'For me, 'black' and 'negro' are two sides of the same coin. They are inherently derogatory labels – imposed on Africans to discredit their humanity.' Opinion | VavaTampa
I have a confession. I have a list of words I avoid using. They turn me off, whether or not they are italicised or direct quotes. They range from "civilised" to Americans' blind use of "race" to the French pronoun "tu."
But for the past 400 years since the arrival of the first Africans from the Ndongo region of the Kongo Kingdom in the British colony of Jamestown in 1619 in what would become the US, it has taken on a darker meaning and became the preferred European way to refer to us. This was neither accidental nor an accident.
Depicting or labelling one’s perceived opponent negatively has throughout history been a pre-requisite for tragedy or crimes of an international nature. In Nazi Germany, Jews were portrayed as subhuman. Before that, in Leopold’s Congo, locals were called "" or backwards. In Rwanda in 1994, Tutsis were called "cockroaches" by their Hutu killers. And the Rohingya in Myanmar are pejoratively called "Bengali.
These negative attributes have not only tortured the self-concept, self-esteem or progress of the African people in the US, Europe and across the world; they have also, consciously or subconsciously – for the past 400 years, shaped the mind, views, assumptions and prejudices of our neighbours, colleagues at work, teachers in school, potential employers, media and the police.
His response was simple and disarming. The world does not care, he said, because you are "black", and concluded by saying: "I might not have observed that if I had not spent over five years in two different ambassadorial assignments in Africa. But having done so, I say what now seems obvious to me with confidence and sorrow."
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