice, and we've had an explosion of intemperate revisions over the last week. The result, I think, is that the page is in a bit of a mess with arguments becoming repetitive and confused. So for example we learn about Afrocentrists stressing the 'contributions' of African cultures, and then there is the claim that Afrocentrists consider all cultures to be 'equal'. Well, if that's the case, why concentrate on Africa, and why claim that special 'contributions' have been made?


:::Meaning, again, there is "Eurocentrism", "Afrocentrism", and "Asiocentrism" as far as the '''THREE MAIN CONTINENTAL ONES.''' The relation is the "continent" aspect. As being one of the major three. And also that it's a worldview of superiority or presumed advantage, in history etc. But the continental issue. That was the point. And they relate as to Asia's supposed advantage over Africa, in history, or vice versa. It's whatever now, though.
::I think we should bear in mind a simple fact. This is supposed to be an encyclopedia. The purpose of an Encyclopedia is to inform. If someone wants to know what the term 'Afrocentrism' means they should be able to come here, look it up and get a clear idea of its history and meaning. As a result they should be given a sense of what the term means in its ''various'' usages. So I will make a number of suggestions here about what I think should be in the article.


:::And no...I was not "POV pushing" either, but simply was following a tag about orphaned links. I don't really care THAT much about this stuff; this topic is not a major concern of mine really. WP was lacking an article on this, the concept does definitely exist, (you even know what some in China or Japan or India actually have believed and said and thought on this stuff? Many have a centrist view of Asia...) There was no article on this topic, so I created one. So? But it actually was NOT something I had so big an interest in. Imputing bad motives is against WP policy, by the way. I'd be curious what other editors (if any even care about this) might say. If they agree with you though, that doesn't technically make them right, but could have similar hang-ups too. But I do respect consensus. But for now, I'm not really bothering anymore with this. Regards. ] (]) 09:21, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
::1. We need a clear definition of Afrocentrism as an approach to history that emphasises African contributions to culture. I think it would be useful to add a section that connects this to claims about ''black'' identity, pointing out that the concept of 'black' identity is sometimes used to include non-Africans, and sometimes excludes some Africans.
::2. I think we need a clear discussion of the importance given to Egypt in much Afrocentrist writing. This is central to the debate, since much of it really concerns the question of what it means to say that Egyptians are or are not 'black'. We could discuss the issue of how justifiable it is to claim that Egyptians were 'black African', and what it means to equate Egypt with African rather than Mediterranean or Middle-Eastern cultural identity.
::3. We need an account of the role of Afrocentrism in the thinking of people like Asante who associate it with racial politics in the USA and with issues of Black Identity and cultural consciousness.
::4. We need an account of work that has stressed the history of African kingdoms and has looked at other indigenous African cultures, peerhaps contasting this with histories that see Africa as simply a 'space' into which Greek, Roman or Arabic history has expanded. ] 16:17, 13 Feb 2005 (UTC)


== Minor edits ==
:::Sir, we really needed you here. Where have you been? I am very pleased to learn of your involvement and expertise with regards to Afrocentrism, and I think your participation will prove pivotal in offsetting bias and imporving the article on this and other (content, context, etc.) important areas. ] 01:48, 14 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Can't edit myself because locked. External link to page on Clarence E. Walker is broken, correct URL is http://history.ucdavis.edu/people/cewalker.
==How Afrocentricism portrays itself and other isms==
] (]) 17:58, 25 August 2013 (UTC)
:I c no broken link. --] (]) 18:41, 25 August 2013 (UTC)


== Please reply Here: Arabs and Europeans ==
I think there a POV error underlying this article.


One of the most consistent things in the Afrocentric ideology is the external impact of Arabs and Europeans on Africa. True or false. I do not think Chancellor Williams is talking about marginalized by other Africans. The entire "Blame" is placed outside of Africa. This is something very peculiar about Afrocentrism, so much so that this is what its detractors accuse it of doing. --] (]) 18:30, 10 November 2013 (UTC)--] (]) 18:30, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
:shift from a view of world history centered around European accomplishments and deeply racist assumptions about other peoples and cultures to one which emphasizes the black beginnings of humankind and black contributions to world history


== Genovese ==
I think the article should stress more clearly that this evaluation of Western scholarship is merely the point of view of Afrocentrism advocates - rather than hinting or stating that it is a fact.


The quote by Genovese has nothing to do with Afrocentrism and should be removed. ] (]) 16:00, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
Something like this ought to do it:


:Indeed. ] (]) 16:40, 28 May 2014 (UTC)
* Afrocentrists view Western historical scholarship as overemphasizing the contributions of Greco-Roman civilization to the world at the expense of the contributions of black Africa and blacks generally.


== Afrocentric Websites ==
Both Afrocentrists and anti-Afrocentrists could agree with the sentence above as being an accurate portrayal of how Afrocentric scholar view Western scholars. "Yep, that's how they see us." & "Yes, that's how they are."


I am looking at Real history www. I need clarification on why it was removed as an Afrocentric EL. See this page which uses copyrighted material in what I believe is a . . As we can see we have very few Afrocentric sites to link to, I think it is better we have some. I am not afraid of information, because if it is in error let it be seen for what it is. This page is about Afrocentrism, and that seems to be a very Afrocentric typical site. --] (]) 15:31, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
I'd also like to see a bit about Western defenses of this criticism, for example the claim occasionally made that the West is somewhat aware of its own ethnocentrism and has taken pains to compensate for it - indeed, even to seek out and embrace aspects of non-Western cultures. One historion (Toynbee, I think) even claims this quest to find and cherish extra-cultural aspects as the crowning jewel of the Western ethos: the relentless, un-ending quest of Western Civilization to become "better" by seeking "the good".
:] It has pages and pages of copyright material. We can't link to it. Stuff from newspapers, the BBC website, etc. Even if Fair Use was part of our policy, which it isn't, it goes way beyond that. Besides being an anonymous and evidently personal website. But the copyvio thing is clear and we can't link. ] (]) 16:47, 5 January 2015 (UTC)


== Obsession with Moors - include? ==
Also, I'm not sure that the West portrays itself as the origin of all world civilization. The British historian ] admittedly '''begins''' with England, but only as an example of a larger entity he calls "Western Christendom". He finds two dozen other similar units, separated in both space and time, and endeavors to trace how some (not all!) derive from others.


From what I have seen (just look at the talk page on this encyclopedia's article on them!), Afrocentrists have an obsession that the Moors from North Africa were all 100% black (in a time where the America-style white-or-black system did not exist), citing a few paintings of blacks when the majority of the paintings by the Moors (and even their contemporary enemies) showed them as not dissimilar to modern North Africans. Of course, the great irony is that these few blacks were slaves of the majority Berbers and Arabs.
Toynbee traces only a couple of the existent world civilizations to ancient Greece and Rome, by the way. Only Western Christendom and the Eastern Orthodox cultural spheres, if I recalll correctly. The Islamic and Hindu cultural spheres owe nothing to the Hellenistic sphere; nor do the one or two East Asian cultural spheres.


Maybe this pseudohistory comes from modern websites and is based on the average American's assumption that everybody in Africa is black, but I think in the 1920s there was a black secret society called the Moors so I assume there were books written on the subject. Could those writers - and more importantly, the rebuttal of their propaganda - be included in this article? ] (]) 02:24, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
Ironically, Toynbee views ancient Egypt as having no predecessors or successors. I wonder how current Afrocentric thought reacts to that. Do today's afrocentrists believe that ancient Egpyt was the orgion of all civilization, or even had a major impact on any of the four or five civilizations in existence at the close of the 20th century? ] ] 20:10, Feb 14, 2005 (UTC)


(I find the whole Afrocentric Moors ideal very strange, as certainly in Europe the same civilisation is used as a supremacist battering ram of "we ruled you, we taught you" by Islamists. It's like how everybody claims they were the first in the Americas, I suppose)
:: The problem here, I think, is the difficulty of defining such things as 'the West'. Traditionally, Egypt has been part of the story of the cultures we now define as 'the West'. It's central to the Bible. It's been part of the history of Roman Empire, of famous stories about Pharaohs, about Antony and Cleopatra, Rameses, and later about Hatshepsut and Akhenaton. But it just happens that its not in 'Europe' as such, and, as importantly, it has never been considered to be 'classical' - in culture, politics or religous ideology. Egypt is presented as a fascinating but also problematic place. Its religion is condemned in the Bible for its polytheism, and in Greek texts for its perverse deification of animals. In intellectual culture it's seen as the source of wisdom, but not of properly philosophical debate. In architecture its admired for impressive monuments, but for also for a lack of the refinement and clarity of Greek design. In art it's impressive for its decorative energy and variety, but not for its perfect articulation of the human body as in... those darn Greek geeks again. In other words, it's always been a kind of source, and something of a mystery, but also a problem in the models that have dominated the mythic history of 'the West'. The fact that this paradxical position has now come to be articulated in terms of uncertantis regarding 'racial' and 'continental' identity (Africa/Europe/Asia) simply complicates matters further. ] 21:29, Feb 14, 2005 (UTC)
:I am not sure how Afrocentrics are anymore obsessed with anything that anyone else. THe people of Africa are called Africans not blacks. And as stated above, blackness is a modern concept, and while it did exist in some form back then, it is not a perfect match. As for the irony, I see none. You can visit the ] page and read all about the full evidence of inclusion in the society, to the point where some rulers were "black". Also read the talk page of that article. And there is no denying Islamic contributions to European culture, the same European culture that is imposed on people the world over as the highest standard for anyone. --] (]) 02:54, 22 January 2015 (UTC)


:The black secret society was the ], and yes, there was a tendency to equate 'Moor' with black among some groups in America. See also ] and ]. ] (]) 11:55, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
:::But it won't be a fair article if it dosen't state the Afrocentric position as to the after-the-fact Westernization of Egypt. Also, the West ''was'' explcitly racist for many centuries. That is not an opinion, it is a matter of public record. The article needs to distinguish this fact from Afrocentric claims of it taking place after 1968, or whenever it was that the United States officially decided that Africans were equale to non-Africans. And to pretend that once this became formal, opinions changed instantly to reflect that, I maintain, is a disengenious implication which, for the purposes of NPOV and rationality, the article needs to either avoid or (preferably) very carfeuly and thoughtfuly qualify. ] 08:13, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
::Just note none of those groups are Afrocentric.--] (]) 12:04, 22 January 2015 (UTC)


== Hyperdiffusionism in archaeology ==
:: Yes, that position should be stated. I'm working on a new version now, but it's important to state that Egypt was not in any clear sense 'Westernised' ''after'' the fact or 'appropriated' ''by'' some entity called the West. The 'West' is a cultural construct not a geographical position. For Ancient peoples Egypt was very clearly part of the civilised world, which circulated the Mediterranean. There was no strong division betwen 'Europe' and 'Africa', but rather a notion that the Med, as its name suggests, was the middle of the world and that cultures got less civilised the further they were from it. Race was not a significant concept. In this model Egyptian culture is considered eccentric, at least during the Roman empire, but important. I think after the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam you ''do'' get a Europe/Africa divide articulated in terms of religion not race, but also the ''beginnings'' of a racialisation of the enemy as 'dark' Moors.] 09:35, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)


If ] is relevant to this article (per the tag) then it should have been heavily discussed in Academic circles and esp on the ancillary page if it is a notable characteristic of Afrocentrism. I think it is true of Afrocentrism but I see no mention of it hence why I am asking about the connection. --] (]) 19:04, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
:::True, I oversimplified that. You articulated that phenomenon in a very interesting and pointed way. I'm looking forward to reading your revision of the article. ] 09:51, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:Categories are navigational aids to help readers find related articles. As you know, some Afrocentrism involves claims of Africans exploring the globe before anyone else, Moors being the first Americans, Olmec heads, etc. ] (]) 19:31, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
::Quick google books search. ] (]) 19:32, 11 February 2015 (UTC)


== Owen 'Alik Shahadah ==
::::With the word "racist" so inflammatory, and even the ] article a subject of dispute at Misplaced Pages, I think we should take care to describe '''in what way''' Afrocentrists or others regard the history of Europe or "the West" as racist. For example, did Europeans state that being white was what made them better? Or that some aspect of European culture or Western civilization was superior? It might also be good to explore this dimension in relation to the possibility that '''other cultures''' may have expressed similar notions. Specifically, to what degree might we say that ALL cultures are racist? ] ] 18:30, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)
A discussion thread about the reliability and notability of this author and his pages is taking place at ], please comment there so we can get a final consensus. ] (]) 12:06, 5 October 2015 (UTC)


==Akbar, Dr. Na'im (1998)==
==Definition of Beginnings==
] had challenge a which is not full. The reference says "Akbar, Dr. Na'im (1998)" which probably refers to "{{cite book|last=Akbar|first=Na'im|authorlink=Na'im Akbar|title=Know Thyself|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXNYAgAACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Mind Productions & Associates|isbn=978-0-935257-06-9}}", I can't verify the source, someone is interested in give it a look? ] (]) 20:40, 17 October 2015 (UTC)


:{{ping|Rupert loup}} Yes, it refers to "Know Thyself". The source isn't needed as there are two fully cited references in the article. Unfortunately we don't know the page, however I'll see if I can find it.] (]) 11:15, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
Intro paragraph includes this:


== Text removed too quickly ==
:Afrocentric scholarship attempts to shift the study and evaluation of world history and civilization from a traditionally Western, ] paradigm &mdash; that is, one that treats primarily ] or ] contributions and positing Greco-Roman beginnings &mdash; to one that posits black ] beginnings and treats primarily ] Africa and black contributions.


I see that material fact-tagged in the last few weeks has been removed. Unless it's very contentious I usually leave it longer than that if I can't source it (which is the best thing to do). Here it is if others can source it:
I don't know what (a) "posits Greco-Roman beginnings" or (b) "posits black ] beginnings" means. It looks like a claim that ALL CIVILIZATION began with (a) ancient Greece & Rome or (b) ancient Egypt. Is that what everyone else thinks this means?


"Afrocentrics have been accused of regularly denying, mitigating, or outright ignoring, or reinterprets certain negative aspects of Africans; most notably the selling of African slaves by other Africans to the Europeans, the ], and the ongoing struggles against ] and violence in many African nations today, generally placing blame for these atrocities directly or indirectly on the Europeans and Arabs, and denying any serious culpability on part of Africans.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Some observe that this trend is not unique to Afrocentrics but many national or ]-based ideologies.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}" ] (]) 18:21, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
If so, I'm not sure this is a fair representation of the conflict between Afrocentrists and others. But I must confess my ignorance: the only world history book I've ever made a serious attempt at reading was Toynbee's ''A Study of History'', in which he traces Western Civilization (currently centering on Europe and the U.S.) to Greco-Roman beginnings. But apart from Eastern Orthodoxy he does '''not''' attribute any other extant civilization to Greece or Rome. In particular, he claims that the Islamic Sphere, the Hindu Sphere and the Far Eastern Sphere developed '''independently''' of the Graeco-Roman Empire (or Hellenic Sphere, as he terms it). ] ] 19:04, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)
:That material is very contentious, I made a quick search but I can't find sources that suport it. Maybe others editors could have more luck. ] (]) 21:58, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
::How is it contentious? What is it that you can't find support for? That these acts occurred or that they are denied??] (]) 00:47, 17 December 2016 (UTC)


== External links modified ==
:I think we should definitely change it. Plus remove that quote by Rousseau. Is this guy an art historian? I don't think so. Picking quotes left and right (from credible figures) to make the argument more credible is really off the mark here. And yes, I have a problem with previous POV edits that treats eurocentrism with afrocentrism precisely for the reason that Tonybee claims the other "spheres" developed independently. In the opening paragraph it states it treat "world history" through Eurocentric lens, thus there is a shift toward Afrocentric ones. That just doesn't make much sense at all. ] ]] 21:42, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Hello fellow Wikipedians,
::I don't know if Toynbee is representative of "Eurocentric" thought, but in his ''Study of History'' he self-identifies as Western; e.g., he calls Western Civilization as "our culture" (referring to him and the reader).


I have just modified {{plural:2|one external link|2 external links}} on ]. Please take a moment to review . If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit ] for additional information. I made the following changes:
::Toynbee provides charts and dates, etc., showing that ancient Egypt is the '''first civilization''' in recorded history. I take this to mean that "Western" historians have no argument with the claim that Egypt predates Greece.
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090302025412/http://www.asante.net:80/articles/Liverpool-Address.html to http://www.asante.net/articles/Liverpool-Address.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110104111247/http://www.city-journal.org/article01.php?aid=1426 to http://www.city-journal.org/article01.php?aid=1426


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::I suppose Western historians think the "West" is important, so they emphasize it in history books. But I haven't heard of any Western historian claiming that '''civilization itself''' began with ancient Greece or Rome. Toynbee never breathes the slightest hint of this idea.


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::I'm not sure to what extent Toynbee or others credit ancient Egypt with having influenced ancient Greece. Toynbee doesn't describe Hellenic Civ. as deriving wholly from Egypt, but I don't recall him denying any contacts in space or time.


Cheers.—] <span style="color:green;font-family:Rockwell">(])</span> 07:25, 5 October 2016 (UTC)
::A lot of the interplay between Afrocentrists and, er, competing schools of thought is the complaint that African or black "firsts" have not gotten enough publicity. Ancient Egyptians built the world's tallest buildings and should get credit for this. Perhaps most significantly, they are the first civilization of which there is any written evidence.


== External links modified ==
::A major point of disagreement is the "cradle of civilization" idea, sometimes put forth as the claim that all civilizations that have every existed derive from (or owe major credit for their existence to) ancient Egypt. Toynbee spends several pages demolishing this idea, so there's no common ground here (!).


