Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 16:03:50 -0800 (PST) From: Wolf Factory <wolf_factory-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: Re: In response to Eldorra Dear Ms. eldorra mitchell You wrote: > Are u being naive, or honest; racism is racism and > is > sick. Please look at your honest racist Arabic > countries. Your very own countries were the slave > traders who sold my black people into bondage. Shame > on you. On all of you Arabic people. I would like the opportunity, as an Arab, to respond to your message. That Arabs enslaved Africans is well documented and known. This is a sad episode in our history which contains many sad episodes of atrocities committed by us and against us. It doesn’t warrant however labeling all Arabs as racists. My understanding of the slave trade is that it took an African penal system and pushed it into overdrive. The demand for slaves in the western world created a supply system that lead to, amongst other things, Africans selling other Africans for profit. Omar Guessous in his e-mail has dealt accurately with the nature of Arabic/Islamic slavery. It was by far a lesser evil than its western counterpart. The slaves became fully integrated into the Arab society and in some cases acquired positions of power. Furthermore, the term Arab describes a vast set of people stretching from modern day Lebanon and Syria in the north down to Yemen in the south and from morocco in the west to Iraq in the east. There are also millions of Arabs scattered all over the globe. While it is true that Arabs share the same language, the local dialects are highly divergent and so are the cultures. Moreover, while Arabs are predominantly Muslim, they are also Jewish and Christian. A great many are African also. You calling all Arabic countries racist is a severe blanket generalization and does not deal accurately with the nature of the African slave trade. The slave trade was a low point in human history. The west developed a systematic justification for the slave trade and there were many intellectual apologists for it. It was driven and sustained by greed. Islamic societies did not develop such a discourse because Islam was at least intellectually though not always practically against slavery. It is also important to remember that there was a slavery system in pre-islamic Arabia which Islam helped to obliterate. One of the early heroes of Islam, a character of mythological proportions is Bilal, a Muslim of an African descent who gained his freedom under Islam. All Arab children learn about him at school. The Arab slave trade was several folds of magnitude smaller than its western part and it has not had a lasting legacy because the slaves were absorbed by the Arab-African societies. Their color was not as much of a factor. The Palestinians, who you seem to despise, were thoroughly energized by watching their African counterparts free themselves from the shackles of apartheid in South Africa (see for example, Edward Said’s Reflection on exile). Many Palestinians and other Arabs also find much hope and inspiration from the legacy of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Palestinians and Arabs in general very much identify with the liberation movements in the rest of Africa. Moreover, there are in fact Arab institutions and NGOs (e.g. AAPSO) that have long links with African countries and have worked hard to help Africans gain independence and freedom. They have also helped in times of famine. Said repeatedly quotes from a poem by Aimé Césaire, the African-Caribbean poet, in reflections on exile: …no race has a monopoly on beauty, on intelligence, on strength And there is room for everyone at the convocation of victory. Equally I would add no race has a monopoly on racism or ignorance. We are all susceptible to these things. But I see hope in the collective change that human attitudes and norms have underwent. We no longer can tolerate such atrocities as slavery, which is now (hopefully) forever behind us. Equally, we are growing intolerant of mass genocide and I remain hopeful that things like the Holocaust and the Rwandan massacre will not be repeated. Alas, the devastation of colonialism is a human horror that is much less understood, faced up to and confronted. Someone on the list posted an article today showing how an adviser of Tony Blair’s has called for a neo-colonial project. I am sure his opinion will not prevail, but it does highlight that the west has not dealt with the impact of its colonial past and modern day military adventures. Colonialism had a devastating effect upon the people of the middle east and Africans alike and they have yet to fully recover from it. But let me return to the topic I started with: Arab racism. Yes Arabs have been racists in the past. Some continue to be even now. To take one example: Saudi Arabians are notorious for mistreating the servants they hire from other countries (again I have to qualify that by saying some Saudis behave this way, to be fair to the great many who don’t). Also the way my own country, Iraq has treated the Kurds since the 70s fills me with outrage. There is much chauvinism in the nationalistic rhetoric of Arab governments and some of the Arab media. However, one must distinguish between racism, the irrational hatred of another group because of their religion or race and hatred generated from years of conflict. Sometimes, unfortunately, the two forms of hatred get wrapped around each other like two snakes coiling. Their separation and final obliteration requires an act of political and social surgery and the good will of all sides. So what is the remedy for the Arab world? The remedy is for greater democracy in Arabic countries and greater freedoms. This is particularly important with regards to academic freedom which will allow a sustainable attack on the way our history and religion are taught. I hope Ms. Mitchell that you will take the time to investigate Arabic history and politics by reading Arabic scholars. I am by no means suggesting that the voice of the Arabic scholar has absolute authority. However, it seems to me a strange state of affairs not to have any curiosity about what the Arabs have to say for themselves. There is an entire side to Arabic existence which is never presented to American audiences. You should be aware of it before you issue blanket statements about Arabs. Have African-Americans not been fighting precisely against all