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lurker
509 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Jun 2008 : 20:12:46
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what makes an African an African (and different from other peoples)?
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Edited by - lurker on 30 Jun 2008 20:38:13 |
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 08:19:24
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| Oh gush, being African is merely a legal status... |
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Lily
United Kingdom
422 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 08:51:21
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Culturally or nationally? Either way a single definition is almost impossible. What binds someone born in Cape Town with someone born in Cairo or Banjul? A sense of the continent? Why do you say that Africans are different from other people? Different from whom? Is it looks or attitudes - or both - or sometimes neither??
Good question - hard to answer! |
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 09:04:24
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someone asked me what made me have a british identity and feel british. i found it a hard question. i wonder what makes an african feel african, other than the patronising answer from kayjatta, as usual.totally subjective. invited feelings, not kay-crap.
people can answer from inside their own hearts. no specific categories. could be anything from culture to colour to anything. hard question, maybe, |
Edited by - lurker on 01 Jul 2008 09:06:02 |
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 09:11:10
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quote:
Originally posted by kayjatta
Oh gush, being African is merely a legal status...
do me a favour. if you got nothing constructive to say, please don't bother participating. you are becoming quite a deterrent participating in any thread. if you don't like the posting and feel it is gush, then butt out and go visit another posting where you feel you can contribute properly and with dignity. |
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 09:14:00
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As far as I know, this is the bottom line. The only thing basic about what maketh an African is his/her passport and birth certificate (or an attestaion of it).
Now I have to confess I have no clue what is lurking in my friend's head, but this is my bit of crap... |
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 09:22:50
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so why could you not just answer properly the first time?
"oh gush..." is a dismissive, patronising response to anyone's questions.you invite arguments instead of discourse with that kind of approach. |
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 09:38:44
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Frankly you do not ask intelligent questions Dr. Lurker. I often try to be as polite as possible with you, but you always seem to get the best of me...
My apologies again if I hurt you... |
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Janko
Gambia
1267 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 10:12:46
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lueker
you refer to yourself as british not European,
it is that kind of thinking that makes an African but there is(are) no African(s). On the other hand there are Gambians, Nigerians, etc |
Clean your house before pointing a finger ... Never be moved by delirious Well-wishers in their ecstasy |
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 10:48:01
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you are quite right.
maybe there is a cross over between one's nationality and ones continentalism.?
the brits, i think , would have probably refused to call themselves european at one time, but might acknowledge that link now more so.
does a gambian feel gambian first and african second? are they different things? there seeems to be a strong pan-african consciousness of the continental link.more so than in europe.
why do you think africans see their continent as a whole, but the europeans are less overt about their continentalism?
this bantaba is a good example.
africans are hugely aware of their sister countries histories and are very interested - on this forum at least -
a lot of french/german/dutch etc do not seem that bothered about the trials and tribulations in other european countries, outside of their history lessons. am i wrong? maybe.
anyway, there feels to me to be less of a pan-european consciousness.
african is almost more than a description. it is almost an identity.
european , to me, does not seem to have that strong an emotional content.
any europeans wnat to comment? |
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jambo
3300 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 11:43:18
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| An African is a born on the continent of Africa, thats what makes them african by birth, but if you have african parents and are born in USA you have a choice, but culturaly yuo will be African at home and follow heritage traditions. |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 16:26:28
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| I remember one guy asking me to his question as whether I was a human being or a Jola, my silly answer to him was 'yes' and left him to chose a meaning to my answer. An African is an African because of many reasons and for many reasons too fails to be one.Choice is one another is being born of African parentage.Having filial ties to the continent too comes out strongly ,color may be a factor but I hope not a unique link. |
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toubab1020
12312 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 16:48:42
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OK Lurker,my comment,You wrote:
"there feels to me to be less of a pan-european consciousness.
african is almost more than a description. it is almost an identity.
european , to me, does not seem to have that strong an emotional content.
any europeans wnat to comment?"
I agree,I know what country I was born and that is my country, european is a dream built up by politicians who wanted to create a power block,to rival the US, Russia,ctc.it started of as a trade block,that's fine, then it developed into a political block, a total gravy train for any politician who could jump aboard, new laws telling countries(the peoples thereof) how to behave,UK sausages do not contain enough meat like the German sausage,bananas should be straight,all rubbish, more administrative staff to implement crap (sorry) vast administrations sucking taxes from those who joined this "club".
France and Germany want to be the most powerful members of this "Club",all jobs for the boys.If you say you are a citizen of such and such a country then you are a nationalist and as such should not be trusted.The whole lot is PC gone mad! (where is my hat, I feel a cheese from Holland flying through the air in my direction !, ah thats alright I will protect my identity with a covering of peat from Ireland NON! ( What are you going to now Mr Sarcosi! the gravy train must be kept full with money, leaks not allowed!!)
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 01 Jul 2008 16:57:21 |
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lurker
509 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 17:32:26
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trench-free man! wow.you forgot mimimum-girth square cucumbers!
but, this is what i was alluding to. we are corralled into this "european" genus, despite most europeans probably not really wanting it. i feel that africans embrace their fellow countries and countrymen and do not need to be press-ganged into any union. they naturally identify.but i do not think that a united states of africa could ever work politically.
this is different from sadc and au which are carriages on the gravy train of political life, and could be anywhere. the "africa" bit in those acronyms is just to let you know where and which branch of nepotistic, back-slapping pilfering this is.
there are many angles to identifying oneself. this is becoming clearer. it's not just about where you are born and your paperwork. my parents are from south africa. does that make me african?? |
Edited by - lurker on 01 Jul 2008 17:43:58 |
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serenata
Germany
1400 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 18:07:06
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Wait, 2bab, here is a good German sausage (air-seasoned and hard like wood) crashing down on your head!  Germany and France want to be the most powerful members?! Ha! Germany's tax-payers pay and pay for other EU members, and what do we earn? Nothing but moaning and groaning!
But I think UK should leave the EU. They never embraced the European idea, always thought to be different from the rest of Europe, and as the last seven years showed, they are much closer to the USA than to us, the continental Europeans. So: Vaya con díos, pero vaya! |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jul 2008 : 18:22:37
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I dont even think of my self as British. I am ENGLISH. My family are from a village in Leicestershire and can be traced back to 1066.
I have very English looks and ways and values. I was raised in the church of england.
I am from Leicester first, then honary Yorkshire, then English, then British and then European. Then a member of the human race...and the world is getting asmaller place.
I think the same is true in Gambia...you may be from Pirang, a Mandika, a Gambian, an African and a member of the human race.
If the world is going to live in peace we need to look for our commonality. We are human, we work, we raise families, we have beating hearts...etc.....
When I first went to a Gambian village and spoke to the women their worries and concerns were similar to women the world over. Look for the similarities, the common ground. That is how to engage and communicate with people. |
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