Hello fellow Wikipedians,
::I'll take a look in tomorrow, if I have time. Cheers! ] ] 22:28, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)


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:::''Beginnings'' is a tricky concept that needs to be qualified very carefuly. We, basically, know of four regions where civilizations are alleged to have began, following the great rivers: along the ] delta, the ]-], the ], and ] rivers. ] 01:16, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090214084822/http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/ajn016 to http://alh.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/ajn016
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071212071725/http://pages.prodigy.net/gmoses/moweb/unity.htm to http://pages.prodigy.net/gmoses/moweb/unity.htm


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::Toynbee would agree with these four. He also throws in Central America, where you have your Azteks and Incas. Of course, the four you mention are more interesting. The 2 ancient American civilizations died out, leaving no "successors". By the way, how are your meds these days? ] ] 16:05, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)


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They are incredibly potent, Ed, and they take me, so to speak, from the heights of ''Paradiso'' to the depths of ''Inferno'', and everything in between (read: much mood swinging). But I should be back to being boring and annoying (as opposed to borring, annoying, and unpredictable) in the very near future. I am developing an empathy to drug addicts, though! Thanks for your concern, I appreciate it. :)


Cheers.—] <span style="color:green;font-family:Rockwell">(])</span> 13:51, 7 December 2017 (UTC)
I want to touch on your thoughts regarding American civilizations briefly. While Central and South American civilizations, much like the African ones (excluding Egypt), arose thousands of years after the four (Afro-?) Asiatic regions (including Egypt), what is noteworthy, I think, is that like (and arguably, even more so than) each of the four (Afro-?) Asiatic ones, these arose independently of one another. But what my note above failed to convey (due to a shortcoming by yours truly), was that I mentioned these four (in relation to the word ''begin'') strictly in terms of periodization. Otherwise, it is, indeed, quite valid to add these (American and non-Egyptian, African ones) to 'the list,' since, again, not only did they merely 'begin' (as everything does, without exception) but theirs was an 'independent beginning,' too. So I place a certain weight on these qualifications; ''i.e.'' what began more-or-less 'first' ''viz.'' what began later, but nonetheless, (also) outside of one another. Hope that makes sense; ''brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio!'' ;) ] 05:56, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)


== This article is a hoot! ==
==Nice Work==


Portraying Afrocentrism as this mostly benign movement...are you f-cking kidding me?! Afrocentrism is nothing more than repackaged euocentric racism! Black people who are proud of their true cultural heritage do not go around calling themselves "afrocentrists"! Afrocentrists are racists who try to claim that every great civilization of Ancient times were black civilizations...and no, I am NOT talking about Egypt - these clowns going around claiming the Chinese, Celts & Native Americans were black! Even if they were black, they certainly weren't by the time their recorded cultural history came around! And with the "out of Africa" theory, EVERY race was once black. This article completely whitewashes afrocentrism and conflates it with black African pride when they are NOT the same thing! --] (]) 18:27, 16 December 2017 (UTC)
This article has been made infinitely better since the last time I dropped in. Well done. You better throw up a wall and dig a moat, Deeceevoice must be raising an army. ] 11:32, 18 Feb 2005 (UTC)


== The first sentence is meaningless ==
:Hear, hear! Well done! ] 07:05, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


It says "''Afrocentrism...is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on the history of people of African descent''." Given that almost all sensible modern science says that all humans are of African descent, that seems a pretty pointless perspective. I've just discovered this article, so I don't know what it's trying to tell me, but I'm sure that could be written a little more meaningfully.
==No intellectual rigor whatsoever==


What '''DOES''' it actually mean? ] (]) 22:38, 14 June 2018 (UTC)
I read the lead paragraph and then dropped down to the section purporting to treat the ethnicity of Egyptians. Appaently, there was no intellectual rigor whatsoever devoted to the subject. The section does little more than conveniently perpetuate the usual lies/myths about ancient Egypt with NO effort to seriously examine the issues. Further, IMO, the selection of the first photograph was selected in an attempt to give credence to those lies. I've been (and continue to be) busy with deadlines, but will return to this subject when I have the time and the patience/inclination to do so. ] 11:58, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


== Bias ==
::I see as usual you think that bluster counts as argument and that saying "it's all lies" somehow proves something. The two photographs were chosen for specific reasons. The photo of the fifth dynasty official was chosen to illustrate ''typical'' Egyptian self-depictions (it may have to go anyway because of copyright problems). The photo placed at the top of the page was chosen as a kind of emblem to illustrate the black/white opposition around which Afrocentrism functions, and to illustrate the later point that Egyptians considered themselves to be an ideal between abnormally extreme 'black' and 'white' identities. If you wish to seriously debate alterations to the text and to add material that supports some Afrocentic claims, then debate your points with other contributors. Otherwise I will simply revert your edits. Your deletion of my comments about the relationship of Afrocentrism to civil rights issues is an example of your high-handed manner. There has been ''much'' discussion here about the fact that civilisation developed independently at many points, and the 'Africa versus Europe' model is distorted from the start because of this blanking-out of the majority of the world! So it is important to mention other non-European cultures here so as to acknowledge the fact that Eurocentrism is not ''only'' about ignoring Africa. The connection of Afrocentrism to Black-American and Caribbean civil rights struggles is simply fact. Asante is explicit about it. So I can see no reason for such deletions. If you have a good one, explain it. ] 01:24, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
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:::Sounds reasonable to me. Europe might be a bit misleading even, as up until the 15th Century, the continent remains mostly limited to the Mediterranean in that sense. ] 13:50, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
This page is severly biased and reads like anti white propaganda... <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 12:57, 2 November 2018 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
::::Well, 'Europe' is a diffuse concept, like the 'West' (and like racial concepts). Still, I think there's a fairly common European identity from the 10th century on, following Christianisation and the circulation of intellectual culture via monasteries. I think the important thing is to draw attention to both the power and the arbitrariness of some of these categories, rather like 'periodising' categories. ] 11:09, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)
::No, it is not. Please stop this spree of article vandalism. ] (]) 13:01, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
It is biased against white people... it's not neutral and is full of anti white undrtones <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 13:10, 2 November 2018 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::No, it's really not. And please indent and sign your statements. ] (]) 13:11, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
::::You wouldn't know bias if I smack you over the head with it... <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 13:13, 2 November 2018 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::::Please be careful about ]. ] (]) 13:15, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
::::::It's biased and if you can't see it you need to pull your head out of your ass <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 13:16, 2 November 2018 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:::::::Please find reliable sources supporting your assertions and cease the personal attacks. ] (]) 13:18, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
{{abottom}}


== Article misses the point of Afrocentrism ==
I have already mentioned my intention to return to this subject. The treatment of it as is sheds no new light on the debate at all and is simply a regurgitation of the same old lies and half-truths.


Afrocentrism, in common usage (such as the google dictionary definition, and even the root of the word), is defined as the idea that people of black or African descent were responsible for most or all of the achievements of ancient cultures. However, this article reads like something entirely different, that people of African descent seek to correct mistakes created by white or European historians. Simply changing the name of this article (and creating a new one about the classic definition of Afrocentrism) would perfectly resolve the issue, in my opinion.
:::Again you don't explain what is a 'lie' or a 'half-truth'. Anyway, I repeat what I wrote above - the point of an encyclopedia is to ''explain'' a concept and to fairly summarise the reasonable positions about it.] 01:29, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Further, I find the apparent self-attribution of the birth of Afrocentrism to Asante as surprising and exceedingly self-serving. Among the oldest "Afrocentric" historians are classic scholars and other Europeans themselves. "Afrocentric" scholarship existed decades, centuries before the modern-day Civil Rights Movement. And I myself was familiar with "afrocentrism" long before I ever even heard of Asante.


<!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 03:02, 14 March 2019 (UTC)</small>
:::I ascribe the origin of Afrocentrism to Garvey and James, not to Asante. That follows standard accounts, including Asante himself (though he also refers to DuBois and other earlier writers). I tried to show that James' views emerge from earlier radical traditions and have given way to later, updated, scholarship. So yes, I accept that it emerges from 'centuries before the modern-day Civil Rights Movement'. That's why I quoted from Blake (Preface to ''Milton'') and why I tried to point out what was ''distinctive'' about James' contribution. ] 01.38, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


:Common usage? Who is using it this way, and how common is it? We need ] for this, not ]. Google results are not reliable for this specific definition. If you know of a reliable source which specifically supports this view, present it here. Likewise, the article currently has dozens of sources, so if you know of a specific way in which these sources are not properly summarized, or think these sources are not reliable, feel free to explain it. ] (]) 03:08, 14 March 2019 (UTC)
Aeschylus, Aristotle, Plato, Herodotus and others readily acknolwedged the blackness of Egypt and its contributions to Grecian and Roman science, arts, letters. If they had been inclined to deny the debt Greco-Roman civilization owed to black Africa, they could not have done so; it was the common knowledge of the era in learned circles.
:You are going by the first 3 lines of the lead, which is very politely expressed, shall we say. The rest of the article does adequately cover the ideas you mention, which are indeed central. ] (]) 03:47, 14 March 2019 (UTC)


== Typo ==
:::No, that's not true. It's true that Greeks thought that Egyptians were 'black' in comparison to themselves. But such terminology is always relative. 'White' people are not actually white; 'red' Indians are not red; orientals are not 'yellow'. These are relative terms. Read the ''Song of Songs''. Even the Greeks recognised this. Herodotus uses the term 'Ethiopian' to mean the (rough) equivalent of ], and he distinguishes that from Egyptian. And as you rightly say, it was commonly believed that Greece owed ideas to Egypt. But the question is, how valid was that belief? The Greeks ''minimised'' their reliance on Mesopotamian cultures because they were impressed by the longevity and continuity of Egypt, and because Mesopotamia was supplanted by their enemy Persia. Post-Ptolomaic Egyptians later sought to claim Greek ideas for themselves by ascribing Greek culture to borrowings from their own traditions. But the ''evidence'' says it didn't happen that way - the evidence of translations from ancient Egyptian texts. ] 01.50, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Please change "enthnocentric" -> "ethnocentric"
But there was little or no reason for them to do so. "Afrocentrism" is merely a the dispassionate, scholarly approach; the ''original'' approach -- and has become a buzzword, a convenient tool among skeptics schooled in and steeped in the lies of the schlock-history of the modern day for lumping together and often dismissing out of hand historians who have come to certain conclusions at odds with this pop history.
:{{Done}}. ] 01:39, 9 May 2019 (UTC)


== Afrocentricity and Afrocentrism are not the same==
:::I don't think the work of established scholars counts as 'pop history'. And to say that 'Afrocentrism' is merely the word for a 'dispassionate approach' is self-defeating. How can a word that means, in effect 'Africa is central' be ''dispassionate''? The name itself already implies a bias. ] 01.57, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


People often confuse Afrocentricity with Afrocentrism. Asante, the person who coined Afrocentricity, has made this clear. He addressed Clarence Walker's (and other's) claims as unfounded, and largely because of walkers confusion of the two terms in order to make straw-man arguments (See Molefi K. Asante's "The Afrocentric Manifesto"). Scholars who have not studied the paradigm will confuse the terms for various reasons But Afrocentrism is simply an unacademic social movement with no real body of theories or direction. It has simply been lazily used to apply to those of certain aesthetics and ideology. Afrocentricity, however, is a theoretical paradigm that Afrocentrists use to approach African phenomena from the standpoint of African agency. Afrocentrists are not adherents of Afrocentrism.
Pop history is the revisionist, disingenuous, lazy, lying, version of world events in the service of racism, white supremacy and imperialism. It has been pretty much the status quo since the European/neo-European (New World) powers, hands bloodied by the trans-Atlantic slave trade and chattle slavery, felt a need to ennoble their despicable actions.


It is a cultural bias and a type of cultural superiority complex that has allowed these terms to be misapplied without caring to fully understand the intricacies of the theories developed by the people who created and use these terms. Read "The Afrocentric Manifesto" as well as "The Afrocentric Idea" by Molefi K. Asante. Also read "The Afrocentric Paradigm" by Ama Mazama as well as "The Demise of the Inhuman: Afrocentricity, Modernism, and Postmodernism" by Ana Monteiro-Ferreira (along with the critiques by Stephen Howe, Walker, Tunde Adeleke, and Paul Gilroy) to get a rounded understanding of the differences between the terms Afrocentricity, Afrocentrist, Afrocentrism, and Africanity, as well as the various theories and arguments for/against.
:::So Africans themselves had nothing to do with slavery and the slave trade then? Get real. ] 01.58, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


I thank you in advance for being rational and editors committed to limiting cultural bias. ] (]) 15:56, 6 March 2021 (UTC)
They had to paint Africans as subhuman or child-like. Acknowledging the blackness of Egypt would have given the lie to their claims that the West was somehow civilizing a bunch of depraved, base savages by placing them in bondage.
:Is there some reason that afrocentricity is centered around ]? Politics? Funding? etc? ] (]) 11:39, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
:: ] As Asante is the person who developed the concept and has been at Temple since 1986, it became the hub essentially. However, it was also the first PhD program in Black Studies so everyone who received a PhD in the field at that time (for about 10 years or so until the next PhD was founded) came out of Temple and was exposed to Afrocentricity in its early stages. Nearly every PhD at Temple since has also adopted either the theory completely or aspects of it. So there are trained Afrocentrists all around the country (and the globe) in various fields (for example, the first PhD is a film director). But to be clear so as I don't misrepresent, it is one of the most dominant theories in the field, but not the only theory.] (]) 15:25, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Thanks for the context. Is there a source which can speak to this to some extent? Another idea might be to redirect ] to Asante's bio. ] (]) 18:15, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
:::: Redirecting to Asante's bio is a fair idea. But to be honest I think for absolute clarity it should have its own page. Ama Mazama has a page on the French Wiki and she has added greatly to Afrocentric theory. But her page is also an example of people getting the term wrong as it quotes someone who says she is a "defender of Afrocentrism". There are also several other scholars who either do or don't have a wiki that one would have to mention in the development of Afrocentricity. I have a few short articles that could sum up the issue but I would have to send them to you somehow. They can't be accessed outside institutional access. ] (]) 19:34, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
{{od}}I may have institutional access. If you post the citations, I can try to read them. ] (]) 20:36, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
*There is so little agreement as to what both these terms mean and cover that we should not be talking about "people getting the term wrong", "lazily used" etc. I'd keep the two together and try to explain as clearly as possible the range of positions each of them covers, according to different writers. Asante more or less coined "Afrocentricity" a good while back, but that does not give him copyright over the term, and as used by others its meaning has diversified. It is absolutely not WP's role to take sides in a dispute of this sort. ] (]) 20:58, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
**Is anyone else claiming ownership of the term ''afrocentricity''? If not, then we should give Asante provenance. ] (]) 21:05, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
***Probably not - "claiming ownership of a term" is not a very respectable thing to do for an academic. But others use it, with a range of meanings. ] (]) 00:05, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
:Me personally, I am confused as to what (if anything) is being proposed as far as changes to the article.] (]) 21:29, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
::Right now, ] redirects here. This may change. We could discuss this at ], but here seems fine anyway. ] (]) 22:21, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
:::As far as I can tell, there is no Afrocentricity article. So are we talking creating a new article? (I.e. one for Afrocentrism & another for Afrocentricity.) Or just re-directing to someone's bio? ] (]) 22:28, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
::::I don't think there's consensus yet. It seems Africologist is leaning towards a new article but may not object to a redirect, Johnbod is unsure whether it is a good idea to disambiguate this way, and I'm still trying to sort out all the sourcing. Any input would be helpful. ] (]) 00:00, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
::::::Indeed. Why not try to get definitions that clearly distinguish between the two concepts here, then see if a new article is desirable (as i've said, I doubt it is). ] (]) 00:05, 9 March 2021 (UTC)


You are correct. No one else claims ownership of Afrocentricity. It has merely at times in the past been confused with Afrocentrism. The meaning of the term Afrocentricity has not "diversified"; though Afrocentrism certainly has. And yes, I believe creating a new article is best. I don't rule out a redirect but I think a new article is best to mitigate any further confusion between the two. There is plenty of scholarship that presents the difference between the two. Here are a couple links: "Defending the Paradigm" https://www.jstor.org/stable/40034783?seq=1 / "Afrocentricity and the Western Paradigm" https://www.jstor.org/stable/40282637?seq=1 (discusses Afrocentric theory and critiques) ] (]) 01:09, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Yes, imperialist and racist ideas ''did'' say this about Africans. That is one reason why I spent so much time on James' arguments - to point out how his approach was influenced by white racist assumptions of the day. It's also one reason why it's important to point out that before the Africa/Europe divide (caused by ''religion'', not imperialism) such racial hierarchies did not exist. If I can speak personally for a moment, I have to say that one of my reasons for feeling ''opposed'' to some Afrocentrist attitudes is that I think they perpetuate racism, by stopping us fronm seeing how arbitrary and contingent many racial categories are. That's also a very good reason why Africa's history should be studied ''dispassiontely'' and honestly. ] 02.07, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:Thanks, I just finished reading both sources. They seem to make the point you are arguing well, but are also perhaps complicated by a lack of specificity in epistemic closure. For example, (pseudo)scholars who are on the fringes of the paradigm are argued to be outside of it completely (such as Farrakhan), but then antecedents such as Cheikh Anta Diop are cited as foundational scholars in ways that seem cringe-worthy. Now, it may just be that Diop was a product in part of the racial theories of his time (he spends a lot of pages in the book ''The African Origin of Civilization'' making claims about race which are wholly quaint if not outrageous by modern standards) and that he has scholarship points of fighting against an acknowledged racist establishment thought with a kind of "NO" that makes for a good foundation. Maybe not unlike Darwin whose work is fantastic in ''Origins of Species'' but goes off the rails in ''Descent of Man'' in not a few instances. In any case, for me, Alkebulan's point is well-taken. The sins of those who do engage in pseudoscholarship being used as standards for a trope do not inform the paradigm ''per se''. One final thing I did not follow was the spirituality argument. The incorporation of spirituality into scholarship has often been a red flag for problems (I might point to critiques of ] or ] for examples of such). However, I couldn't exactly follow the idea. Acknowledging the ''existence'' of spirituality is noncontroversial, but somehow making claims as to the ''existence'' of things likes spirits and gods are going to necessarily run into problems in venues like historiography or empirical work. But this was less than a page of that piece. I wonder: Are there any good critiques on whether/how the spirituality aspect manifests in afrocentricity or afrocentric critiques of Diop's anachronisms? ] (]) 02:36, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
::Apologies, busy few days. To answer your question: Asante and others have expressed that Afrocentricity is not a religion nor does it promote that you must be involved in religion or some spiritual system. Simply that when religion is discussed in regard to African/African diaspora people, African religions, along with their realities and implications for Africans as well as others, should be centered. Scholars do not imply the existence of spiritual beings, simply that the perspective of whichever African group being discussed is that their particular spiritual beings are real to them. So something may be written from that group's perspective while also noting that it is that particular perspective (For quick reference see: African Religions : Beliefs and Practices through History, 2019, p.18-19./ Notice, however, even this author repeats the Bernal error, though sates "some") Further, on Diop, some Afrocentric scholars have critiqued Diop, particularly his idea that "no thought or ideology is foreign to Africa" (Mazama, The Afrocentric Paradigm, 2003, pg. 22/*make sure it's the chapter from the book and not the outdated article) And, of course, more nuanced discussions of civilization have developed since then. You are right to suggest that a primary foundation he provides is challenging the racist establishment. ] (]) 14:58, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Great. I think I'm getting to understand this better. I've begun reading selections from the books you recommended elsewhere. I do think that a draft would be a good idea. In draft space it would be at ]. ] (]) 22:01, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
::::Good. Let me know of any questions from the readings. I suppose we can move the conversation to the Draft Talk? ] (]) 14:46, 12 March 2021 (UTC)


