Why Black People Have Remained Backward
Haileyesus Aregay
Feb 07, 2007
I was forced to write this Article as I came across a reading that concludes the very conclusion that “Black people are doomed to failure and will remain backward no matter what”. The original Article was posted on http://allafrica.com/stories/200702061131.html By Elias Biryabarema on Feb 7, 2007. The Article tries to paint a some how negative idea that belittles Africa and black people in general. He tried to convince people with a serious of facts and misrepresentation of facts:
Quote: “Black people didn’t remain backward; they are fighting not to be but are forced to be by external forces and misguided brainwashed internal forces.”
I have been hearing failed analysis based on non existent truth, or much exaggerated lie from the so called self appointed Experts who focus on defaming Africa as a continent and black people in general as incompetent in the fight that is being done against poverty which has been created by a combination of man made and natural disasters.
We all know what Africa has went through for the last 300 years or so and we very well know what is happening in our continent at the present time. We all know and witness the worst atrocities committed on humanity in the name of genocide in Rwanda and Darfur where more than a million people die, and we all know the very fact that one of the worst oppressive regime of humanity, which was apartheid, has been successfully destroyed by the brave Africans enduring arrest and injustice for the right cause, which is bringing freedom to exist and live peacefully.
In a world where there are people who value stone (aka diamond) more than a human life, in a world where people think the color of the skin has an impact on the intelligence of the being. In a world where people are hypocrites and who want to be part of ones success rather than creating one, in a world where people don’t bother to question their responsibilities and performances and who jump quickly to defame or play down ones noble success, in a world where people try to differentiate them selves even at the DNA level when impossible to do so, it does not wander me if there are still people who think that blacks as a society are doomed to failure.
The writer has been taking on Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and was coming with the so called “Failure facts” to reach at the conclusion that Blacks are going to remain Backward for the rest of humanity. He tried to describe the successes attained by some Asian nations to prove his point that Africa, as a nation is a failed nation. The writer however, intentionally or unintentionally has forgotten the destructive forces that has been and are trying to slow down the progresses that has been pursued in Asia (China being on the drivers seat) in the name of Communism, human right abuse and others. He also intentionally or unintentionally ignored the very fact that these Asians paid in life for the injustice they have went through and did not mention the number of people in hundred of millions which have been lost due to war, draught and emotionally driven personalized ideologies, war with colonialists to reach the level they are in.
People from the west and some Africans who are brain washed with “The All Western ideology” are very fast to mention the existence of Dictators in Africa but they fall short to investigate and find out the very cause that created this dictatorship. Most of them are quick enough to write atrocities and failures in Africa with exaggeration for the very cause of selling their analysis in their media rather than for the very cause of informing the public which they claim to stand for. They are quick enough to aggravate situations as has been seen in Rwanda rather than taking a responsible gesture that is beneficial to the society under turmoil. These same analysts from the west even ignored the fact that the very success of their society at this time has been because of the very hard work and sacrifices their forefathers has paid by blood. They also forget the very fact that these successes also came through the oppression of nations and societies as a whole and the creation of a new ideology, “Slavery”, that rolls around the color of the skin to find a justification to get human labor for free and abuse it to their selfish goals. These analysts even forget that, they are leading a luxuries life and have fewer responsibilities in life, which is to feed them selves, and not think otherwise unlike their African counterparts who are supposed to help their families and the neighborhood them grownup, who are supposed to report facts in a responsible manner.
Nobody knows well enough about the existence of dictatorship in Africa more than the Africans who are born to overcome and change it. Nobody knows what really famine is and what it looks like to wander here and there for two and three days with out a meal than Africans who are experiencing it right at this moment. No body really understands the feelings that go through every African when they are forced to drink water from the dirty river like the animals which they are supposed to take care of and at the same time see a Hollywood movie where whites are playing with juice. No one knows how it feels to lose loved ones by disease like Malaria which could have been controlled easily.
No body is denying that Governments in Africa are not doing very well. No body is denying that there are still dictators in Africa, even if the definition of dictatorship is argumentative. No body denies that Africa is in poverty and it is loosing innocent souls every day by malnutrition, disease, war, and the like. However, brain washed Africans and their masters from the west who are also corporate slaves are always trying to tell us, Africans, the same fact that we know everyday as a new phenomenon. It is not bad if they tell us what we know millions times, however, what is disturbing is the fact that they try to tell us the facts that we very well know in a distorted way filled with their subjective analysis which is more of prejudice rather than scientific, which is more inclined to show personal writing skills rather than illuminating awareness based on objective analysis, which is directed more towards discouraging those Africans who are working hard day and night to bring about a difference, where each difference saving a number of lives rather than providing tips for eradicating poverty, which is very well planned to create a place of no government where diamonds could be extracted easily with out paying taxes or with out benefiting the originating society and make these guys rich so to spend it in their luxuries ships sailing the oceans destined to Hawaii to spend it all.
