Racial Superiority Is a Myth
Those who believe it are just ignorant
Some time ago, a very good friend of mine from the UK asked me on Facebook “Is it true that Africans sleep with Monkeys?” I said, “Yes, it is more than that. We are monkeys”.
My friend gasped in disbelief. Then I asked him that is it true of the saying that “white men are a bunch of animals that believe all that is said to them?” My friend protested.
Then I asked him why he possibly thinks that there is a race somewhere in the world that sleeps with Monkeys.
He said that he has read widely from renowned authors.
So, I now asked him that by reading from these renowned authors that he has claimed and believing all they said is not accepting that he is one of that “bunch of animals that believe everything”?
My friend became dumbfounded and apologetic.
I did not tell him much. I simply recommended him to read the European classic that is nothing more than a worthy candidate for the worst book of many historical and logical fallacies “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad, and also, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe if he wants to know the facts and fiction of the black race.
After reading the story of great Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart”, my friend was fascinated with African culture as rightly portrayed in the novel and promised to visit Africa one day.
You see, beliefs are intrinsic ideas that define who we are and it is this belief that determines whether you are truly exposed, educated, and as Nigerians will put it “well-read”.
It beats my imagination that there are people who believe that their race or culture is superior to others. In a certain post on medium.com, Douglas Giles, Ph.D. replied to one of my comments that “the idea of racial superiority is a myth”. This will never escape my mind.
More than that, the idea of racial superiority is the most stupid infectious buffoonery that can infect someone. Anyone who believes in racism is nothing more than an educated illiterate who has lost touch with reality and facts. But do we need to blame racist minds?
History and literature have failed in their duty of preserving facts and fiction such that every piece of writing became relevant for study. Not only that, it has allowed subjective opinions to strive and flourish unchallenged.
If Hume would say that he was “apt to suspect the Negroes to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other race than the white (race)…” then we should expect some of his students to also believe so. Montesquieu on his own, wondered how God who is wise could place a good soul in a “black and ugly body”.
LOL. The implication is that they took Africa and the black race as a people of no ideas, no civilization, and no ability to establish any sense of reason and maintain institutions, hence, the birth of the idea of racial superiority.
More despicable is Hegel, when he referred to Africa as “the land of childhood”. Quite frankly, narrow-minded people will consume these views held on blacks with no equivocation.
That is why people who use racism for political and economic gains will keep promoting systematic and institutional racism by distorting school curriculums and records.
Perhaps, Olufemi Taiwo (1997), is right to say that, “Hegel is dead but the ghost of Hegel dominates the hallways, institutions, syllabi, institutional practices and journals of Euromerican philosophy”.
Walt (2011) argued that cultural diversity is divinely ordained and that the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis confirm that God's intention was not that there should be one culture or one civilization (Walt, 2011).
The flood that scattered Noah's descendants all over the earth (Gen.9:19) was part of the divine idea of God to establish cultural differences, and hence, differences in civilizations.
This implies that Western civilization and race cannot be said to be superior to all other races.
Thus, the Western idea of having a superior culture that encouraged racism is mistaken. God, Himself does not support a monolithic culture, the reason why He confused their language at Babel and made them scatter to fill the earth.
It is safe to say that the idea of cultural imperialism and racism is ungodly, and must be rejected by all persons of conscience. Fighting racism is beyond solidarity protest and taking a knee bow for Black Lives Matter.
It must be a conscientious de-racialization.
Racism is a problem of thought. Thought is a mental exercise that is embedded in a people's worldview. The mental nature of thought presupposes that it has a lot to do with the past.
It is a thought system that helps us to validate, accept, reject, approve, or disapprove of whatever we encounter in life.
For racism to be defeated, our thoughts have to place humanity and reason at its center.
Philosophical Consciousness entails that every man should be treated as an end, not a means to an end.
If the world continues to equate the symbol of black to the devil, then, racism cannot end because a white child who is told that the devil is black will believe that black is evil.
If you truly believe that the white race is superior, why then, do you allow yourself to be treated by a black doctor when there are white doctors?
You believe that blacks are only good for some sort of unskilled labor and lowly paid jobs, but you forgot that the sweat and blood of black slaves built the country you are enjoying today. So, how are you superior?
References
Existence of God and the distinction between the human soul and body (Trans. Jonathan Bennett). Downloaded from Internet Archive.
Fanon F (1980). The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Penguin Books.
Kanu I. A (2015). African Philosophy: An Ontological-Existential Hermeneutic Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues. Jos: Augustinian Publications
Ugwuanyi, L. (2010). An Insight into the Dilemma of African Modernity and a Theoretical Response. 7th Congress of African Studies
Walt B.J.V (2007). When African and Western cultures meet: from confrontation to appreciation. The Institute for Contemporary Christianity in Africa. Washington