== Why does this page exist? ==


Based on the articles I read, I thought that Afrocentrism was not a scholarly movement of any significance and was more of a reactionary and fringe movement. The fact that so many historians and scholars disagree with Asante and the other prominent Afrocentric scholars mentioned highlights how this isn't really an accepted historical viewpoint. Am I wrong in thinking this or should this article be ammended to better reflect the fringe nature of this movement? Apologies if this has been answered before. ] (]) 20:06, 29 March 2021 (UTC)
Historian Cheickh Anta Diop writes of this inherent contradiction between fact and fiction as experienced by French scholar Constantin François de Volney:
::There's a lot written about it, which makes it ], whether or not it is "a reactionary and fringe movement". Whether this article has the right balance is a different matter. ] (]) 21:11, 29 March 2021 (UTC)


I should have used a different heading as I wanted to see why Afrocentrism is being treated as accepted amongst historians. Considering the prevalence of Afrocentrism in Africana studies, the article has a right to exist. But it must also be considered that the proponents of Afrocentrism like Asante are not historians and that support is strongest in anthropological and black studies journals like the Journal of Black Studies. If anyone could find any peer-reviewed history journals discussing Afrocentrism then this article could really be improved to provide an accurate reflection of how accepted Afrocentrism really amongst historians because the current article gives too much weight to minor scholars and pseudohistorical pieces of work. ] (]) 00:22, 2 April 2021 (UTC)
<blockquote>An exception is the evidence of an honest savant. Volney, who travelled in Egypt between +1783 and +1785, i.e., at the peak period of negro slavery, and made the following observations on the true Egyptian race, the same which produced the Pharaohs, namely the Copts:</blockquote>


:Accepted by whom? And who has the authority to state whether something is valid or not? The idea that there is no scholar unless he/she is western is absolute insanity. That people like Asante be discredited merely because he is Black. ] (]) 00:00, 4 February 2024 (UTC)
All of them are puffy-faced, heavy eyed and
thick-lipped, in a word, real mulatto faces.
I was tempted to attribute this to the climate
until, on visiting the Sphinx, the look of it
gave me the clue to the egnima. Beholding
that head characteristically Negro in all
its features, I recalled the well-known passage
of Herodotus which reads: 'For my part I
consider the Colchoi are a colony of the Egyptians
because, like them, they are black skinned
and kinky-haired.' In other words the
ancient Egyptians were true negroes of the same
stock as all the autochthonous peoples of Africa
and from that datum one sees how their race,
after some centuries of mixing with the blood
of Romans and Greeks, must have lost the full
blackness of its original colour but retained
the impress of its original mould. It is even
possible to apply this observation very widely
and posit in principle that physiognomy is a
kind of record usable in many cases for disputing
or elucidating the evidence of history on the
origins of the peoples . . .


== Afrocentrism and black supremacism ==
::: Note that Diop calls this account an 'exception', yet you present it as the norm. Note also that even in this account, Egyptians are described as 'real mulatto faces'. A ] is a person of ''mixed'' race. The author is clearly speculating when he claims that Egyptians look as they did when he wrote because they mixed with Greeks and Romans. I suspect he wants to say they are black because he is prejudiced against them - a classic example of how some Afrocentrists use racists to justify their arguments and so become implicated in the very racism they appropriate. ] 02.07, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Could it be pertinent to associate afrocentrism with black supremacism ideology or create a section about this?
<blockquote>After illustrating this proposition citing the case of the Normans, who 900 years after the conquest of Normandy still look like Danes, Volney adds:</blockquote>


== Semi-protected edit request on 8 February 2022 ==
but reverting to Egypt, its contributions to history
afford many subjects for philosophic reflection. What a
subject for meditation is the present-day barbarity and
ignorance of the Copts who were considered, born of the
alliance of the deep genius of the Egyptians and the
brilliance of the Greeks, that THIS RACE OF BLACKS WHO
NOWADAYS ARE SLAVES AND THE OBJECTS OF OUR SCORN IS THE
VERY ONE TO WHICH WE OWE OUR ARTS, OUR SCIENCES, AND
EVEN THE USE OF THE SPOKEN WORD ; and
finally recollect that it is in the midst of the peoples
claiming to be the greatest friends of liberty and
humanity that the most barbarous of enslavements has
been sanctioned and the question raised whether black
men have brains of the same quality as those of white
men!42


{{edit semi-protected|Afrocentrism|answered=yes}}
:::Yup, another example of extreme racism ''against'' black peoples being used to justify Afrocentrism. Don't you '''realise''' how self-destructive this is??? There's a weird link on this page to a webpage referring to research showing saying that Afrocentrism is bad for black-American marriages. I thought that was a rather dumb link. When I read this stuff I'm not so sure. ] 02.20, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
] (]) 15:45, 8 February 2022 (UTC)
lemme edit it
:] '''Not done:''' requests for decreases to the page protection level should be directed to the protecting admin or to ] if the protecting admin is not active or has declined the request.<!-- Template:ESp --> ] (]) 15:49, 8 February 2022 (UTC)


== Is it not Black Centrism as Non Black Africans are excluded? ==
In far more recent times in this nation (yet still decades ago), the most learned black scholars were well-acquainted with black, African Egypt as an incontrovertible fact. Those were the days when it was ''de rigueur'' for true sholars, "intellectuals," to read the classical works. Indeed, there is a continuum of writing and scholarship among African-Americans on the subject of, or referring to, black Egypt -- from Martin Delaney to Arna Bontemps to W.E.B. DuBois to J.A. Rogers to Carter G. Woodson to Cheickh Anta Diop to Chancellor Williams to Yusef Ben Jochannan to Ivan van Sertima and ''then'', finally (but not, really; the tradtion will continue) to the likes of Molefi Kete Asanti and Runoko Rashidi. And then there are people like of Thor Heyerdahl (the Rah voyages) and Basil Davidson, contemporary whites whose works contributed mightily to the "afrocentrist" historical paradigm.


The whole term Afrocentrism really means Blackcentrism. North Africans, who are largely not black and never have been, at least since before the Neolithic Era, are either classed as 'invaders', 'foreigners', "recent migrants' or 'mixed race' and simply dismissed as not being African because they are not black. Furthermore they have to suffer repeated attempts to appropriate their history, culture and heritage by Afrocentrics who only consider Black People as Africans. Should not the North African experience and viewpoint be included? Should so called 'Afro' centrism not be called out for what it actually is? ] (]) 10:56, 17 February 2022 (UTC)
:::Thor Heyerdahl showed that Egyptians ''could'' have sailed to the Americas. All other evidence indicates that they did not. Hasn't it occurred to you that such views deny the independent agency of native Americans - that this kind of 'Afrocentrism' actually just recapitulates the worst aspects of the kind of Aryanism that should have died decades ago? ] 02.30, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
:You have a point. But its not up to Misplaced Pages to make ] on this.] (]) 04:30, 30 May 2023 (UTC)
:What attempts to appriopriate their history. Was it not Europeans that appropriated the history the of Egypt and completely falsified the history to begin with. This is all misguided ] (]) 00:02, 4 February 2024 (UTC)


== Notice ==


I noticed how this page has more unfavorable content with more of the unsupported written about the subject, nearly saying questions by Africans -and all I add- are emotion and not intellectual, leaving the reader of subject with the impression Afrocentrism is nonsensical as opposed Eurocentrism which is given some validations and on it’s See Also has no link to white supremacy and pseudoscience as with Afrocentrism which has to black supremacy and pseudoscience. A saw things just noticed. I would like to some more positives on this page equal to that Eurocentrism. The one who may do this thank you🙏. ] (]) 14:51, 16 June 2022 (UTC)
It is only now, with the rise this new generation of "afrocentric" scholars and the higher profile of this approach to the study and interpretation of history, that the label has become popularized and the debate has come to the fore. Ivan van Sertima, in fact, rejects the label "afrocentric," claiming he is simply a historian in search of truth. The interesting thing is that when "afrocentrists" throw the writings of white, classical "afrocentrist" writers in their faces, apologists for the schlock/pop historical approach like Lefkowitz have no credible comeback.


== Speculations about african presence in the americas ==
:::Evidence? Surely, all historians should search for the truth, though you often have to care about an ''aspect'' of the truth in order to do that. ] 02.40, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
While certainly not pervasive, this knowledge has been persistent; it long has been a common intellectual thread in the African-American community. Such information to a scorned and oppressed people who were constantly being taught by whites that they had contributed nothing of value to civilization, had no written language, and no culture of any merit was more precious than gold. We have protected it and passed it on -- even through the Egyptian Revial period following the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb, which further fueled schlock/pop culture notions of white Egyptians with Nubian slaves.


I made edits to the section about the speculations about africans in the americas before columbus, and about the anti-indigenous violence they perpetuate. Reminder that wikipedias guidelines are as follow:
You are denying that the evidence presented here that Egyptians did ''not'' consider themselves to be white. ] 02.44 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Before reverting
White Egyptians were all the rage -- in print, film and decorative arts. These are the images that have fed the ignorant biases of generations of people about ancient Egypt. But through the '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s, this knowledge filtered down to everyday black people, many of whom were familiar with the works of J.A. Rogers. The people who possessed this knowledge and the dignity and pride it engendered were called "race men" and "race women."
Consider very carefully before reverting, as it rejects the contributions of another editor. Consider what you object to, and what the editor was attempting. Can you improve the edit, bringing progress, rather than reverting it? Can you revert only part of the edit, or do you need to revert the whole thing?
In the edit summary or on the talk page, succinctly explain why the change you are reverting was a bad idea or why reverting it is a better idea. In cases of blatant vandalism, uncontroversially disruptive changes or unexplained removals, the amount of explanation needed is minimal. But in the event of a content dispute, a convincing, politely-worded explanation gains much importance and avoids unnecessary disputes.


If you do not like what I wrote, improve it. However you might feel about the situation, it is fact that the speculations are most perpetuated on social media platforms and that the purpose behind them is anti-indigenous violence due to the speculations being indigenous erasure as described by afro-indigenous scholars such as Kyle T Mays.
:::More assertion. Most modern images present Egyptians as 'middle eastern', for want of a better term, not as white. Even the Victorians, at the height of the British Empire, depicted them as racially mixed. See Edwin Long's painting ''An Egyptian Feast'' (http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/display_image.php?id=13815). ] 02.47 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


Regarding the examples of anti-indigenous violence, the information shared is not "personal information" as has been alleged, but information from PUBLIC accounts of mass followings that created PUBLIC content.
As a young child in the 1950's, I remember the broader American society of the time. Stepin Fetchit, Amos 'n' Andy, blackface, the cartoon Magpies, and a shytload of darky images were the order of the day. Bojangles took a backseat to Fred Astaire; major league sports were still segregated; Emmit Till was brutally beaten and lynched; and black folks in the South still couldn't vote, drink out of the same water fountains, stop along the highway at a restaurant and expect to be served, or to public bathroom facilities. Growing up in the Midwest, the local amusement park opened to black folks one day out of the year, the movie theater downtown refused admission to blacks, and golf courses and the doors of country clubs were closed to us -- unless we were the hired help. Black people still "wore the mask," as Franz Fanon wrote -- and white people still believed Sambo really existed.


One thing I would like to add, if you would stop the revert warring, is that Ivan van Sertima has said himself that he was "not too confident about the evidence" he had accrued in attempt to support his speculations, as per his interview for the wall street journal. ] (]) 18:04, 2 February 2023 (UTC)
:::Yes, that's true, and indefensible: just as indefensible as distortng history to feel better about injustice. ] 02.50 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


== Semi-protected edit request on 28 April 2023 ==
We all went to school, read the same schlock historical accounts -- in separate and unequal schools, and our textbooks were often several years older than those in the white schools, but the contents were the same. World history and world literature started with Rome and Greece. No black folks ever served this nation in war -- except in the mess halls. The Paraohs were white; Nubian slaves and Jews built the pyramids. "Darkest Africa" was black and backward, had always been and probably would always be. Blacks never had a written language. And slavery wasn't that bad; lots of masters were good to their slaves.


{{Edit semi-protected|Afrocentrism|answered=yes}}
:::What has this to do with the claim that Egyptians were black? Be fair. Anger at the evils of Jim Crow does not justify claims about the Ancient world. We have to use an Encyclopedia to ''inform'', and to clearly explain all reasonable points of view. ] 02.50 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
Add Pan-Africanism portal.


{{Portal|Pan-Africanism}} ] (]) 08:14, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
Yep. We all read the same lies. The difference was white folks saw the elevator operators, the housemaids, cooks, street sweepers and bootblacks, and for many that was all they saw or knew. They went home to their segregated neighborhoods secure in the knowledge that the white man was the epitome of God's creation and the lord and master of the universe -- always was and always would be.
:] '''Not done:''' it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a ] and provide a ] if appropriate.<!-- Template:ESp --> ] (]) 08:15, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

:::Your understandable anger does not justify the distortion of history. If you do that you lose your moral ground. ] 02.59 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

As a young, black child, on the other hand, I went home to the people behind those masks. In my life, I never met a real Sambo or knew a Stepin Fetchit. My mother was graduated from college at 19; my dad a successful businessman. My redlined, all-black neighborhood (except for "Mrs. Zeke," an elderly Eastern European woman next door), was a rich mix of professionals and blue-collar workers -- the human face of the Great Migration settled "Up South" for greater opportunity for themselves and their children. And down the street, the letter-carrier father of my best friends was a race man. He'd named his daughter Aida and was the first person to tell us the cannibals with the cookpots and with bones in their noses and the Johnny Weismuller "Yes, bwana" Tarzan junk on the television were all lies.

I don't know how or where or when I obtained the knowledge I possessed; but I knew my fourth-grade social studies teacher was a racist. And whether he was lying or just plain ignorant when he told me the ancient Egyptians were white, I couldn't tell, but I ''did'' know he was dead wrong.

I find the abysmal and thoroughly obtuse ignorance on the part of so many whites in this regard more than a little curious. Who has ''not'' read Langston Hughes' ''The Negro Speaks of Rivers''? The knowledge of black Egypt was such a given among blacks, that Hughes wrote while still a teenager: "I've known rivers ... older than the flow of human blood in human veins....I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset. I've known rivers: ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers."

::("Euphrates" - Oh dear, I knew the Turks were trying to stake a claim to Sumer, and now the Afrocentrics too? --] 04:11, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC))

:::Passionate and understandable as they are, non of these paragraphs tell us anything about ancient history. They tell us about the emotional power of its appeal. ] 03.10 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
I write these things to say there is a long tradition of "afrocentric" scholarship, and there are many decades of this information being a part of everyday life for a great many African-Americans. It is, in part, how and why we have come to this discussion on Misplaced Pages and how the tremendous rift in this regard between blacks and whites, exemplified in people like Lefkowitz and Bernal, came to be.

:::Bernal is not black, as it happens. Of course I accept that there is nothing wrong at all in scholarship that centres on Africa. That's not the same, I think, as the kind of thing you are speaking of here, which is really about the history of ''America''. ] 03.40 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This chasm created by fundamental differences in experiences and knowledge bases of blacks and whites and vastly differing perspectives in many areas also points to an even broader problem -- the consequent raft of misconceptions, silliness and outright racist crap that makes its way into the articles treating black people on Misplaced Pages. No matter how jaded one is, how accustomed to such appalling ignorance, it's disconcerting and downright disgusting. Not many folks have the patience for it -- and I'm fast losing what little I possess. Most black folk I know -- myself included -- do not have as their ''raison d'etre'' correcting the various and sundry racist misconceptions, presumptions and assumptions of white folks. As a matter of fact, we prefer to avoid contact with the most backwardly ignorant of you as much as humanly possible. Just plain fact.

:::Well you can correct any errors on Misplaced Pages as long as you can convince the contributing community as a whole. I think they are generally willing to accept reasonable argument. I also think this black/white opposition is a little misleading. Try it with pages that relate to Indian identity - you get locked into claims by Hindtvists that Vedic culture was once universal and is eternal. Try it with the Chinese. ] 03.50 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


This is background. I wanted to write it here -- as prologue.