It does not surprise me if westerners accuse African governments for not allowing “gay marriage” as they call it. And it does not surprise me if they judge African democracy from such perspective. For them poverty is not an issue, eating three times is like oxygen even if they have to work for it, and etc. But what surprises me most is the very perspective of educated Africans, who have much more responsibilities than their counter parts in the west for historical reasons (be it family ties, earned born citizenship, earned free education by the taxes paid by the poor), who strongly criticize by putting ideal case scenarios rather than based on ground breaking facts. It is not only surprising, it is really heart braking. It is heart breaking to the extent that our wrong actions are discouraging many individuals from making a contribution to our African society which at the same time means loosing thousands of lives of little children, and those weak mothers of ours who cross mountains carrying woods on their back, water on their head to feed their children, who are keeping the society going with their ultimate sacrifice.
Educated Africans, being responsible for the very people who gave them education and better awareness, are also supposed to come up with solutions rather than more problems to the people of Africa. We are supposed to help the people dissolve the dictatorship regimes wherever it exists and create a democratic society, free to live and survive. We have the responsibility to support democratic governments in any way we can with a long term vision.
So coming back to the very question which the writer asks “Why Black people are Backward”, I have these answers for him.
We, the black people of Africa, are back ward for the following reasons.
1. There are millions of people like you who think they are inferior because of their skin color, who are brain washed to dream a western life style since childhood and are taught to value less its own cultural beliefs, principles and history and who are made to believe that a black is a black, no IQ, no matter what.
2. Even if Africa is claimed to be the cradle of humanity (http://library.thinkquest.org/C002739/AfricaSite/1Main.shtm), even if there has been successful civilizations from Africa that contribute a lot to the whole world (http://home.wanadoo.nl/spaansen/history1.htm), there has been a time where Africans were forced to start from ground Zero for historical reasons, war being one of the reasons.
3. The presence of abundant natural resources compared to the population during past times, the nice weather condition combined with the introduction of new religious ideologies which fosters more on praying to social and personal problems rather than finding solutions based on scientific facts and rational reasoning (this has also affected the west in medieval and before Medieval times to a certain extent). The religious factor has destroyed the “Ottoman Empire” which was the source of Mathematics and Science in the 10th century and is now beginning to destroy the west by the fundamentalist Christian view against science of Evolution as a starting point, steam cell research (which could be arguable taking humanity and moral factors) and the like.
4. The systematic execution of Slavery and colonialism in the last century. The systematic extermination of the brightest and the best in Africa by external forces. The systematic abuse of generations and the well planned introduction of the new ideology “white is better than black” which I see being applied through your very writing.
5. The systematic and successful indoctrination by the west, Hollywood to be more specific, that the West is a heaven with no problems, that success comes just like that, and which in fact had created a mass flow of educated Africans, who had better chance for such kind of indoctrination which at the same time deprived Africa, for the second time (Slavery was the 1st), to lose the brightest and the best, who were seen as the to be liberators by families and friends from the poverty crisis which they are in.
6. The lack of real life experience of most Educated Africans, the lack of the desire to work in building a nation at the sacrifice of western life style, the lack of the realization that every body is following their foot steps starting from their family members, followed by friends and relatives and that it created a nation open to less educated or the uneducated mass who has to govern itself even without a clock guided by the sun movement as it has no other choice left.
7. The very fact that Africa does not have well educated, well mannered, visionary, and enlightened individuals (in numbers) who are committed for the well being of a society rather than a temporary satisfaction earned out of living a luxurious life. And because of this, it has to be lead by its people, who is ready to change the reality on the ground, ready to bring solutions to the extent of using trial and error which is at their disposal to bring about the desired solution.
8. The very miscalculation of poor Africans, to think that their educated sons and daughters will also be mature enough in parallel to their level of education and that they will help them solve their problems after gaining western knowledge, western success stories and experiences. To that end poor Africans respect their people coming from the west with the understanding that they will do valuable contribution to their society. Those poor Africans believe what these experts from the west say with the understanding that these people will operate with the ideals of their education, which is fight for truth, freedom, democracy, development and the like.