crude generalizations against them? Have they not been fighting to take their rightful place in American history ? If I may quote another poem by Aimé Césaire: my negritude is not a stone nor a deafness flung against the clamor of the day my negritude is not a white speck of dead water on the dead eye of the earth my negritude is neither tower nor cathedral it plunges into the red flesh of the soil it plunges into the blaxing flesh of the sky my negritude riddles with holes the dense affliction of its worthy patience. Substitute Arabness for negritude and you will understand how many of us secular, non-racist, pro-democracy, peace and justice loving Arabs feel. And there are more of us than the western media would have you believe. W.F. --- Omar Guessous <o_guessous-AT-yahoo.com> wrote: > Wow ... How shockingly unfortunate that the African > American community have you acting (on your own > behalf > I assume, Eldorra) as its spokeperson ... Believe > me, > you are doing it (and yourself) a disservice by > pitting one oppressed group against another in such > a > manner that is inconducive to dialogue. > Point of information, it was only those Arab > countries > located in the African continent that were involved > in > any type of slave trade. More accurately, they (I.e. > North Africa) was involved in some type of slave > trade > into its own countries (not to the US, to my > knowledge > anyway). Although I have heard many argue that the > Black Africans 'brought' to certain North African > countries were not treated as horribly as were the > African brought to 'America'. For example, they had > the 'option' of emancipating from slave-status by > converting to Islam (for slavery and Islam are > incompatible), they were not as savagely treated, > etc. > Also, many Arabs themselves were adamantely > outspoken > against this. For example, one of my ancestors in > Morocco, who was (according to oral history) an > outspoken critique of the monarch/calif of the time > on > a number of issues around his oppressive and > demagogic > tactics, was eventually killed when he criticized > him > for forcing Black African Islam-converts (or > children > of Islam-converts) to serve in the army, as the > lesser > officers - for he was concerned with expanding his > military force. > The fact of the matter remains though, in absolute > terms that is, that they were dehumanized and > mistreated in ways unacceptable. > But then again, I could spill out more tales about > horror directed against North African Arabs, at the > hands of Sub-Saharn Africans. This history is, > unfortunately, a very sad and conflictual one - for > matters of race/color, religion, postcolonialism, > and > more. > Oh, and btw, did you know that a good number people > whom you'd consider to be Black also identity as > Arab? > Anyway, please reconsider yourself, the (dis)service > you're doing to the community you claim to be > advocating for, and consider constructing a more > complex, dialectical view of history and oppression, > particularly as it concerns relationships between > various non-White groups - relationships that often, > because of our respective focus on > whites/Europeans/Americans/Israelis, get lost in the > cracks, only then to serve the same oppressive order > that we claim to be challenging. For if we cannot > get > along, discuss, collaborate, and maybe start giving > the most visible oppressors a little less > importance, > then maybe we can begin dealing with our own > internal > 'shit', as well as develop partnerships that could > reduce, if not eliminate the dependence that many of > us have on those whom we feel uneasy about in the > first place. > Respectfully, > Omar > > P.s.: Racism exists in Arab countries, sure, > including > toward Blacks. Indeed, racism is a plague that > infects > all communities, including the African American one > (towards East Asians, Latino/as, and Arabs), though > of > course with differing levels of intensity depending > on > what subset of the community you consider. The same > logic applies to Arabs, white Americans, etc. ... > > Omar Guessous, Ph.D. Program > Georgia State University > Community Psychology Dept. > Atlanta, GA > > *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* > Birdie! Birdie! > To keep it I built a cage of silk > And never thought it would fly away > After letting itself be tamed > > - Moroccan 'freedom song' > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu > [mailto:owner-epostcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu] > On Behalf Of eldorra mitchell > Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 3:10 AM > To: postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu > Subject: Re: Question: Race/Color & Thinking modes > > > Are u being naive, or honest; racism is racism and > is > sick. Please look at your honest racist Arabic > countries. Your very own countries were the slave > traders who sold my black people into bondage. Shame > on you. On all of you arabic people. > > --- "Dr. Salwa Ghaly" <sghaly-AT-sharjah.ac.ae> wrote: > > > Back in the mid-eighties in Princeton, I repeatedly > > heard African American > > students refer to one black dean as a "banana," > > black from the outside, but white > > from the inside. > > > > In light of this disucssion, is it fair to suggest > > that many of those terms > > migrated in usage from one ethnic or racial group > to > > another? > > > > > ====> "There are insistent questions that we all have to > ask and that make it clear to us that it is not > possible to study simply for the sake of studying. > As if we could study in a way that really had > nothing to do with that distant, strange world out > there." > - Paulo Freire, in 'Pedagogy of Freedom' > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for > Easter, Passover > http://greetings.yahoo.com/ > > > --- from list > postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- ===="All the wolves in the wolf factory paused at noon, for a moment of silence." ........from laughing Gravy by John Ashbery. --------------------------------------------------------- Looking for something good and original to read? Check out: http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~simmers/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for Easter, Passover http://greetings.yahoo.com/ --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
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