Now I must return to my deadlines. And, again, when I have the patience and more time, I will return to this "debate" and to the article at hand.

:::To be honest DC, there are parts of the article which I think could do with revision - espoecially the last section, which I think needs an honest account of the relationship beween 'African' and 'black' history, especially on the points about how we define 'races', and about the mapping of historical African cultures and their histories. I hope someone can help with that. ] 03.50 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

See ya on the black side. ] 15:35, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:Well, that's one long polemic without any real arguments. You quoted one big proponent of Afrocentrism, so what? And the thing with classicists having no comeback. When Leftkowitz asked Asante why the hell would he say that Aristotle studied at the Library of Alexnandria when it was built after his death, he called her a racist. Really, tell me, who doesnt have a comeback? Who's the one talking out of the other end? ] ]] 19:44, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I've read Lefkowitz ''and'' the afrocentrist historians. Can you say the same? Nope. And I've reinstated the POV. The article presents arguments against Afrocentrism, but does not present their counter. And as to Bernal and Lefkowitz, Aristotle and Alexandria -- how should I know? Alexandria was built upon a more ancient city after the conquest and renamed. Could Aristotle have studied there before the name change? Perhaps. Perhaps Bernal misspoke and was either too proud, or too angry, or occupied with other things to address the matter. Perhaps you didn't hear him correctly. Beats the hell outta me. Whatever the case, a single, off-the-cuff statement by one writer is hardly a reasonable test of the credibility of the afrocentrist paradigm.] 20:09, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:::Perhaps, but unlikely. Anyway, it was Asante not Bernal. I must say, you are not showing great 'intellectual rigor' here. There is no evidence of a library at Alexandria before Aristotle. One good reason for this is that Alexandria did not exist before Aristotle. It was founded, as its name suggests, by Alexander, who was a ''pupil'' of Aristotle. Making up another earlier library in an earlier city there on no evidence whatever is resort to fantasy. O tempora... ] 02.30, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I've done a little to the section on the ethnic identity of ancient Egypt. I'd like to include a pic of the mural itself to replace the image of the artifact that purports to depict "typical" Egyptians. I don't necessarily disagree with the premise; certainly, taken as a whole, ancient dynastic Egypt was peopled by brown-skinned black people and certainly not all black-skinned Nubians. But I think as an explication of how the Egyptians regarded themselves in relation to other groups of the region and time ''in their own words and art'', the mural is far superior and enlightening than that single, unsubstantiated image. I haven't read the entire article, but that's the section that first attracted my attention. Deadlines. But I will return and deal with the rest. I promise. ] 16:44, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

==Deecee's new stuff==

I know of no evidence of any "prominent Wolof and Hamitic influences" on Egyptian. Wolof is part of a very different language group - and has been associated with Egyptian by a Ghanaian writer who has a particular agenda. Can you tell me of a linguist who identifies this Wolof influence? There is no such thing as 'Hamitic' influence on Egyptian. That is meaningless. Egyptian is ''part'' of the ] language group, which used to be called Semito-Hamitic. Hamitic is just an old-fashioned term for the non-Semitic component of the group, now no longer considered to be a linguistically coherent classification. Egyptian is now normally isolated within the Afro-Asiatic group, which covers north Africa and Israel/Arabia. It has also fairly obviously ''overlaid'' earlier groups in its southern expansions. In other words, Egyptian can't be ''influenced'' by 'Hamitic', Hamitic is just an old fashioned term for the group to which it belongs. ] 04.39, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:If you disagree with my use of "influenced," then you're free to change it. In doing online research, I came across (for the first time) references to Wolof and its similarities with the ancient Egyptian language. The tomb of ] contained a box on which the king was depicted riding a chariot over black-skinned people, presumably representing Nubia. There were also walking sticks the handles of which depicted both black skinned and pale skinned prisoners, representing defeated Nubian and Asiatic enemies (see image at top). If the connection is tenuous or debated, then it certainly should be stated.

:I ''do'' have a photo of the mural I've referred to that I think should be added to the article. I think it is a far better indicator of how the Egyptians thought of ethnicity (clearly, that was its purpose) than the photo of a single artifact, the color of which -- as well as the speculations surrounding it -- is purely circumstantial. ] 16:33, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

::Your comments seem to include a quotation from my additions. I don't follow that. You know perfectly well that the Egyptians depicted themselves over and over again as red-brown, not normally as black - though of course ''some'' Egyptians would have been darker, and some paler than the norm. You are simply choosing an image to push a point of view, not to be fair. BTW, I made a mistake in the above comments. It's Diop who tries to connect Egyptian with Wolof. The Ghanaian writer, whose name I can't recall at the moment, connects it to ]. ] 05.12, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:::On Diop's methodology, this is from Howe's book: "The basic flaw is that in order to trace the history of languages, to identify shared roots, patterns of evolution, and divergence, it is entirely inadequate to simply list similiar-sounding or possibly related terms in different languages...they can provide little more than a priori case for investigating the possibility of common origins...He makes no aparent attempt to formulate a systematic 'core' vocabulary, or to distinguish bewteen the words with strong cultural, religious or ideological overtones and those without" and "two languages can...also have words in comon because in one of them they are 'loanwords'. There ''are'' techniques for trying to decide whether a given word is a loanword, but Diop, once again, does not use them." ] ]] 20:19, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

What I know is this is a perfectly legitimate Egyptian artifact which ''itself'' depicts the ethnographic "universe" as the Egyptians of Rameses' time knew it -- and their place it it, as well. As such, it is a far more pertinent, ''far'' more graphic and clearer illustration of who the Egyptians represented ''themselves'' to be than the photo of a fairly generic artifact with dubious ethnographic significance that presently accompanies the relevant text and that is accompanied by a caption that is mere conjecture on the part of others as to who and what the Egyptians were. And, please, do not tell me what I "know perfectly well." You do ''not'' know at all what I know -- which is the whole point of this debate. You asked me to provide support, and here it is. I didn't manufacture this item. Some advice: do not ask for that which you are unwilling or unprepared to accept. ] 19:09, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)

::: Well, all I can say is that if you do ''not'' know perfectly well that Egyptians normally depicted themselves as red-brown, then you should see more Egyptian art before writing in an encyclopedia about how they depicted themselves. I could easily have chosen a depiction of a lighter skinned Egyptian, such as the famous bust of ], if I'd wanted to show that Egyptians were pale-skinned people. I don't, because the evidence is that most of them weren't. I chose an image that seemed to be representative of the ''norm'', not one to push a racial agenda. Now, the picture you refer to is very well known from numerous Afrocentric writings and websites that reproduce an old copy of it. They do not reproduce the ''many'' other tomb images illustrating the same sacred text (which lists peoples of the known world) in which Egyptians depict themselves as red-brown in contrast to darker and lighter peoples. This is a ''unique'' exception, the reasons for which we don't know. It is very misleading to take a unique, completely exceptional image and present it as how the Egyptians normally saw themselves. I think we should debate this here before changes are made, but I wont have time to do much till the weekend.

:::p.s. Diop is also responsible for the 'melanin tests', conducted and assessed by him. Having seen an account of his 'scientific' methods, I don't think this can be considered legitimate evidence. ] 12.35, 22 Feb 2005 (UTC)

My, my. You've really got a bug up your butt, don't you? LOL Listen, the artifact is what it is. It's the only one I have access to, though I understand there have been similar/fairly identical ones found by others elsewhere. The ancient Egyptians, as indigenous Africans, were black people. "Black" does not mean literally black -- any more than "white" means literally white. Just as there is really no such thing as black hair, virtually all black folks are actually varying shades of brown -- from the "blackest Nubian/Dravidian/Tamil to "yella." (Do we really have to go through this rather fundamental aspect of "racial identification"?) Obviously, the Egyptians saw themselves as fundamentally "black" folks in relation to the other ethnic groups with whom they came into contact.

What's amusing is how white folks will call black folks with varying skin tones (which happens naturally, even without any "mixing") "Negroes" and "black people," but when it comes to Egypt, they take great pains to point to the fact that Egyptians sometimes depicted themselves using rich, dark brown skin tones as evidence that they aren't somehow "Negroid." WTF? The ethnographic mural is very straightforward, very, ''very'' clear -- as was their terminology for themselves. They referred to themselves as "blacks" as the most defining, striking characteristic that set them apart from all other ethnic groups with whom they came into contact (except other indigenous Africans) and -- in much the same way other peoples have referred to black people over the ages, regardless whether they were blue-black, mahogany, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, tan or cafe-au-lait.

Further, the use of the term "Semitic" to describe other people of the region itself testifies to the presence of African blood in their veins. After all, Semites are none other than Eurasians, or (Europeans or Asians) with black African blood. (Where the hell do you think Hasidim got their nappy hair from? Why do you think they've been so despised throughout the ages?) The black blood in them is so strong, that even the Ashkenazi, who've been in Europe for centuries, still often turn up with nappy/frizzy hair. They got that hair from black folks. There are no people indigenous to Africa other than black Africans. The Semites are a product of the confluence of peoples in that region -- of Europeans and Asians interacting with the indigenous blacks of Africa (and that includes Egypt). In fact, "Semitic" properly refers to a language group; it is not a racial or ethnic group. From a strictly scientific standpoint, consider the proposition that segments of humankind, as they migrated from warmer climates to cooler ones, gradually lost much of the pigmentation in their skin. Why the hell would white people, or even relatively fair-skinned Semites (and here we're not talking about the obvious black African and Afro-Semitic peoples of Egypt who remain the predominant population in Egypt to this day), develop in Africa/Egypt, where it's hot as blazes -- and right alongside blue-black Nubians? It didn't happen.

All that notwithstanding, and your silly and thoroughly presumptuous comments (lecturing me on "moral ground" and some ascribed "anger" that I do not have) in response to my earlier post assuming some sort of manufactured history in order to compensate for our subjugated state (notice I mentioned the knowledge passed on was based in part on historical accounts provided by classical historians, as well as archaeological evidence) as well, the fact of the ethnographic mural is incontrovertible; it is a matter of archaeological and historic record. And whether you wish to accept it or not, the ancient Egyptians were BLACK. How do we know? Because they themselves SAID so. ] 13:25, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:: The fact that in the West we call people with ''any'' visible sub-Saharan African ancestry 'black' is evidence of the incoherence of these racial categories when used as a social label, it's not evidence of anything else, certainly not of anything about Egypt. We have to be clear what ''we'' mean when we say "the Egyptians were/weren't black". Now, I'm pretty sure there can't be a ''definitive'' answer, because race-categories are themselves constructs, and often inconsistent. That's why we have to lay out the arguments clearly and fairly.

::There are indeed many other examples of the so-called catalogue of races. So far as I know, ''all'' of the other ones portray the Egyptians as red-brown in contrast to black and to yellow ('white') peoples. This is in line with the constantly repeated depiction of Egyptians in statues and wall-paintings. I'd say that 'obviously' Egyptians identified themselves as 'fundamentally' a happy-medium or norm between extremes of colour. However, I am perfectly happy to include a discussion of the ''range'' of reasonable interpretations of Egyptian identity. As I'm sure you are aware there are white-supremacist websites out there that 'prove' Egyptians to have been a white race by highly selective use of evidence. Do you want to give that viewpoint equal weight? I don't.

::It's true that Egyptians used the term 'Kemet' (KMT) to label their nation, and that it means 'black' or 'dark'. You know what the standard explanation of that is, and that it is ''not'' usually thought to refer to skin-pigmentation. So I can't really accept as likely the claim that Egyptians referred "to themselves as 'blacks' as the most defining, striking characteristic that set them apart from all other ethnic groups." In fact the great majority of evidence points the other way. They distinguish thmselves from ''both'' black and yellow/white peoples.

::Your account of the origin of Semitic peoples reads as though it comes straight out of Gobineau, inventor of the theory of the Aryan master-race. He came up the with idea that 'Semites' are a blurring of racial identies, or, as you put it, "Euro Eurasians, or (Europeans or Asians) with black African blood." This whole idea depends on the notion that there were distinct 'black', 'white' and 'asian' races that just got all mixed up in the middle-east. I accept that we have a long way to go before we sort out the genetic histories of peoples of the world, but that notion of a mingling of three distinct identities surely can't hold water any more, and what's worse, it justifies the notion that there are ''essential'' racial identities that are either 'pure' or 'mixed'. The notion that only Africans have curly hair is not exactly borne out by the evidence of curly haired people elsewhere in the world. Yes, Semitic is a language-group, but it languages are spoken by peoples who migrate and take their language with them, so it is ''one'' (far from infallible) way to identify population movements and ethnic links between peoples. I don't really know what you mean when you ask 'why the hell would white people, or even relatively fair-skinned Semites...develop in Africa'. Yes, it's hot in Egypt, but it's hot in Israel too, which is a skip and a jump away. Why would they 'develop' there? It's hot in the rest of north Africa too. But the whole population of the area is not black-skinned is it? As for the evidence of classical authors, most of them say that Egyptians were a middle tone, lighter than some peoples, darker than others. If you want me to post the evidence I can, but it will have to wait a few days.

::It was you who spent ''most'' of your last post complaining about the history of America, not me. You clearly indicated where your passion came from, not ancient history, but modern history. The ancient Egyptians, so far as I know did not 'say' they were black in the sense you mean. That is, I know of no text in which they say 'we are black-''skinned'' peoples.' Akhenaton's "Hymn to the Sun" refers to to the different colours of humanity, but does not specify to which colour Egyptians belong. Obviously the fascination with colour is most obvious at this time - in the New Kingdom, when the empire encompasses Nubia and the Middle-East, and when there are diplomatic relations with ] and ]. That's when you get the catalogue of races, in almost all of which - with one exception you mention - Egyptians are portrayed red-brown. That's why, I think, the fairest thing to say is that Egyptians can't really be fitted neatly into modern (socially constructed) race categories. ] 17.20, 22 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Before you go on a jag about Jews and other Semites in the Middle East, perhaps you should take a good look at what ethnologists say the original Jews looked like, what Jesus, himself, in fact, looked like. They were clearly Afro-Semitic, with an emphasis on the "Afro."

And what? "As far as know," the other ethnographic murals are different? Well, I don't know what you've seen; I can only refer to and describe the photographs of the mural I've been looking at. When you can produce a similar mural that depicts the different ethnicities in the region substantially differently, I'll be more than willing to take a look. But even if they ''do'' use mud-brown pigment, that's STILL black folks. Until then, "as far as I know" just doesn't cut it. Further, there are numerous images of Egyptians as, literally, black. And I'm sure you've seen those, too. If you haven't, I'd be more than happy to direct you to some interesting images. But you're a smart boy. I'm sure you can find them (and already have) on your own.

Furthermore, the trend in history is toward Afrocentrism. What? No comments about forensic reconstruction? About why, inexplicably, this mural shows black Africans and Egyptians as ''identicial'' in physical appearance? Gee, how did ''that'' happen? Do you somehow think to contradict the clear archaeological evidence? Didja see what forensic scientists did with the royal mummy believed to be that of Nefertari? Or of King Tut (whose cane shows a Nubian "under his thumb")? The brother was blacker than I am! LMAO. And if you tried to tell someone I wasn't black, they'd laugh in your face. ] 20:36, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

::Can you tell me who these ethnologists are who say that the 'original Jews' looked 'Afro' (whatever that may mean)? You tell me to look at these scholarly works, but give no references at all. What ethnologists? None that I know of, for sure. I don't know how 'mud-brown' can 'still be black'. Of course I accept that mixed-race (usually sub-saharan/european mix) people are considered to be 'black' these days in the US and Europe. But this categorisation is totally irrational. Anyway, it does not apply to Egyptians, who are not a 'mixture' in this sense. They are a distinctive people with an identity dating back for many thousands of years. We still don't know how to categorise this identity, because we have not mapped the genetic histories of populations. What we can say is that they are fairly typically North African, in the way they look and in the language they speak. Racial categories, even as used today, are not just about levels of melanin. Many Europeans are darker than ], for example. What we see are complex transitions between different 'categories' of peoples. I think what you are doing, in conflict with the evidence of genetics and of history, is to create a series of idealised 'races' and then to claim that peoples who fail to fit them are 'mixed'. That's why Walker was so right to say that Afrocentrism is "racist, reactionary, and essentially therapeutic."

::Anyway, what ''is'' obvious is that you know nothing about illustrations to the Book of Gates and don't care to find out. Given this, I think your accusations of lack of 'scholarly rigor' simply rebound on yourself when they are directed at contributors who ''do'' care to look at the evidence. As for your comments about the mummy of 'Nefertari', again you display basic ignorance. I assume you mean the reconstruction of a mummy ''supposed'' to be that of Nefertiti (not Nefertari). We know perefectly well what Nefertiti looked like, because of the famous surviving bust of her (]) to which I have already referred. The reconstruction of the mummy was not based on science, but on the decision of a graphic designer. Most Egyptologists do not even believe the thing to be Nefertiti's mummy. As for Tut, I've seen several reconstructiond (http://www.mirror.co.uk/printable_version.cfm?objectid=12240935&siteid=50143 ; http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/archives/archive33/newposts/188/topic188687.shtm). I don't think they can be neatly placed in modern/popular categories of race. I have ''not'' seen numerous images of Egyptians as 'literally black', unless you mean sculptures that happen to be made from black stone, in which case you can also find numerous images that are 'literally white'.

