Afrocentrism

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Afrocentrism

• The debate

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Definition

• An outlook or worldview centered on Africa and
  the descendants of African peoples, much the same
  way Eurocentrism is centered on Europe and
  Europeans. It often includes a revisionist
  history that recast world history from an African
  point of view.

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Types of Afrocentrism

• Historical Afrocentrism
• A view of history centered on the social and
  political concerns of various African peoples and
  their descendants. The history traces the
  contributions of the people of ancient Africa to
  the development of the world. The contribution of
  ancient Egyptians, the Kush and North Africans
  are particularly analyzed.

• Radical Afrocentrism
• This type of Afrocentrism is often associated
  with black supremacy and has been characterized
  as pseudo history. This philosophy not only
  focuses on the interest of African peoples, it
  proposes that Africa is the predominant source of
  world culture. It also proposes that Africans are
  a distinct and superior race, who are responsible
  for all the great innovations in ancient
  technology, philosophy and science. The Greeks,
  of European decent later stole these innovations
  and claimed it as theirs.

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Founding Father
  

• Molefi kete AsanteCurrent Position Professor,
  Department of African American Studies,Temple
  University Education Ph.D., University of
  California, Los Angeles                   M.A.,
  Perpperdine University Los Angeles
                    B.A., Oklahoma Christian
  College
•     Contributions to the Field     Dr. Molefi
  Kete Asante established the first doctoral
  program in African American Studies. He has
  authored over 200 scholarly articles and
  forty-five books. He is one of the ten most
  widely cited African Americans and has directed
  more than sixty Ph.D. dissertations in
  communication an Africology. Dr. Asante is the
  founder of Afrocentricity and his books
  Afrocentricity, The Afrocentric Idea, Kemit,
  Afrocentricity and Knowledge are key works in the
  field.  He is the founding editor of the Journal
  of Black Studies.

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Founding Father

• Publications  African American Culture (1999),
  The Afrocentric Idea, (1998), Malcolm X As
  Cultural Hero     and Other Afrocentric Essays
  (1994), Activity Book for African American
  HIstory A Journey of Liberation,     (1996),
  Activity Book for Classical Africa (1995),
  African Culture (1985), Afrocentricity (1989),
  The     Egyptian Philosophers Ancient African
  Voices from Imhotep to Akhenaten (2000), Thunder
  and Silence     The Mass Media in Africa
  (1992), Kemit, Afrocentricity and Knowledge
  (1990)  

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Founding Father

• A Philosophical Position     "Human changes are
  not only suggested in association with freedom,
  they are essential to all of our liberty. Freedom
  is indivisible. If we want it for ourselves then
  we must treasure it for others. In this way we
  protect freedom for all. Wherever in the earth
  enslavement exists it must be eradicated, that
  must be our cry as we look towards an earth free
  of intolerance, prejudice, racism, and ethnic
  animosities"
• "We are increasingly confronted with two
  problems  (1) assuring self determination and
  (2) protecting minority rights. Both of these
  problems are solvable within the framework of
  classical African cultures. There is no reason
  for a person or group of people, that is, ethnic
  group or national group to assume that the
  society is exclusively theirs"

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His Influences

• Carter G. Goodson in Mis-Education of the Negro
  (1933) proposed that Africans were educated away
  from their own culture, heritage and beliefs.
  Africans have been educated in European dogma
  that pitches the idea that European culture is
  the ideal and that they are the sole influencers
  upon the development of the world. Consequently,
  blacks, began and continues to feel stripped of a
  positive identify and they grow to hate
  themselves while at the same time revering
  European ideals.
• David Walker (1996, 630) and Frederick Douglas
  (1953,296) argued for the abolition of slavery by
  highlighting the achievements of the Nile Valley
  Africans. The existence of a well established
  African civilization showed that the European
  claim that Africans were inferior was false.
• Cheikh Anta Diop made three claims that showed
  that Africans were right in claiming their
  ancestry. (1) Egyptian culture must serve Africa
  in the same way that Greek culture serves Europe.
  (2) Greek culture is grounded in European
  Egyptian culture. (3) Other world cultures may be
  traced to an African origin, including humans
  themselves.

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Arguments For an Afrocentric Curriculum

• Reclaiming African Identity
• Building self esteem among Africans
• - the problem of alienation among black
  students
• - increase in black academic achievement
• - information begets knowledge gain which
  begets increase in self efficacy
• Prepare all students to function in a
  multicultural society.
• The issue of fair presentation of information

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Afrocentrism and Multiculturalism the
relationship

• Afrocentrism goes hand in hand with a
  multicultural curriculum. It simply means that
  students will be given the opportunity to learn
  from another perspective on world history.
  Critics of an afrocentric curriculum argues that
  it would create a chasm in the larger society
  because everybody would want history told from
  their point of view. Eventually, people would
  become so separated so that society as we know it
  today would break apart into small fractions.
  Critics have gone as far as to say that a
  multicultural classroom would create a situation
  such as the one that was present in the former
  Yugoslavia.
• Multiculturalism preaches inclusion, fair
  treatment, unbiased dissemination of information
• It gives students information about each other
  thus allowing them to see the similarities and
  differences that exist among them.

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References