Different But Equal Basil Davidson Analysis

Keim suggests that colonization of Africa led to “direct or indirect” belief that African culture was inferior. The growth of colonization led to the term “Dark Continent” being thrown around in regard to Africa, ultimately leaving the continent with a single story.

It is generally accepted by scholars and scientists today that Africa is the original home of man. One of the most tragic misconceptions of historical thought has been the belief that Black Africa had no history before European colonization. Whites foster the image of Africa as a barbarous and savage continent torn by tribal warfare for centuries. It was a common assumption of nineteenth-century European and American Whites - promoted by the deliberate cultivation of pseudoscientific racism - that Africans were inferior to Whites and were devoid of any trace of civilization or culture.

Africa was an essential for Europe to gain power in economics and trading position and land. It was a great leap in the civilized world as said by Beaulieu “This area of the world [Africa] needs civilized people to intervene.”(Document S). The Imperialism of Africa was a success in the eyes of Europe, them walking away with the goods of the new land, but was a step back for the people in Africa them entering a cycle of slavery and unjust rule as talk about in Document

The Europeans thought it as their duty to civilize the “inferior” races by expanding western ideals. However, they did so in a vicious and grueling way where citizens were treated inhumanely. From An Anthology of West African Verse by David Diop, he entails

Before Africans were brought to America during the slave trade, they had their own culture and society. They had their own language and dance.  They also had their own religion.  History tells us that the Europeans justified their abuse toward the Africans as helping them become more civilized because the Africans lifestyle appeared primal to them and not as developed and industrialized as theirs. What is often overlooked is that even though Africans were taken from Africa and Americanized and have been stripped of their religion, culture, language and even their name, the very essence of the African as a people did not go away.

European Imperialism heavily impacted the African continent through culturally, economic, and political ideas. This era of history is heavily drenched in the aspect of ethnocentrism, which is the belief that one’s own culture is superior that of another. The Europeans colonized Africa believing that they could bring civilization, but they were often ignorant of Africa’s very complex societies. The European powers divided up the continent of Africa among themselves, without any consent from the people who actually lived there. The tribal stratification was changed to a caste system where racial, ethnic, and religious differences were of utmost importance, as delegated by European rule. The structure and business of the African economy was

Soon after being taken by “the white men,” Africans were branded, like modern-day livestock, with a hot iron with the letter of the name of the ship transporting them. Europeans viewed Africans as little more than an animal, even saying the brand on their breast or shoulder, after being anointed with palm oil, was “usually well in four or five days, appearing very plain and white after…” as though speaking of the

This European interference in African historical storytelling destroyed parts of the uniquely constructed explanations that were no more wrong than the scientific explanations. In general, education destroys the truth of imaginative stories because it teaches which explanation is “correct” when both are equally legitimate. Part of the reason to imperialize, according to J. A. Hobson, author of Imperialism: A Study, is the ability to control the education of the colonized. To the ignorant public, education is a reason to imperialize for it is seen as generous of the mother country to enlighten primitive Africans. Once able to control the education of children, it is easier to impose ideas of racial inferiority, corrupted measures of value, and European morals. (Hobson 229) This education, however beneficial or otherwise, plausibly diminished inventive African explanations of nature, but also destroyed the need for griots. Once Europeans and eventually Africans could begin writing down their stories, the oral storytellers of the past were not needed. The essential and important part of Mali’s history and cultural became much less

In the midst of slavery’s storm, European slave traders used sales tactics that catastrophically diminished Africa’s reputation and African’s humanity. In the process, they destroyed Africa’s historical truth; and created images that Africans were unrefined savages that mindlessly roamed the grasslands with bones jutting from their noses, in loincloths, and spears in hand…simply as if they were mere human and behaved as untamed animals. Classifying Africans as inferior and uneducated is racist in theory

Africa, compared to the Europe, America and the West indies, lacked in fundamental aspects that the countries involved in the Transatlantic Slave Trade viewed as necessities. It lacked industrial growth, mercantilism and a flourishing economy beginning to run on trade. This was a very significant difference between the towns and tribes that the African populace had grown up in. Once seeing the stark differences, it’s said that European mindset believed that the African peoples had a ‘uncivilised’ and ‘barbaric’ way of life. (Reference) In “The African Slave Experience” by Olaudah Equiano, it is a riveting read where the experience of being captured, and taken from their own indigenous home is captured. He mentions here, “And I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me.” (Reference). As African people would have very limited, or non-existent knowledge, the complexion, the

It is in this continent that the Europeans are able to escape the judgement of their civilization. At first, their actions seem justified, however, as they continue to spend time in Africa, they give into their lust for power and wealth, and eventually, they are unable to tell what is

One reason I feel the wealthy Europeans have a certain outlook on the Africans is because of their lifestyle. Rich Europeans saw themselves as above everyone in their society. They were

It is important to note that Eurocentrism is not some sinister entity or collective, orchestrating a master plan to brainwash everyone. There are positives and negatives to having a Eurocentric viewpoint, but for the sake of this piece I will be focusing on the points of western culture that had an influence on African history.

There was a misconception that African people did not have any culture and they were not civilized. But they had a culture that was similar to that of the Europeans and other races. However it was interrupted when the Europeans decided to take them from Africa and transplant them in America as slaves. As a result, their authentic cultures were drastically changed from the way of life in their native Africa to life in the plantation society of the Americas. In this essay, I will attempt to show how the conditions of enslavement disrupted all dimensions of the African’s authentic culture. To aid in my analysis, I will be using the “Reid Culture Conflict Model” as a guide and also drawing upon the works of Olaudah Equiano, Venture Smith,

Throughout human history, before the 19th century the role of the african people has always been unknown and mysterious to the Europeans. Based on a psychology article written by Jeffrey Winters titled “ Why we fear the unknown ” from psychology today stated that, we can be conditioned to fear or discriminate against those who differ from ourselves by characteristics as superficial as eye color. Even simple things such as ideas and idologies can contribute to fear (Winters, 1). This statement was backed by a study that was conducted by Harvard about how some people showed some fear when they see a middle eastern man at an airport, and these people didn't even consider themselves superior toward the middle eastern people. Granted these studies