:: I have commented extensively on the R3 mural. I note that you have ''nothing'' to say about all the other illustrations of the Book of Gates. ] 00.35, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC)]]

And let me make one observation. We are not here to debate the pros and cons of anything. We are here to equitably ''present'' the pro and con. That Afrocentrism is incorrect is not a foregone conclusion as contributors to this piece would like to present -- something which I am here to prevent. So, sue me. :-p ] 20:44, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

==Civility==

I think we should all avoid making personal remarks about other contributors:

* your silly comments
* got a bug up your butt
* you do ''not'' know
* You know perfectly well
* your conduct on that front &ndash;that you don't see it defeats your own points&ndash; never ceases to baffle me

If you need help, please ask a Mediator (like me for instance). ] ] 15:52, Feb 23, 2005 (UTC)

:Dear Uncle Ed, if we ''do'' need a mediator, we will need someone who is impartial -- not someone who apparently sees fit to criticize the contributions of a single member. Perhaps your services can be utilized elsewhere on Misplaced Pages. *x* ] 20:16, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)
::Civility has nothing to do with contributions, and deeceevoice does seem to be the only one here to consistently be directing such uncivil, emotional exclamations towards other editors. It is my opinion that Ed is correct and has every right to insist on civility, as I and other here also have. ] 03:54, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

== Not from this world ==

1) To categorize humans by race/color (You are/I am .. "black".. "white".. "yellow".. "red") is a fairly new concept and was unknown to ancient Egyptians.

2) To the ancient Egyptians, color was an essential part of symbolism. Black symbolized death, resurrection and the underworld. (Osiris, for instance, was referred to as "the black one" because he was the king of the afterlife) The picture deeceevoice refers to is a rendition of a painting of the Book of Gates, a text that appears on several tombs of ancient pharaohs and basically provided a guide for what to expect in the world of the afterlife (netherworld/underworld) and was NOT a description of the world of the living.

:The symbolism of colors and their meaning already has been addressed in the article. (See my additions.) No-name contributor, your contentions are not borne out by what I have read. Regardless of the context in which this mural appears, the fact that it is a realistic rendering of the various groups illustrated and their differences ''has never been questioned by anyone of note'' -- not even Amelianeau, who identifies this as part of a religious "book." The argument that this is some symbolic rendering with no similarity to the real world is absurd on its face. Even the ''dress'' of the individual groups, style of hair and existence (or nonexistence) of facial hair is accurate to the groups portrayed. The fact that Egyptians represented other Africans as looking exactly like themselves and even wearing the same dress says it all. And, yes, Egyptians varied in skin tone and even hair texture -- the way other indigenous black Africans do, the way my people in my own immediate family do. That means absolutely nothing; we are all black. One would think if there were ''any meaningful difference whatsoever'' between the two groups phenotypically, the Egyptians would have made note of it, given that they were predisposed to set themselves apart from all other groups. Further, the renderings are highly detailed, right down to the forward-slanting profiles of the Africans -- which is a common (though not universal) "racial" characteristic still readily apparent in even most African-Americans today -- despite our "mongrelization." ] 23:32, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)
::The last edit looks like it's quoting stuff from whitehistory.com, except that it's black. Like P.Barlow said, I don't see what's the point of only presenting selective evidence. ] ]] 23:52, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Some additional info re the "mural of nations":

First of all, the renderings of the peoples of the sun the Egyptians believed Osiris would resurrect in death are accurate. The mural represents deals with the sun's journey after it sets in the West and the afterlife (known similarly in the Kongo and as illustrated in African-American quilts as "the moments of the sun")
1. Kemetu, the Egyptians (Ret) humanity perfected
2. the Namu, to their east: sunrise
3. Black Afica/the Nile Valley to their south: noon
4. the Tamu to the west: sunset

] 00:09, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Further, with regard to "selective evidence," one cannot get more selective than choosing a figural image of a single, relatively obscure 5th dynasty Egyptian offical and characterizing it as "typical." At least the presentation of the mural is an attempt to provide an example of a comparative rendering that explicitly illustrates broad, but specific, groups and clearly labels them by ethnic/national grouping. There are far more numerous statuary images -- royal and otherwise -- that show clear black African phenotypical characteristics. With the one provided, the facial characteristics are not even evident. ] 00:16, 24 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I read the part about Egyptian color symbolism in the article, and it's not accurate.
White was not associated with death, it was the color of sacred things and purity (e.g. Memphis meant "White Walls", priest were dressed in long white robes, the crown of Upper Egypt was white) Yellow was seen as being the equivalent to gold and was symbolic of all that is eternal, indestructible and imperishable. Black, as I already mentioned, symbolized death, resurrection and the underworld (e.g. Osiris, the king of the afterlife was called "the black one." Ahmose-Nefertari, the patroness of the necropolis was portrayed with black skin. Anubis, the Guardian of the Dead was shown as a black man with the head of a black jackal or dog).

:Actually, I also read the information I inserted about color elsewhere, too. If the information is disputed or inaccurate, then it should be contested and/or corrected. I think it's important to mention, though, that color in Egyptian art is sometimes symbolic, rather than literal. ] 09:49, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Egyptians did NOT protrait themselves "looking exactly like other Africans". They distinguished themselves from non-Egyptians with distinctive clothing and hair-styles and red-brown skin. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/colors1.jpg

The ''ethnographic'' example to which I refer is a very specific mural which very graphically and in great detail depicts the facial characteristics, dress and skin tones of four separate groups of people. The artifact is absolutely authentic, and the characterization of the information it provides is irrefutable. ] 18:57, 25 Feb 2005 (UTC)
-------------------------
by unnamed:
To understand what's on the tomb wall of Ramses III one needs to examine the full paintings and the complete text of the Book of Gates. http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/images/large/16608.jpg

Nubian: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/images/large/15652.jpg

Syrian and Nubian: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/images/large/15447.jpg

Egyptian: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/images/large/15162.jpg

Asiatics: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/images/large/16230.jpg

Libyan: http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/images/large/18236.jpg
--------------------------
Hello unammed, you might want to create an account and sign your name so it's easier to read. You can also contribute to the article too, the pictures look nice. As for you deeceevoice, what's your preoccupation with portraying mainstream scholarly works as Eurocentric? Mainstream is not Eurocentric; it's a label applied to Afrocentrists to give themselves more legitimacy, to propagate unfounded "research" some sort of "paradigm shift." The readers need to know that Afrocentrism is fringe theory at best, instead of some legitimate counterargument to historic research ] ]] 00:49, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

___

Hello Wareware, thanks for the welcome. I finally signed up. I hope that my comments are more convenient to read now :-). (] 15:12, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC))

_____

:With regard to the use of "eurocentric," I use the word and "mainstream" interchangeably, because that's been my experience with mainstream historical texts (note the examples I've mentioned before). Eurocentrism has been more or less a given in traditional historical text -- as has sexism, the omission of contributions by women. I didn't/don't see anything wrong with it; it's simply a truth for me. If, however, others are uncomfortable with the term and insist on the use of "mainstream," I won't argue the point. It's not that important to me.
::It's really not that hard to differentiate between sexism and afrocentrism. While there have been many women scholars, Frocentrists the usually lacks scientific merit and work on an agenda. Grouping afrocentrism with sexism to attack mainstream academia is really not the place here ] ]] 19:40, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:I think the fact that Afrocentrism generally is outside mainstream historical thought is made amply clear in the article. What people also must understand, however, is that it is up to us to accurately set down the Afrocentrist viewpoint and then present prevailing counterarguments -- not for us to debate here whether or not we agree with either side. If historical scholars haven't settled the argument, we certainly cannot expect to do so among ourselves.
::Not really, it presents afrocentrist fringe theories as equal and valid counterarguments or viewpoints. That'd be like inserting holocaust revisionism in the holocaust article and let the readers debate whether or not they agree with either side. It shouldn't be like that. ] ]] 19:40, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:With regard to many of your earlier changes, Wareware, I've reverted a lot of them -- again. I wrote much of the original text you've been tampering with, and I've made certain changes ''for a reason,'' as I've already stated in the text accompanying my reversions. Unless you have a good reason for reverting the edits and state them, let them stand. You seem hell-bent on reverting anything and everything I contribute. You even reverted a ''typo'' I'd corrected. Exercise some critical thinking and stop acting like an automaton. If you continue in this manner, I will report you for violating the 3-reverts rule. ] 09:49, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:I find it amusing that the unnamed contributor argues in one post that the images are "not of this world" and so therefore are somehow not meant to be literal depictions of the groups represented and clearly labeled.

::Ok, the images are ''stylised'' and are also in part symbolic. In other words the red-brown colour is the standard ''convention'' for depicting Egyptians. No-one is suggesting that it is 'scientifically' accuate, but that it provides a reasonable guide to how the Egyptians understood their ethnicity in relation to other peoples. So this aspect of the debate is about how the Egyptians saw ''themselves'' in the ethnic universe around them. Another, partly separate, question is how ''we'' would characterise Egyptians in the racial categories familiar to us today. That need not correspond to Egyptian's own self-definition, but it will obviously have to draw on the evidence they have left us, along with the evidence of non-Egyptian authors and of the physical evidence provided by mummies, genetic studies of modern populations etc. ] 12:49, 1 Mar 2005 (UTC)

__________

If you want to show how ancient Egyptians typically portrayed people in the Egyptian mythology, then use the images of the book of gates. If you want to show a vivid portrait of Egyptian features you should use portraits of real people. (] 15:12, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC))
::I think one of the Book of Gates pics ''would'' be useful here. BTW, I think the explanation that the RIII tomb is garbled is far more likely than the one I added at the end of this section, but I was trying to end on a 'balanced' note. If you want to change this section of the text, please do. I was trying to remove some of the more egregious errors, but have probably still left it is a lass than ideal state. (] 17:27, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC))


__________

When this assertion is debunked, the unnamed contributor returns with other images, apparently asserting that they do, in fact, represent various ethnic groups. Which is it? Are the images nebulous and symbolic? Or are they accurate, detailed renderings? One can't have it both ways. It is clear that the images -- detailed in dress, hairstyles, skin pigmentation -- are meant to be taken as accurate depictions of variouis peoples; the earlier assertion is but a weak attempt to explain away the black pigmentation used by the Egyptians to depict ''themselves'' as identical to other Africans.

____________

I posted the pictures as evidence that Egyptians did NOT portrait themselves identical to other Africans, in fact they portrayed themselves completely different. (] 15:12, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC))

__________
Further, with regard to the links contributed, here is another -- of images presented specifically in the context of the mural -- that fully examines the images presented in the mural and varying versions (with links) of it: http://manuampim.com/ramesesIII.htm . Note that while the above links contributed by no-name present images, they do so completely out of context and do not appear to be accompanied by identifying hieroglyphs. Such was not their purpose. On the other hand, the condensed images presented in the "mural of the nations" are idealized, elemental images (with the identifying hieroglyphs that accompany them) in much the way Plato spoke of a generic image of a tree representing all trees. With regard to physical appearance and dress, clearly, the elemental "facts" of Egyptians and other Africans were similar enough that both groups were portrayed identically. The elemental "facts" of Semites and Europeans were substantially different -- enough for them to be portrayed completely differently -- ''as they were specifically identified by ethnic group''.] 10:34, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

__________

Interesting that Mr. Ampim states that the ''"Sethe/Lepsius reproduction version of the "Table of Nations" is ACCURATE in both the representation of the images and the positioning of the texts"''. Maybe that's the reason why Mr. Ampim, after claiming that "''writers and Egyptologists use the cut-&-paste photo distortion technique to make sure that the images and texts cannot be seen in their entire context"'' he didn't care to show the whole 1913 Sethe/Lepsius version either but left out the Egyptian portraits? http://edoc3.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/lepsius/page/egb1-4/image/09130480.jpg Also, Mr. Ampim doesn't care to put the images and text in their entire context either. Lepsius text reads as follows (starting with "Die ersten sind hier die Asiaten ..." (I translate for you): "The first ones are the Asiatics, with flesh colored skin, blue eyes, black pointed beard and black hair, which comes out of a blue hood with ribbons, they are wrapped in long blue robes, and '''erroneously labeld as Libyan'''. The next figures are 4 negroes, without beards, with red woolen hair, dressed in colorful robes. The next 4 are Libyan, again flesh colored with pointed beards in long yellow open robes, and '''erroneously labeld as Asiatics'''. The next are again 4 negroes, looking exactly like the first 4 negroes, although once '''erroneously labeled with Egyptian and written with 3 spelling errors'''. The errors and misconceptions in the images and text leads to the conclusion that this is an insufficient piece of work and mirrors the bad general state of the whole tomb."

http://edoc3.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/lepsius/page/tb3/image/00003208.jpg

http://edoc3.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/lepsius/page/tb3/image/00003209.jpg
(] 15:12, 28 Feb 2005 (UTC))

==A question Re "Black-centered history and Africa"==

I've deleted this text, pending an explanation:

<blockquote>The relationship between racial, cultural and continental identities is one of the more difficult problems in Afrocentic thought. Despite the problems with a Eurocentric approach to history, there has been a common European cultural identity for many centuries. It is more difficult to make the same claim for Africa, in which widely separated cultures were unaware of each-other's existence. For this reason, some Afrocentrists have been accused of manufacturing "African" cultural values by cherry-picking from wholly different peoples.</blockquote>

Aside from concerns about the accuracy of the "common European cultural identity for many centuries," I'm not quite certain of the relevance to the "cherry picking" of "cultural values" to the Afrocentrist historical paradigm. Would someone care to explain/rework the paragraph to make this more clearly relevant? ] 12:14, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:Afrocentrist approach typically attempts to present african peoples as a homogenous stock, myths like the cultural and spiritual unity of Africans derived from Egyptian sources and extends undiluted to disaporic Africans. ] ]] 19:14, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Wareware, thanks for the clarification of your intent. Presumably, the following passage is meant to explain the later reference to "cherry picking":

<blockquote>One thing to point out is that Afrocentrists usually try to make the connections between Egypt and their own ethnic background. For example, Diop was a native Wolof, while Obenga came from a Mbochi-speaking background.</blockquote>

One problem is it is far too general. "Afrocentrists usually...." I realize you haven't read much Afrocentrist history, but I have. And I only just became aware of the purported linkages between Wolof and Mbochi and ancient Egyptian. Your addition makes it seem as though this is widespread. Is it? If not, then you should make only specific assertions with regard to the two historians you mention and leave it at that. Further, how much of the association of language is simply due to the fact that the historian's familiarity with Wolof or Mbochi language equips him with the knowledge to even ''explore'' the possibility of a connection and has nothing to do with the fact that it may be his native tongue? You should be careful not to assume too much or to paint Afrocentrist historians with too broad a brush.

Now, with regard to:

<blockquote>The relationship between racial, cultural and continental identities is one of the more difficult problems in Afrocentic thought. Despite the problems with a Eurocentric approach to history, there has been a common European cultural identity for many centuries. It is more difficult to make the same claim for Africa, in which widely separated cultures were unaware of each-other's existence. For this reason some Afrocentrists have been accused of manufacturing "African" cultural values by cherry-picking from wholly different peoples.</blockquote>

I'll leave aside strictly editorial stuff for the moment. But the idea of a common European cultural identity is simply a myth. Goths, Visigoths, Angles, Saxons, Albanians, Basques, Latvians, Lithuanians, Slovaks, Slavs, Armenians, Magyars, Serbs, Albanians, Huns, Kossaks (Kazaks), Tartars, the rising of the clans in Scotland, the upheavals in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, etc., etc., all bear witness to the fact that the "homogeneity" of Europe is a myth. The armed conflict that has accompanied such historical, political, religious and other cultural differences would be called "tribal warfare" in Africa. It's all a matter of perspective. If you mean something different and I have misunderstood, then by all means tell me; but as it stands, this statement is simply false. With this in mind, the assertions about disparate cultures in Africa are seemingly rendered irrelevant. If you wish to refer to the language thing here, then it's certainly relevant. But it is merely one example involving only two historians. Are there others? Your assertion of "cherry picking" is a broad with regard to assuming shared values and other cultural affectations, so I would expect there to be other examples offered to back up such claims. ] 20:50, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:I think ''selective'' is a more appropriate word. Notwithstanding, the particularities of and conflict among ethnic groups in Europe, if the evidence suggess that European historians approached European accomplishments with affinity as such (which it largely does), if only due to prximity, commonalities of phsyical, language, etc., features, then the basis for that needs to be established. It is contradictory to say that Eurocentrism exists but the European affinity for it didn't. We accept ethnicism in Europe as a given, as we do elsewhere, but that still dosen't take away from the greater mobility Europeans enjoyed (continentally and beyond) ''viz.'' Africans which the aforementioned comment attempts to highlight. At this point, however, I am refraining from making any edits since DC's changes were split through such a great number of successive edits (tens), it makes following the changes a rather prohibitive task. ] 02:30, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

"Selective" is more appropriate than what? Notice I haven't dismissed Wareware's train of thought out of hand -- just the overly general manner in which he is attempting to express it. But "greater mobility"? In what sense? And how are you suggesting "mobility" relates to the matter at hand? I'm afraid you haven't at all helped to clarify the point Wareware seems to be trying to make. ] 03:34, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:Selective is more appropriate than 'cherry-pick' which is somewhat idiomatic, but that is a minor point. Greater physical mobility for Europe in the sense of facilitating cultural, scientific, etc. transmissions within and beyond the European continent; more fragmanted a phenomenon in the African continent (as the aforementioned passage suggests). ] 03:48, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

::Look, I didn't write the paragraph, Paul Barlow did. It is pretty clear that the message is that Frocentrists like to create unity among AFrican peoples when there isn't one. What's so hard to understand? Asante said "to see different parts of Africa as having different cultural traits is to commit a major intellectual crime." Of course Asante didnt originate these ideas himself, but he is the most vocal about it. I think El C is saying that because there is a greater degree of mobility and exchange of ideas in Europe make them more homogenous, compared to African peoples who are relatively isolated from each other. El C, you can pick whichever version histories to view, they don't have to be right next to each other, and then click compare selected versions. This would get by deeceevoice's successive edit problem. ] ]] 06:01, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:::Heh, I know I can, I'm not that new. :) But even that involves quite a bit of effort as there are a lot of variables (tens of edit changes) to compare. It also gives me an excuse to be lazy and to complain, which I am rather fond of. ] 07:21, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

My apologies for the multiple, successive edits; but after Wareware's mindless and repeated reverts -- done completely without any justification being offered for most of them -- I felt compelled to make fewer changes at a time and (again) specifically state my reasons (perhaps more clearly) for making each one in the hope of stopping this stupid back and forth. For a time, he was reverting my edits of my own material -- edits I made to either correct or refine information that I had presented, in one instance, even reverting a typo. He couldn't possibly have known what he was doing or why -- just simply slavishly reacting to anything he saw that I had done. Let's keep in mind, people, the objective is the accuracy and journalistic integrity of this piece. ] 09:18, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

About "cherry picking" or "selecting" values and culture -- it's not that I don't understand the sentence. In an editorial sense, what I am trying to get someone to do here is to be more clear in the article just precisely how widespread the manifestation of such a perspective is in Afrocentrist historical analysis. A fairly sweeping generalization has been made. There should be concrete examples provided to back it up that don't read like "they all do it" (because they don't), but that a significant portion of, or principal contentions within, the body of work of Afrocentrists, evidence such a perpsective. Again, how does this perspective broadly manifest itself within the Afrocentrist paradigm? ] 09:18, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

:: The point of that passage is to explain that for many centuries there has been a common cultural currency around Europe. The fact that Europeans have fought eachother is as irrelevant as the fact that Indians have fought eachother. That does not alter the fact that there been a common set of cultural ideas across India for many centuries. In Europe, Protestants and Catholics, for example, may have burned eachother to death, but they did so ''because'' they had a common intellectual and spiritual heritage about which they disagreed. There were many specific differences between peoples, and of course some peoples were more isolated that others, but this network of common heritage was a fact. The question is, can we say the same for the much larger space of Africa, in most of which there was no written culture and in which peoples did not have a sense of the continent as a whole, as Europeans did for many centuries before the present?

