ISBN:
0195357302
,
9780195357301
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource (xxxv, 172 p.)
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als
Parallel Title:
Erscheint auch als
DDC:
305.896/073
Keywords:
To 332 B.C.
;
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
;
Afrocentrisme
;
African Americans / Philosophy
;
African Americans / Race identity
;
Afrocentrism
;
Black nationalism
;
Civilization
;
Civilization / Egyptian influences
;
Race relations
;
Geschichte
;
Philosophie
;
Schwarze. USA
;
African Americans Race identity
;
Afrocentrism
;
African Americans History
;
Philosophy
;
Black nationalism
;
Civilization Egyptian influences
;
Ethnische Beziehungen
;
Afrozentrismus
;
USA
;
USA
;
USA
;
Ethnische Beziehungen
;
Afrozentrismus
Note:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-164) and index
,
pt. 1. If Everybody Was a King, Who Built the Pyramids? Afrocentrism and Black American History -- pt. 2. "All God's Dangers Ain't a White Man," or "Not All Knowledge Is Power."
,
"As expounded by Molefi Kete Asante, Yosef Ben-Jochannan, and others, Afrocentrism encourages black Americans to discard their recent history, with its inescapable white presence, and to embrace instead an empowering vision of their African (specifically Egyptian) ancestors as the source of western civilization. Walker marshals a phalanx of serious scholarship to rout these ideas. He shows, for instance, that ancient Egyptian society was not black but a melange of ethnic groups, and questions whether, in any case, the pharaonic regime offers a model for blacks today, asking, "if everybody was a King, who built the pyramids?" But for Walker, Afrocentrism is more than simply bad history - it substitutes a feel-good myth of the past for an attempt to grapple with the problems that still confront blacks in a racist society. The modern American black identity is the product of centuries of real history, as Africans and their descendents created new, hybrid cultures - mixing many African ethnic influences with native and European elements. Afrocentrism replaces this complex history with a dubious claim to distant glory." ""Afrocentrism offers not an empowering understanding of black Americans' past," Walker concludes, "but a pastiche of 'alien traditions' held together by simplistic fantasies." More to the point, this specious history denies to black Americans the dignity and power that springs from an honest understanding of their real history."--Jacket
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