9. The presence of shrewd and selfish individuals, who does not care about the public in general, or who are committed to pursue the interest of the few, and to that end, who are ready to lie, sacrifice their professional dignity, who defame individuals rather than ideas, who defame success and paint failure, who aggravate misunderstandings and create havoc, who are in general more short sighted, emotional and at the same time a disgrace to society and a generation.
I can list a number of problems that actually made us backward, but the one mentioned above are enough to give the general picture for the mentioned cause. I am not bothered to mention the government as the source of the problem, for one, it will be a redundancy to do it here as what everybody writes is so; second, I believe that the government is the reflection of the society, and the government is dysfunctional without the help of the society. If there is any problem with the government, then it is because of the society’s inability to solve the problem to mention one could be corruption. Corruption is the reflection of ones culture and will greatly determine the success of government policies. Third, I strongly believe that criticism (like nuclear weapons) should only be used to the betterment of governance, to the better understanding or cleansing of ideas rather than its use to defame individuals, discourage hard workers, sensationalize differences, and create havoc and violence. If it is going to be used for the betterment of humanity then it should be done rationally, based on facts and should be objective in essence.
So my messages to Africans including the writer (which I presumably assume he is) are,
a) If you think Africa is poor please come forward with solutions, don’t echo what the west is telling us all day long. The fact that we are poor is now in our blood and we feel it, really feel it.
b) If you believe African governments are dictators, then come up with a viable long term plan that will soften them to lose power or get rid of them if they don’t have people support (otherwise they are not dictators).
c) If you claim that government officials are inefficient and incapable of implementing their economic policies, Please go ahead and take their positions at the sacrifice of your western life style, and the political sacrifice that you have to make which is to work with the one that you thought is an enemy but working on common interest for the betterment of the nation and the future. At least they will be happy to get one person with experience and commitment to implement their policies or change it with recommendations which will make them look good. If you don’t have the commitment as an individual for such sacrifice, then these guys have no choice and will use their skill and experience to implement their policies as trial and error is at their disposal. Sometimes they fail, they learn and they will succeed someday.
d) We are ambassadors for Africa as Africans. Please don’t defame the image of Africa just because you are not happy about the Presidents or government officials. A nation is more than its leader. When we are talking about Uganda we are not talking about one person (Yoweri Museveni), but we are talking about 25,632,794 Ugandans as we speak. There might be a couple of children born after my writings.
e) If you really want to talk about Africa, there are lots of good things to say so, which will increase tourism, create more jobs to the poor Africans rather than come up with an exaggerated lie or common sense knowledge like draught.
a. Africa has diversified culture, unique at best where ever you land, start from the north Sahara desert going down to South Africa.
b. Africa is a place where you see wild animals in their natural environment (from the forests of South Africa to Serengeti in Tanzania)
c. You can tell people that they can have an amazing experience in the safaris of Kenya, the beaches of Tanzania, the deserts of Morocco (Sahara)
d. You can tell them about the ancient civilization of Axum in Ethiopia dating 3000 years back, or the castles of Gonder and Lalibela, the magnificent churches in Lake Tana, Bahirdar Ethiopia, the magnificent Islam civilization (Othoman Empire at its best well reserved) in Harrer Ethiopia.
e. You can say about the progress Ruanda is making after the wake of genocide
f. You can talk about the knee interest of Africans to learn from their Asian counterparts in eradicating poverty.
g. You can talk about the emergence of democracy in Congo even if it is at its infant stage. The recent election undertaken.
h. You can talk about the creation of a new Somalia from anarchy and 16 years of warlordism
i. You can talk about the improved economy of Africans, even if it is yet small, and promote investors to go and invest rather than worry about creating a story about the non existence of reliable statistics and blame world bank for siding with Governments.
j. There is a lot to tell, you just need to be willing to see a bright Africa
f) As I can see it, the world order is changing as we speak, civilization is being redefined everywhere, and Africa is being stormed here and there. Help is coming from different directions. Recent instances in terrorism are creating opportunities to eradicating poverty as poor nations are considered to be the source of radicalism. We have an opportunity as a generation to be part of it and work for the betterment Africa, if we don’t have the guts to do so, let us keep quite with our new country and redefined citizenship as westerners and leave the work to those who are committed to pay the price and do so even at the sacrifice of their life.
Wishing to see a better Africa in my life time!