::I don't know how you can say that the passage implies that 'they all do it' (generalise about African culture). It says "''some'' Afrocentrists have been accused of manufacturing "African" cultural values by cherry-picking from wholly different peoples." Bear in mind that this is an encyclopdia article, not a dissertation. We need to be concise. However Asante is the most prominent writer who claims that there is a unity to 'African' culture. Diop's work is characterised by simliar claims. The reference to cherry-picking refers to a common tendency to pluck out some cultural trait of some specific African people, and then to connect it to Egypt (as you did in one of your earlier comments) or to another separate African people. Think this differs very much from the more careful analysis of the relations between language-groups, the history of population movements (e.g. the great ] migration) or reconstructions of lost cultures (e.g. ]). I would not call that 'Afrocentrism', because it really uses the methods of mainstream archaeology and history. But I think we could argue that the Afrocentric ideas have been a spur to this development and have motivated responses that have led to the shake-up of engrained assumptions and prejudices. ] 13:05, 27 Feb 2005 (UTC)

== DuBois ==

Shouldn't the article also mention W.E.B. DuBois activism for the recognition of African culture and the "Encyclopedia Africana" as one important afrocentric work? (] 06:36, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC))

::Yes, I think that DuBois should be in there, but it is hard to know where to put him. He's a very subtle thinker, and difficult to summarise. Also, his views changed quite a bit. Much of his early work draws on philosophical models and assumptions that are rather alien today and difficult to summarise. I think part of the problem arises from the difficulty of delimiting the concept of Afrocentrism itself. It's the 'mythic' aspect that has the "pulling-power", as it were. I think it would be wise to extend the history bit to look at the early attempts to create alternative histories of what were termed 'colored peoples', 'negroes' or Africans. Du Bois should be placed there, I still think there should be stress on the more mythic version initiated by James. (] 19:20, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC))

== Structure ==

I think the article comprises most/all important informations concerning afrocentrism, but it doesn't show clearly the shift from the basic idea - a progressive corrective historiography without demeaning other people and their historical contributions to world civilization, and its focus on West African cultures

to

* replacing Eurocentrism with an equally racist &#8220;centrism&#8221; based on mythologies, e.g. '''Egyptocentrism''', the black "Ancient Model" used by black racists, as opposed to the white "Aryan Model" used by white racists - both models, ironically, based on the same ancient "table of nations".

* the rejection of liberalism, racial integration and Afrocentric integrationists like W.E.B. DuBois in favor of '''Black separatism/nationalism''' and the idea of a black nation-state, "the nation in a nation"-concept (e.g. David Walker, Henry Garnett, Louis Farrakhan) and/or the back to africa (black ''zionism'') concept (e.g. Paul Cuffe, Henry McNeil Turner, Marcus Garvey).

What do you think about structuring the informations in Afrocentric sub-categories, e.g. merging "Egypt and Black Identity" and "Ethnographic murals of the New Kingdom" in one category called "Egyptocentrism", and creating a "Black separatism/nationalism" chapter? (] 07:21, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC))

:I think it's mentioned in the history section that afrocentrism supplants one racist system with another by making the greeks look like savages and the opposite for egyptians. The two sections can be merged since they support each other, perhaps one can be a sub-section or the other because they're both pretty long. I think we definitely can write about black separatism, like how they like to link black diaspora to mono-culture egypt, as a kind of "cultural nationalism" and I think this should go with the history section pretty well. ] ]] 10:36, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)

::Before deeceevoice came along, this page was divided into two categories - which were labelled 'Historical Afrocentrism' and 'Radical Afrocentrism'. Deecee attempted to delete the whole of the Radical Afrocentrism section (see the top of this Talk page) and rewrite much of the rest. What you are proposing seems to be a kind-of return to that earlier set-up. I think there are problems with how we delimit the central concept of 'Afrocentrism' itself, a term coined by Asante. It's true, of course, that there was a lot of earlier black-American scholarship, dating back to early twentieth century, that explored African achievements, and which placed emphasis on Egypt. There's even an interesting article in the ''Journal of Negro History'' from 1917 on "the influence of Africa on Grecian civilisation". But is this 'Afrocentrism'? Du Bois, does concentrate on West Africa, but also seems to make claims about 'Africa' as a whole, so his position is rather ambiguous. His notion of the double-coding of 'black' identity is worth adding, though I think.

:: I do think the article is now rather unbalanced, with a rump-like final section and a lot of argy-bargy over Egypt. The problem is that it's difficult to avoid finding ourselves caught in detailed arguments over specific bits of evidence added by deecee, which then just stretch out into long sections. At the moment I think the stuff on the 'Semitic' race is deeply unsatisfactory because of the essentialist model of separate races on which it is based. I'd far rather see an brief, clear acount of how peoples developed distincive characteristics in various places rather than this notion that 'Africans' 'mingled' with 'Euro-Asians', as if these races evolved separately and then bumped into eachother. The material on language is now OK.

:: I do think there is too much on Egypt, but then Afrocentrists ''are'' typically preoccupied with Egypt, so I suppose it reflects the reality of things. ] 11.47, 4 Mar, 2005

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To-do list for Afrocentrism: edit·history·watch·refresh· Updated 2018-05-22


There are no active tasks for this page
  • Include countervailing info on Spencer Wells' genetic research under "Africoid as a term incorporating Oceanic, Dravidian and Australoid peoples."
  • Discuss uses/applications of Afrocentric paradigm in the various professional fields alluded to in the opening paragraphs and limit discussion of its use in history -- which should be addressed at length elsewhere.
  • Citations

Critique

This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sections through discussion on the talk page.

Wiki prefers for all critique to be written into the article and not stand alone (as is happening here) as a way to discredit Afrocentrism. In other words the critique should be mered into the natural flow of the content which gives greater balance.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Halaqah (talkcontribs)

No. That is very clearly a desire on your part to have criticism become lost in the text. Examples of "reception" sections containing criticisms are numerous on Misplaced Pages. Precedent abounds. Jersey John (talk) 03:20, 15 September 2024 (UTC)

Clean it up please

Very messy, not only a massive criticism section which I am guilt of adding to. But it speaks to the politics behind this article. Where the criticism is almost as large as any serious content. The tone, the sweeping range of topics doesn't flow. Almost like a haters dumping ground. Not to mention a lack of reply from reliable Afrocentrics such as Asante.--Halqh حَلَقَة הלכהሐላቃህ (talk) 21:51, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

I agree, the article has again been butchered by Afrocentrist editors. "A reading of world history" indeed. It is full of weasel words and hilariously bizarre statements. A deep revert or radical cleanup is needed, dumping all the apologetics and primary sources, basing it on encyclopedic secondary literature.

While it is very easy to keep white racism out of Misplaced Pages, black counter-racism is perpetually allowed to creep back in, no matter how many times we clean it up. This is of course the US doctrine of positive discrimination, which basically states that racism and pseudohistory is ok as long as you are a miniority. Needless to say, this may be permissible in US society, but it certainly isn't so on Wikipeida, which is an encyclopedia project with international scope and dedication to neutrality. --dab (𒁳) 11:02, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

Strange considering as an African editor i find it impossible to keep the white supremacy out of wikipedia. You can read a section on Africa and never see an African opinion. Like they are discussing a people who have not learned to write and speak. So I am not sure how much "counter racism" exist in this little tiny insignificant article" The problem is what is "OKAY" to the white is certainly not OKAY to the Black (still fighting for freedom). With an critique section larger than the rest of the content clearly Afrocentrics are not doing a good job of reverse racism.--Halqh حَلَقَة הלכהሐላቃህ (talk) 12:06, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

The fact that African opinions are not included is good, not bad. Misplaced Pages isn't meant to include opinions. 64.79.43.109 (talk) 02:45, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

This article concept seems to be very important for the readers but it consists of many major problems which is little hard to figure out. Firstly, as mentioned above it is very messy, confused and all the data is dropped and it needs clean up. Lizia7 (talk) 11:51, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Under Misplaced Pages's current polices it is impossible for this article to be unbiased. The Afrocentric movement is dominated by genocidal madmen but that's not something we are allowed to talk about. 75.93.51.156 (talk) 23:42, 7 October 2015 (UTC)

First issue is a failure to understand Afrocentricity

The first problem is the white view of what Afrocentricity is. In their eyes Afrocentrism means not agreeing with the white assertions on Africa. So ANYONE who says Egypt is an African civilization is the bases for being Afrocentric or not. Now with the lack of media power you would have to believe me when I say Most Black people hold this position. Mummy Return does not change this. You can hold many positive views of Africa and not be Afrocentric (like me). So the first issue with this article is "What is Afrocentricity" it certainly is not identity politics because every white historical study is at its root identity politics. So i guess we see the racism again. Whites do identity politics and it is history, Africans do it and it is revisionism. What is Afrocentrism as a distinctive ideology is the first place to start this article.

a lot of this article is also confusing the personalities of people called Afrocentric with Afrocentricity. As if every last thing Karenga does is an aspect of his Afrocentric ideology. So it is incapable of understanding Karenga can be an Afrocentric but also something else when dealing with Kawida etc. This habit of condensing people into boxes is evident here. i have no idea why Kwanzaa is all mixed up in the history section. Or is Pan-African and Afrocentric now the same thing? --Halqh حَلَقَة הלכהሐላቃህ (talk) 12:21, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

There is no such thing as "white assertions on Africa", any more than there are "brown assertions" or "black assertions". We don't judge the reliability sources in that way, surprisingly. Paul B (talk) 17:27, 12 June 2012 (UTC)
There very much is with a catalogue of distortions 2A02:C7C:36FF:3600:B0C5:2131:7EEF:380A (talk) 23:52, 3 February 2024 (UTC)


Halqh states "Whites do identity politics and it is history, Africans do it and it is revisionism."

That's a bit of a broad statement when "identity politics" encompasses so many different things and scenarios. That's not to say that White revisionism has never happened or never does happen; it certainly happens quite a bit with regards to US history (for example), which tends to overemphasize political markers (the Revolution, presidents, Constitution, even the Civil War -although slavery was a central cause- is a political marker), while under-emphasizing ethnocultural developments, including the massive contributions that African-Americans have made to American society and culture. But it's also difficult to argue that some of the more extreme elements of Afrocentrism are not also revisionist to the nth degree (such as, for example, the bold -and whimsical- assertion that Greek civilization plagiarized African civilizations). Revisionism happens on both sides; the fact that it occurs on the White side (and -unfortunately- often goes unnoticed) doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't be able to identify revisionism when it occurs on the Black side.

Having said that, you bring up a very important question: what exactly is Afrocentrism? And what are its geographic parameters? Yes, Egypt is in Africa, but I always understood Afrocentrism to consist of pride and nationalism for Sub-Saharan African peoples and civilizations and the diaspora Black cultures of the Americas (which are not located in Africa). In other words, the Black diaspora, which is not conterminous with the African continent. Maybe this can be clarified in the article? Are there different strands of Afrocentrism? What about contemporary Egypt? Given that modern-day Egyptians do identify with ancient Egypt, and genetic testing has backed this up by proving a solid link between modern-day Egyptians and ancient Egyptians (despite the fact that the Arabic language has replaced Egyptian during the Islamic era); it would certainly be an interesting angle to examine whether or not Afrocentrism has any following in Egypt, or if Egyptians -rather- lean towards pan-Arabism or maybe some sort of pan-Semitism. Like I said, I always understood Afrocentrism to be a Black/sub-Saharan nationalist consciousness that excluded Semitic North Africa, and included the Black diaspora populations of the Americas (African-Americans, Afro-Brazilians, Afro-Caribbeans, etc). That's not to say that my understanding of Afrocentrism is "the correct one". I'm simply asking the question: are there different strands of Afrocentrism, some of which might include Egypt and North Africa, and others that might exclude it? And where does the Black diaspora of the Americas fit in?

Another angle that should be explored in this article is whether or not there is some sort of spectrum of Afrocentrism? Just by reading the posts in the talk page (including the archived posts), it seems that there's a bit of a heated controversy over whether or not to include (within "Afrocentrism") some of the more extremist beliefs, such as the discredited Greek-Africa plagiarism theory I mentioned above. Because this theory has been associated with Afrocentrism, it would certainly be valuable if the article mentions that such extreme theories only exist within fringe elements of Afrocentrism, if that is in fact the case. Is there a different, more mainstream Afrocentrism? One that chronicles ethnocultural and historic events that are undeniably African and/or Black/Sub-Saharan, such as the Mali Empire, the Songhai Empire, the advanced Swahili trading culture in East Africa and Black diaspora cultural movements from Jazz to Capoeira to Reggae to Candomblé? Is there a more uncontroversial Afrocentric mainstream that focuses on these things? And are discredited theories such as Black Aristotle limited to a fringe? Skyduster (talk) 06:54, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

To repeat a critique in the article "Afrocentrism has never sat still long enough to be defined nor critiqued" The objection I am having is about mentioning Du Bois and other great scholars in this morass. They are not Afrocentric by the modern understanding. Afrocentrism (now it is my turn since Skyduster had a shot). Is a academic cult. It is purist history. The history of a certain type of African vs. the world. It is also a "religion" as it hates anything not jet black. So if Allah is Arabic, it rejects it as not pure enough. If something came from Yemen, like a language or a stone, it rejects it as not black enough. Its the history in reaction to Eurocentrism using all the same bad tools. I emphasis with it because it has legitimacy in challenging a very racist world. The issue is how it does it. Anyway I want to remove suggestions that greats like Du Bois and even Garvey were Afrocentric, although they paved the way for Afrocentrism they certainly were not talking like some of these other guys. Moreover Afrocentrics are almost never Muslim or Christian. Thats why I said it behaves like a religion or a cult. --Inayity (talk) 18:15, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
Genetic evidence has not backed it up I find it interesting that you are concerned with Pseudohistory and yet cite a very problematic test about Modern Egyptians being linked with ancient Egyptians. That makes utterly no sense. The test was flawed for so many reasons and no one worth their salt would conduct such a test. The fact that it was done on a burial ground known to be a Roman one is only the start of the bogus tests. I can list them. 2A02:C7C:36FF:3600:B0C5:2131:7EEF:380A (talk) 00:06, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

Title of criticism section

The criticism section was titled "Attacks on Afrocentrism", so I revised it to "Criticism of Afrocentrism". The word "attacks" sounds hostile and implies that criticisms of Afrocentrism stem solely from bias, rather than legitimate critical analysis and dialogue. Ironically, usage of the word "attacks" is itself a biased intent on the part of the author who titled it so. Skyduster (talk) 16:15, 12 June 2012 (UTC)

Afrocentric =/= African Centered

Back to the problem raised by editors in the above threads. Afrocentric =/= African centered. Although there is a serious relationship. I suspect Afrocentricity is a very specific kind of "academia". So Gates is 100% no fan of Afrocentrism and it no fan of his. But that encyclopedia is African Centered. Unesco work stresses an emphasis on the African worldview -- No one disagrees b/cuz worldviews are influenced by cultural and ethnic orientation -- we do not see the world the same. But Afrocentrism is a lot more than a African opinion on African history, or even an African "bias". It also has an attitude (like Eurocentrism) of Negation. So I do not think African centered education belongs here. Carter Wodson might have inspired today's Afrocentrics but did he call himself Afrocentric? I think this term should only apply to people who identify with the ideology. Like in Israel you have the "New Historians" but you cannot just call someone that, unless they identify with it. --Inayity (talk) 18:29, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

By definition, the Nation of Islam is an Afrocentric group. The fact that a group is a black supremacist group as well does not negate the fact that it can also be Afrocentrist. Your logic is therefore flawed. Furthermore, the source cited for the opening paragraph in contention (Yaacov Shavit, History in Black: African-Americans in Search of an Ancient Past, Frank Cass Publishers, 2001) is both reliable and accurate. Any changes to the article in the future without talk page consensus or proof of unreliable sources will be met with immediate reversion. Thank you. Malik Zulu Shabazz Jr (talk) 05:20, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
You need to respect the talk page and the rules of Misplaced Pages. And try and make sense, All of my edits have references so what exactly are you on about? What consensus? When did you get here? By what definition of Afrocentrism? Afrocentrism doesnt equal Black supremacy, two different things. While I am sure some Afrocentrics are racist (like everyone else) that doesn't mean Afrocentrism is racist. What is the definition in Molefi Asante's book that allows NOI to be included? Where in Any Afrocentric book have they included NOI? When people cant even define the thing how can NOI be Afrocentric. Please state the rule of wikipedia which discusses you being the consensus maker? One ref doesn't make an entire group Afrocentric. It is not how references work. Now in the entire Misplaced Pages article of NOI, in major books on NOI by many scholars NO ONE, calls them an Afrocentric group. No one. You will be reported for you unproductive editing habits if you persist. It is very POV oriented. Username Malik Shabazz Zulu to insert Israeli Historians as authority on Afrocentrism is worrying. Utter nonsense. See Christina M Sabee How can they be Afrocentric when most Afrocentrics have issue with NOI? So hold the threats, newbie. --Inayity (talk) 08:38, 21 July 2012 (UTC)

POV agenda Edits - Point by point

Let us look at the unreferenced material Zulu Shabazz, Jr is adding in:

  • Furthermore, Afrocentrism regularly denies, outright ignores, or reinterprets certain negative aspects of black Africans, most notably the selling of African slaves by other Africans to the Europeans, the Rwandan Genocide, and the ongoing struggles against rape and violence in many African nations today, generally placing blame for these atrocities directly or indirectly on the Europeans and denying any serious culpability on part of black Africa. (Excuse me? All Afrocentrics do this? Where is the reference? Asante Book on Africa did not ignore or minimize the Mfecane or Rwanda, so how is this true. It needs to be re-written with some NPOV references" It is a terrible violation of NPOV. Again Where is the consensus and the R.S? So why is it there? The entire tone is not Wiki standard, it is an editors opinionand agenda driven.
  • "Black supremacist groups like the New Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam are examples of extreme Afrocentrism" Nation of Islam is not Afrocentric. No search results apart from the Israeli historian admit to this. No where in their article is a reference to Afrocentrism. Molefi and other Afrocentric never called them Afrocentric. THEY do not call themselves Afrocentric. It is a opinion of one person. R.S but it fails WP:WEIGHT and is a reliable opinion WP:RSOPINION not an establish fact, it contradicts every other source.
  • In general, Afrocentrism is usually manifested in a focus on African American culture and the history of black Africa (sub-Saharan Africa), and involves a refashioning of that history and culture to portray the achievements and development of a race of people (Negroid) independently from other races. (Is this NPOV?) is not the opinion of editors rather than references? Where is the ref, then why is it in the lead? This issue is already discussed in the lede no need for it again.

Strange that you accuse me of POV. Yet have not shown it. --Inayity (talk) 09:18, 21 July 2012 (UTC)

Not strange at all- you've removed cited, accurate information, and in doing so have demonstrated that you have an Afrocentrist bias. Do not continue to edit this page if you cannot be impartial. Furthermore, I've reported you for defacing my talk page. Malik Zulu Shabazz Jr (talk) 16:38, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
Are you aware of wikipedia rules? Then this is the talk page, above are the issues, none of which you have replied to, deal with them and less with the editing of this editor, Please no advice about where to edit.So passionate have you edited, you deleted your own edits. --Inayity (talk)

16:47, 21 July 2012 (UTC)

Actually, I've replied to all your points. The passages in question are reliably sourced. The only one "passionate" here is you in your effort to insert Afrocentrist bias in the articleMalik Zulu Shabazz Jr (talk) 18:00, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
Malik, Inayity has listed three bulleted items above that he believes are unsourced. Can you rebut this? Do you have the sources? Part of Yaacov Shavit's book is available online through Google Books, but in the portion which is visible I can't see any mention of the issues you are sourcing to it in this edit. If Shavit says something about the New Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam can you quote what we actually says, and give us the page numbers? You stated "Black supremacist groups like the New Black Panther Party or the Nation of Islam are examples of extreme Afrocentrism" and cited this to Shavit. Thank you, EdJohnston (talk) 22:47, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
Allow one clarification WRT Shavit, even if he said it, it is contradictory to every fact known. NOI might be Black supremacist, (many ref can be found to that) but they are certainly not Afrocentric. Doesn't make sense, it is like saying "they are racist so they are KKK", Afrocentrics are never radical Muslims. The two ideologies are at odds. No one else calls them Afrocentric. So at best Shavit is an Opinion WP:RSOPINION,(his and his alone) and not lead worthy. Not sure who put it in the article originally. --Inayity (talk) 11:26, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

Throwing Tags around does not help anyone

Per WP:TAGGING Tagging has to be constructive. The fact that a section has a tag, means that section has an issue. Not necessarily the entire article. Tags do not stay on indefinitely. You must justify the tags you place. It means : Even if the problem seems obvious, it's useful to leave a short note on the talk page describing the issue, and suggesting an approach to fixing it if you know how. Some editors feel this should be mandatory and "drive-by" tagging should be prohibited. The talk page is therefore key in explaining why tags are necessary for the entire article. It is like beating a child but not explaining what the lashes are for. Section tags are enough for violating sections. Other areas have already been re-written. --Inayity (talk) 23:20, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

A Couple of Disingenuous Statements: Making It Clear

1) "Afrocentrics have been accused of regularly denying, mitigating, or outright ignoring, or reinterprets certain negative aspects of Africans; most notably the selling of African slaves by other Africans to the Europeans, the Rwandan Genocide, and the ongoing struggles against rape and violence in many African nations today, generally placing blame for these atrocities directly or indirectly on the Europeans and Arabs, and denying any serious culpability on part of Africans."

Afrocentrics have indeed recognized the selling of Africans by Africans to Europeans. Tribal lifestyle all across Africa, West Africa in particular, was disrupted by the infiltration of Europeans. Many Tribal leaders were desperate and had to consider the well being of the community over individuals. Therefore, the decision to sell fellow Africans was an economic one based upon survival. Most of these were servants or people deemed as not contributing to the community, such as transgressors of Tribal Law. In addition, many of the 'Africans' selling Africans were of Arab descent. All cultures all over the world have some form of human trafficking for various services from sex to domestic work. Africans were not alone in this yet the European aspect of the trade was based on pure greed and assumed that the African people were animals. Slaves from Africa were stripped of language, culture, cosmology and even their Tribal names which in Africa have a Divine Spiritual purpose based on Sacred Mathematics and other Esoteric connotations. They were bound, shackled, muzzled and whipped. People in African households employed as servants were not treated in this manner.

The behaviors found in many African nations such as Rwanda are recent. The kind of violence found in Africa today developed AFTER European infiltration. The codependent, neurotic relationship between European 'masters' and African servants/slaves and the stripping of language, culture and cosmology by missionaries has been studied by many scholars like Yosef Ben-Jochannan and Cheikh Anta Diop. The stress put on the minds, bodies and spirits of Africans: being made slaves in their own land and deprived of the archetypical belief systems that make all people human has resulted in identity confusion, disassociation and other personality disorders which have been the direct result of the vestiges of chattel slavery. 'Acting out' would be the expected response, according to the The American Psychiatric Association's DSM IV. Dr. Joy DeGroy's dissertation on Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome (PTSS) is a timely and scholarly look at the trauma of slavery being passed down to subsequent generations. This same phenomenon was proven to be valid in the case of the progeny of Holocaust survivors.

2) "Van Sertima said that the Olmec civilization was a hybrid one of Africans and Native Americans. His theory of pre-Columbian American-African contact has since met with considerable and detailed opposition by scholars of Mesoamerica. Van Sertima has been accused of "doctoring" and twisting data to fit his conclusions, inventing evidence, and ignoring the work of respected Central and South American scholars in the advance of his own theory, and his claims are not taken seriously by mainstream scholars."

Dr. Van Sertima proved his assertions using the the standard 12-criteria format, that is required for archaeological studies, by Oxford University. He presented his findings to a panel of Oxford Scholars and his work could not be disputed by them because he used their very criteria to prove it. In addition, the last statement is untrue. There are several archaeologists and scholars on Ancient Cultures, such as David Hatcher Childress, who have said that the Olmecs were a multi-cultural society that included Asian, African, Eastern European and Indigenous peoples.

Nibiru60 (talk) 06:18, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

David Hatcher Childress is not an archaeologist nor is he a legitimate scholar on any American cultures or civilizations. And because he attended a university for about 1 year (and whether it was ten yrs), he has to provide evidence for his claims. He is basically a story teller. Van Sertima was a professor but his claims were just as absurd as Pierre Honore (scientist and diplomat) and his "Quest of the White God." http://www.amazon.com/Quest-White-God-pierre-honore/dp/B000H4MQS8

Also: "Robbing Native American Cultures: Van Sertima's Afrocentricity"www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/current/vansertima.pdf‎

And especially see http://statigr.am/native_faces JohnLinehan (talk) 02:46, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

I am afraid you only confirm the first point. Direct and indirect assigning culpability outside of Africa. Because this is all that they are describing. Everything bad that happens in Africa is because of someone else (even if removed) like Rwanda. Van Sertima section seems a little biased and you can provide ref to balance the claims of his detractors. The article does need work. In some places you can see no fan of Afrocentrism wrote it, and it is my belief no good article should ever expose the politics of its editors --Inayity (talk) 09:47, 9 May 2013 (UTC)

Right about the first point about Childress? Wrong about Van Sertima? Not sure I understand your point. Van Sertima's claims were as absurd as Honore's. So your point about politics is also unclear, if not absurd. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.135.106.74 (talk) 15:54, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Why does this article describe Afrocentrism as a "fringe theory?"

I noticed that this article has been placed in Category:Fringe theories, even though this assertion is not supported by the article's text. Why is the article categorized this way? Jarble (talk) 20:02, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

It is true, although parts (large parts) of Afrocentrism is fringe it certainly cannot be used on the entire thing. B/c it is not a clarified ideology to pin such a tag on it.--Inayity (talk) 21:42, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

See also Rationale is not a shopping list

Edit this article and not the editor. See Also is for is not a shopping list of anything with centrism in the end. What is the rationale, what is the relationship. If an edit is reverted take it to the talk page. So see also is not a dust bin. Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism share a history of antagonism. That is the rationale. The burden of inclusion is on you to bring the argument here. Not interested in Ownership interested in your rationale and compliance with the Talk Page. --Inayity (talk) 08:12, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

I did bring a "rationale" that you just ignored

it went beyond just you don't own...but if you bothered to read the whole thing, you would have seen...I said...

Of course it has a relation.

They're both continental "centrisms". How is that totally irrelevant? It's not like I put "Germans in the Civil War" or something, that has nothing to do with anything, out of left field. But this here is a continental or regional "centrist" view article. Obviously there's relation. So I will not put up with front excuses that are not really valid, to cover your real reason for removing, which obviously is you just "don't like".

I mean, how exactly is there "no relation"?

There's Eurocentrism, Afrocentrism, and Asiocentrism. (Yes, such a thing does exist.)

You never bothered to address any of that, but simply edit-warred again, with nonsense excuses of your own, reverted, and removed the comment from your page. I'm done trying to reason with you, as you proved (I kinda knew it from the beginning actually) that you simply can't be reasoned with. There doesn't seem to be much of a point. You have uptight over-scrupulous NON-Misplaced Pages ideas and notions here.

Check it...

Or look up what "See also" articles are allowed to be. They don't have to always 100% "directly related" to the main article, in the sense you're thinking. They can have some relation or commonality. It's whatever. I don't have time or patience for uptight nonsense or bullying disrespectful dishonest junk. Regards. Gabby Merger (talk) 08:15, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Maybe you are new, but you are the one refusing to use the talk page and you are the one failing to explain a direct relationship between Afrocentrism and Assiocentrism. I do not care if it exist or not. See Also is not a shopping list of things ending in centrism. That would be for the ethnocentrism article. What is the relationship!!!! simple question sense you are driven to add it.--Inayity (talk) 08:24, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
In all the books on Afrocentrism you will find the word Eurocentrism, where is the book on Afrocentrism that see also it to Asiocentrism? It is then POV poshing. You created that page, and now are pushing it as some MAJOR race centric theory. We need some criteria or else we will get a list so long it becomes useless. Should we link Afrocentrism to Pan-Africanism? Yes, because there is a strong relationship. What about Civil rights, what about maafa, what about on and on. How does it end?--Inayity (talk) 08:29, 7 August 2013 (UTC)
I already stated that I'm not really bothering with this anymore. I'm not saying that the thing would not be better in as you said "Ethnocentrism", but it could arguably (it would not have been so terrible or out-of-left-field) have been in the See also for the Afrocentrism article also. I agreed (somewhat) with some of your OTHER removals of wikilinks that were in the See also section, I just think you went a bit overboard, and became over-scrupulous much, for something that could have gone either way.
Meaning, again, there is "Eurocentrism", "Afrocentrism", and "Asiocentrism" as far as the THREE MAIN CONTINENTAL ONES. The relation is the "continent" aspect. As being one of the major three. And also that it's a worldview of superiority or presumed advantage, in history etc. But the continental issue. That was the point. And they relate as to Asia's supposed advantage over Africa, in history, or vice versa. It's whatever now, though.
And no...I was not "POV pushing" either, but simply was following a tag about orphaned links. I don't really care THAT much about this stuff; this topic is not a major concern of mine really. WP was lacking an article on this, the concept does definitely exist, (you even know what some in China or Japan or India actually have believed and said and thought on this stuff? Many have a centrist view of Asia...) There was no article on this topic, so I created one. So? But it actually was NOT something I had so big an interest in. Imputing bad motives is against WP policy, by the way. I'd be curious what other editors (if any even care about this) might say. If they agree with you though, that doesn't technically make them right, but could have similar hang-ups too. But I do respect consensus. But for now, I'm not really bothering anymore with this. Regards. Gabby Merger (talk) 09:21, 7 August 2013 (UTC)

Minor edits

Can't edit myself because locked. External link to page on Clarence E. Walker is broken, correct URL is http://history.ucdavis.edu/people/cewalker. 82.2.125.203 (talk) 17:58, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

I c no broken link. --Inayity (talk) 18:41, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Please reply Here: Arabs and Europeans

One of the most consistent things in the Afrocentric ideology is the external impact of Arabs and Europeans on Africa. True or false. I do not think Chancellor Williams is talking about marginalized by other Africans. The entire "Blame" is placed outside of Africa. This is something very peculiar about Afrocentrism, so much so that this is what its detractors accuse it of doing. --Inayity (talk) 18:30, 10 November 2013 (UTC)--Inayity (talk) 18:30, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

Genovese

The quote by Genovese has nothing to do with Afrocentrism and should be removed. 216.8.148.134 (talk) 16:00, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

Indeed. Paul B (talk) 16:40, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

Afrocentric Websites

I am looking at Real history www. I need clarification on why it was removed as an Afrocentric EL. See this page which uses copyrighted material in what I believe is a . Fair use capacity under copyright law. As we can see we have very few Afrocentric sites to link to, I think it is better we have some. I am not afraid of information, because if it is in error let it be seen for what it is. This page is about Afrocentrism, and that seems to be a very Afrocentric typical site. --Inayity (talk) 15:31, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Inayity It has pages and pages of copyright material. We can't link to it. Stuff from newspapers, the BBC website, etc. Even if Fair Use was part of our policy, which it isn't, it goes way beyond that. Besides being an anonymous and evidently personal website. But the copyvio thing is clear and we can't link. Dougweller (talk) 16:47, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Obsession with Moors - include?

From what I have seen (just look at the talk page on this encyclopedia's article on them!), Afrocentrists have an obsession that the Moors from North Africa were all 100% black (in a time where the America-style white-or-black system did not exist), citing a few paintings of blacks when the majority of the paintings by the Moors (and even their contemporary enemies) showed them as not dissimilar to modern North Africans. Of course, the great irony is that these few blacks were slaves of the majority Berbers and Arabs.

Maybe this pseudohistory comes from modern websites and is based on the average American's assumption that everybody in Africa is black, but I think in the 1920s there was a black secret society called the Moors so I assume there were books written on the subject. Could those writers - and more importantly, the rebuttal of their propaganda - be included in this article? '''tAD''' (talk) 02:24, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

(I find the whole Afrocentric Moors ideal very strange, as certainly in Europe the same civilisation is used as a supremacist battering ram of "we ruled you, we taught you" by Islamists. It's like how everybody claims they were the first in the Americas, I suppose)

I am not sure how Afrocentrics are anymore obsessed with anything that anyone else. THe people of Africa are called Africans not blacks. And as stated above, blackness is a modern concept, and while it did exist in some form back then, it is not a perfect match. As for the irony, I see none. You can visit the Moor page and read all about the full evidence of inclusion in the society, to the point where some rulers were "black". Also read the talk page of that article. And there is no denying Islamic contributions to European culture, the same European culture that is imposed on people the world over as the highest standard for anyone. --Inayity (talk) 02:54, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
The black secret society was the Moorish Science Temple of America, and yes, there was a tendency to equate 'Moor' with black among some groups in America. See also Yakub (Nation of Islam) and Hamitic. Paul B (talk) 11:55, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
Just note none of those groups are Afrocentric.--Inayity (talk) 12:04, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

Hyperdiffusionism in archaeology

If Hyperdiffusionism in archaeology is relevant to this article (per the tag) then it should have been heavily discussed in Academic circles and esp on the ancillary page if it is a notable characteristic of Afrocentrism. I think it is true of Afrocentrism but I see no mention of it hence why I am asking about the connection. --Inayity (talk) 19:04, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Categories are navigational aids to help readers find related articles. As you know, some Afrocentrism involves claims of Africans exploring the globe before anyone else, Moors being the first Americans, Olmec heads, etc. Dougweller (talk) 19:31, 11 February 2015 (UTC)
Quick google books search. Dougweller (talk) 19:32, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Owen 'Alik Shahadah

A discussion thread about the reliability and notability of this author and his pages is taking place at Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view/Noticeboard#Owen 'Alik Shahadah, please comment there so we can get a final consensus. Rupert Loup (talk) 12:06, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

Akbar, Dr. Na'im (1998)

NobleFrog had challenge a reference which is not full. The reference says "Akbar, Dr. Na'im (1998)" which probably refers to "Akbar, Na'im (1998). Know Thyself. Mind Productions & Associates. ISBN 978-0-935257-06-9.", I can't verify the source, someone is interested in give it a look? Rupert Loup (talk) 20:40, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

@Rupert loup: Yes, it refers to "Know Thyself". The source isn't needed as there are two fully cited references in the article. Unfortunately we don't know the page, however I'll see if I can find it.NobleFrog (talk) 11:15, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Text removed too quickly

I see that material fact-tagged in the last few weeks has been removed. Unless it's very contentious I usually leave it longer than that if I can't source it (which is the best thing to do). Here it is if others can source it:

"Afrocentrics have been accused of regularly denying, mitigating, or outright ignoring, or reinterprets certain negative aspects of Africans; most notably the selling of African slaves by other Africans to the Europeans, the Rwandan Genocide, and the ongoing struggles against rape and violence in many African nations today, generally placing blame for these atrocities directly or indirectly on the Europeans and Arabs, and denying any serious culpability on part of Africans. Some observe that this trend is not unique to Afrocentrics but many national or ethnocentric-based ideologies." Doug Weller (talk) 18:21, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

That material is very contentious, I made a quick search but I can't find sources that suport it. Maybe others editors could have more luck. Rupert Loup (talk) 21:58, 18 October 2015 (UTC)
How is it contentious? What is it that you can't find support for? That these acts occurred or that they are denied??El cid, el campeador (talk) 00:47, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

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This article is a hoot!

Portraying Afrocentrism as this mostly benign movement...are you f-cking kidding me?! Afrocentrism is nothing more than repackaged euocentric racism! Black people who are proud of their true cultural heritage do not go around calling themselves "afrocentrists"! Afrocentrists are racists who try to claim that every great civilization of Ancient times were black civilizations...and no, I am NOT talking about Egypt - these clowns going around claiming the Chinese, Celts & Native Americans were black! Even if they were black, they certainly weren't by the time their recorded cultural history came around! And with the "out of Africa" theory, EVERY race was once black. This article completely whitewashes afrocentrism and conflates it with black African pride when they are NOT the same thing! --86.191.199.111 (talk) 18:27, 16 December 2017 (UTC)

The first sentence is meaningless

It says "Afrocentrism...is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on the history of people of African descent." Given that almost all sensible modern science says that all humans are of African descent, that seems a pretty pointless perspective. I've just discovered this article, so I don't know what it's trying to tell me, but I'm sure that could be written a little more meaningfully.

What DOES it actually mean? HiLo48 (talk) 22:38, 14 June 2018 (UTC)

Bias

NON-ADMIN CLOSURE User Blocked for Disruptive Editing, nothing to see here

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


This page is severly biased and reads like anti white propaganda... — Preceding unsigned comment added by CorectingYourInfo (talkcontribs) 12:57, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

No, it is not. Please stop this spree of article vandalism. Simonm223 (talk) 13:01, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

It is biased against white people... it's not neutral and is full of anti white undrtones — Preceding unsigned comment added by CorectingYourInfo (talkcontribs) 13:10, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

No, it's really not. And please indent and sign your statements. Simonm223 (talk) 13:11, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
You wouldn't know bias if I smack you over the head with it... — Preceding unsigned comment added by CorectingYourInfo (talkcontribs) 13:13, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
Please be careful about WP:NPA. Simonm223 (talk) 13:15, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
It's biased and if you can't see it you need to pull your head out of your ass — Preceding unsigned comment added by CorectingYourInfo (talkcontribs) 13:16, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
Please find reliable sources supporting your assertions and cease the personal attacks. Simonm223 (talk) 13:18, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Article misses the point of Afrocentrism

Afrocentrism, in common usage (such as the google dictionary definition, and even the root of the word), is defined as the idea that people of black or African descent were responsible for most or all of the achievements of ancient cultures. However, this article reads like something entirely different, that people of African descent seek to correct mistakes created by white or European historians. Simply changing the name of this article (and creating a new one about the classic definition of Afrocentrism) would perfectly resolve the issue, in my opinion.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.49.164.25 (talk) 03:02, 14 March 2019 (UTC)

Common usage? Who is using it this way, and how common is it? We need reliable sources for this, not firsthand experience. Google results are not reliable for this specific definition. If you know of a reliable source which specifically supports this view, present it here. Likewise, the article currently has dozens of sources, so if you know of a specific way in which these sources are not properly summarized, or think these sources are not reliable, feel free to explain it. Grayfell (talk) 03:08, 14 March 2019 (UTC)
You are going by the first 3 lines of the lead, which is very politely expressed, shall we say. The rest of the article does adequately cover the ideas you mention, which are indeed central. Johnbod (talk) 03:47, 14 March 2019 (UTC)

Typo

Please change "enthnocentric" -> "ethnocentric"

 Done. El_C 01:39, 9 May 2019 (UTC)

Afrocentricity and Afrocentrism are not the same

People often confuse Afrocentricity with Afrocentrism. Asante, the person who coined Afrocentricity, has made this clear. He addressed Clarence Walker's (and other's) claims as unfounded, and largely because of walkers confusion of the two terms in order to make straw-man arguments (See Molefi K. Asante's "The Afrocentric Manifesto"). Scholars who have not studied the paradigm will confuse the terms for various reasons But Afrocentrism is simply an unacademic social movement with no real body of theories or direction. It has simply been lazily used to apply to those of certain aesthetics and ideology. Afrocentricity, however, is a theoretical paradigm that Afrocentrists use to approach African phenomena from the standpoint of African agency. Afrocentrists are not adherents of Afrocentrism.

It is a cultural bias and a type of cultural superiority complex that has allowed these terms to be misapplied without caring to fully understand the intricacies of the theories developed by the people who created and use these terms. Read "The Afrocentric Manifesto" as well as "The Afrocentric Idea" by Molefi K. Asante. Also read "The Afrocentric Paradigm" by Ama Mazama as well as "The Demise of the Inhuman: Afrocentricity, Modernism, and Postmodernism" by Ana Monteiro-Ferreira (along with the critiques by Stephen Howe, Walker, Tunde Adeleke, and Paul Gilroy) to get a rounded understanding of the differences between the terms Afrocentricity, Afrocentrist, Afrocentrism, and Africanity, as well as the various theories and arguments for/against.

I thank you in advance for being rational and editors committed to limiting cultural bias. Africologist (talk) 15:56, 6 March 2021 (UTC)

Is there some reason that afrocentricity is centered around Temple University? Politics? Funding? etc? jps (talk) 11:39, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
jps As Asante is the person who developed the concept and has been at Temple since 1986, it became the hub essentially. However, it was also the first PhD program in Black Studies so everyone who received a PhD in the field at that time (for about 10 years or so until the next PhD was founded) came out of Temple and was exposed to Afrocentricity in its early stages. Nearly every PhD at Temple since has also adopted either the theory completely or aspects of it. So there are trained Afrocentrists all around the country (and the globe) in various fields (for example, the first PhD is a film director). But to be clear so as I don't misrepresent, it is one of the most dominant theories in the field, but not the only theory.Africologist (talk) 15:25, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
Thanks for the context. Is there a source which can speak to this to some extent? Another idea might be to redirect Afrocentricity to Asante's bio. jps (talk) 18:15, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
Redirecting to Asante's bio is a fair idea. But to be honest I think for absolute clarity it should have its own page. Ama Mazama has a page on the French Wiki and she has added greatly to Afrocentric theory. But her page is also an example of people getting the term wrong as it quotes someone who says she is a "defender of Afrocentrism". There are also several other scholars who either do or don't have a wiki that one would have to mention in the development of Afrocentricity. I have a few short articles that could sum up the issue but I would have to send them to you somehow. They can't be accessed outside institutional access. Africologist (talk) 19:34, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

I may have institutional access. If you post the citations, I can try to read them. jps (talk) 20:36, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

  • There is so little agreement as to what both these terms mean and cover that we should not be talking about "people getting the term wrong", "lazily used" etc. I'd keep the two together and try to explain as clearly as possible the range of positions each of them covers, according to different writers. Asante more or less coined "Afrocentricity" a good while back, but that does not give him copyright over the term, and as used by others its meaning has diversified. It is absolutely not WP's role to take sides in a dispute of this sort. Johnbod (talk) 20:58, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
Me personally, I am confused as to what (if anything) is being proposed as far as changes to the article.Rja13ww33 (talk) 21:29, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
Right now, afrocentricity redirects here. This may change. We could discuss this at Talk:Afrocentricity, but here seems fine anyway. jps (talk) 22:21, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
As far as I can tell, there is no Afrocentricity article. So are we talking creating a new article? (I.e. one for Afrocentrism & another for Afrocentricity.) Or just re-directing to someone's bio? Rja13ww33 (talk) 22:28, 8 March 2021 (UTC)
I don't think there's consensus yet. It seems Africologist is leaning towards a new article but may not object to a redirect, Johnbod is unsure whether it is a good idea to disambiguate this way, and I'm still trying to sort out all the sourcing. Any input would be helpful. jps (talk) 00:00, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
Indeed. Why not try to get definitions that clearly distinguish between the two concepts here, then see if a new article is desirable (as i've said, I doubt it is). Johnbod (talk) 00:05, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

You are correct. No one else claims ownership of Afrocentricity. It has merely at times in the past been confused with Afrocentrism. The meaning of the term Afrocentricity has not "diversified"; though Afrocentrism certainly has. And yes, I believe creating a new article is best. I don't rule out a redirect but I think a new article is best to mitigate any further confusion between the two. There is plenty of scholarship that presents the difference between the two. Here are a couple links: "Defending the Paradigm" https://www.jstor.org/stable/40034783?seq=1 / "Afrocentricity and the Western Paradigm" https://www.jstor.org/stable/40282637?seq=1 (discusses Afrocentric theory and critiques) Africologist (talk) 01:09, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, I just finished reading both sources. They seem to make the point you are arguing well, but are also perhaps complicated by a lack of specificity in epistemic closure. For example, (pseudo)scholars who are on the fringes of the paradigm are argued to be outside of it completely (such as Farrakhan), but then antecedents such as Cheikh Anta Diop are cited as foundational scholars in ways that seem cringe-worthy. Now, it may just be that Diop was a product in part of the racial theories of his time (he spends a lot of pages in the book The African Origin of Civilization making claims about race which are wholly quaint if not outrageous by modern standards) and that he has scholarship points of fighting against an acknowledged racist establishment thought with a kind of "NO" that makes for a good foundation. Maybe not unlike Darwin whose work is fantastic in Origins of Species but goes off the rails in Descent of Man in not a few instances. In any case, for me, Alkebulan's point is well-taken. The sins of those who do engage in pseudoscholarship being used as standards for a trope do not inform the paradigm per se. One final thing I did not follow was the spirituality argument. The incorporation of spirituality into scholarship has often been a red flag for problems (I might point to critiques of reincarnation research or meditation research for examples of such). However, I couldn't exactly follow the idea. Acknowledging the existence of spirituality is noncontroversial, but somehow making claims as to the existence of things likes spirits and gods are going to necessarily run into problems in venues like historiography or empirical work. But this was less than a page of that piece. I wonder: Are there any good critiques on whether/how the spirituality aspect manifests in afrocentricity or afrocentric critiques of Diop's anachronisms? jps (talk) 02:36, 9 March 2021 (UTC)
Apologies, busy few days. To answer your question: Asante and others have expressed that Afrocentricity is not a religion nor does it promote that you must be involved in religion or some spiritual system. Simply that when religion is discussed in regard to African/African diaspora people, African religions, along with their realities and implications for Africans as well as others, should be centered. Scholars do not imply the existence of spiritual beings, simply that the perspective of whichever African group being discussed is that their particular spiritual beings are real to them. So something may be written from that group's perspective while also noting that it is that particular perspective (For quick reference see: African Religions : Beliefs and Practices through History, 2019, p.18-19./ Notice, however, even this author repeats the Bernal error, though sates "some") Further, on Diop, some Afrocentric scholars have critiqued Diop, particularly his idea that "no thought or ideology is foreign to Africa" (Mazama, The Afrocentric Paradigm, 2003, pg. 22/*make sure it's the chapter from the book and not the outdated article) And, of course, more nuanced discussions of civilization have developed since then. You are right to suggest that a primary foundation he provides is challenging the racist establishment. Africologist (talk) 14:58, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
Great. I think I'm getting to understand this better. I've begun reading selections from the books you recommended elsewhere. I do think that a draft would be a good idea. In draft space it would be at Draft:Afrocentricity. jps (talk) 22:01, 11 March 2021 (UTC)
Good. Let me know of any questions from the readings. I suppose we can move the conversation to the Draft Talk? Africologist (talk) 14:46, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

Why does this page exist?

Based on the articles I read, I thought that Afrocentrism was not a scholarly movement of any significance and was more of a reactionary and fringe movement. The fact that so many historians and scholars disagree with Asante and the other prominent Afrocentric scholars mentioned highlights how this isn't really an accepted historical viewpoint. Am I wrong in thinking this or should this article be ammended to better reflect the fringe nature of this movement? Apologies if this has been answered before. Originalcola (talk) 20:06, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

There's a lot written about it, which makes it notable, whether or not it is "a reactionary and fringe movement". Whether this article has the right balance is a different matter. Johnbod (talk) 21:11, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

I should have used a different heading as I wanted to see why Afrocentrism is being treated as accepted amongst historians. Considering the prevalence of Afrocentrism in Africana studies, the article has a right to exist. But it must also be considered that the proponents of Afrocentrism like Asante are not historians and that support is strongest in anthropological and black studies journals like the Journal of Black Studies. If anyone could find any peer-reviewed history journals discussing Afrocentrism then this article could really be improved to provide an accurate reflection of how accepted Afrocentrism really amongst historians because the current article gives too much weight to minor scholars and pseudohistorical pieces of work. Originalcola (talk) 00:22, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

Accepted by whom? And who has the authority to state whether something is valid or not? The idea that there is no scholar unless he/she is western is absolute insanity. That people like Asante be discredited merely because he is Black. 2A02:C7C:36FF:3600:B0C5:2131:7EEF:380A (talk) 00:00, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

Afrocentrism and black supremacism

Could it be pertinent to associate afrocentrism with black supremacism ideology or create a section about this?

Semi-protected edit request on 8 February 2022

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66.208.143.208 (talk) 15:45, 8 February 2022 (UTC)

lemme edit it

 Not done: requests for decreases to the page protection level should be directed to the protecting admin or to Misplaced Pages:Requests for page protection if the protecting admin is not active or has declined the request. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 15:49, 8 February 2022 (UTC)

Is it not Black Centrism as Non Black Africans are excluded?

The whole term Afrocentrism really means Blackcentrism. North Africans, who are largely not black and never have been, at least since before the Neolithic Era, are either classed as 'invaders', 'foreigners', "recent migrants' or 'mixed race' and simply dismissed as not being African because they are not black. Furthermore they have to suffer repeated attempts to appropriate their history, culture and heritage by Afrocentrics who only consider Black People as Africans. Should not the North African experience and viewpoint be included? Should so called 'Afro' centrism not be called out for what it actually is? 80.3.238.120 (talk) 10:56, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

You have a point. But its not up to Misplaced Pages to make Misplaced Pages:ORIGINALRESEARCH on this.★Trekker (talk) 04:30, 30 May 2023 (UTC)
What attempts to appriopriate their history. Was it not Europeans that appropriated the history the of Egypt and completely falsified the history to begin with. This is all misguided 2A02:C7C:36FF:3600:B0C5:2131:7EEF:380A (talk) 00:02, 4 February 2024 (UTC)

Notice

I noticed how this page has more unfavorable content with more of the unsupported written about the subject, nearly saying questions by Africans -and all I add- are emotion and not intellectual, leaving the reader of subject with the impression Afrocentrism is nonsensical as opposed Eurocentrism which is given some validations and on it’s See Also has no link to white supremacy and pseudoscience as with Afrocentrism which has to black supremacy and pseudoscience. A saw things just noticed. I would like to some more positives on this page equal to that Eurocentrism. The one who may do this thank you🙏. 41.116.25.131 (talk) 14:51, 16 June 2022 (UTC)

Speculations about african presence in the americas

I made edits to the section about the speculations about africans in the americas before columbus, and about the anti-indigenous violence they perpetuate. Reminder that wikipedias guidelines are as follow:

Before reverting Consider very carefully before reverting, as it rejects the contributions of another editor. Consider what you object to, and what the editor was attempting. Can you improve the edit, bringing progress, rather than reverting it? Can you revert only part of the edit, or do you need to revert the whole thing? In the edit summary or on the talk page, succinctly explain why the change you are reverting was a bad idea or why reverting it is a better idea. In cases of blatant vandalism, uncontroversially disruptive changes or unexplained removals, the amount of explanation needed is minimal. But in the event of a content dispute, a convincing, politely-worded explanation gains much importance and avoids unnecessary disputes.

If you do not like what I wrote, improve it. However you might feel about the situation, it is fact that the speculations are most perpetuated on social media platforms and that the purpose behind them is anti-indigenous violence due to the speculations being indigenous erasure as described by afro-indigenous scholars such as Kyle T Mays.

Regarding the examples of anti-indigenous violence, the information shared is not "personal information" as has been alleged, but information from PUBLIC accounts of mass followings that created PUBLIC content.

One thing I would like to add, if you would stop the revert warring, is that Ivan van Sertima has said himself that he was "not too confident about the evidence" he had accrued in attempt to support his speculations, as per his interview for the wall street journal. Nativebun (talk) 18:04, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 28 April 2023

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Add Pan-Africanism portal.

201.71.0.220 (talk) 08:14, 28 April 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Mattdaviesfsic (talk) 08:15, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
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