RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - re libya and "black africans"

Most media  that I have followed report that Kaddafi was using African mercenaries against his own people to try to save his regime. “African mercenaries” may not mean dark-skinned mercenaries. There are light skinned people (albeit a minority) in Chad, Niger and Burkina Faso who may very well be recruited as mercenaries too. It must not be forgotten also that there are dark-skinned indigenous peoples in Libya and all over North Africa and the Middle East who have been long suffering victims of institutional and other racism.

The present citizens’ revolt in North African and Middle eastern countries is at the same time interesting, instructive, and very telling. Some of us have always known that human rights and economics thump religion and politics at the end of the day.

Is the said revolt some evidence that the universal and shared brotherhood/sisterhood of man and woman claimed in some religions is a farce and a ruse. Is religion an instrument of coercion and oppression in the countries?  

 

oa

 

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of KwabbyG@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 6:50 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com; USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - re libya and "black africans"

 

Ken,

 

You wrote the following:

 

"black" becomes a synonym for sub-saharan africans,
as if the saharan formed a color line, which is doesn't in any single
north african country. it is a vision that divides africa along racial
lines that do not correspond to the actual populations of any single
african country, and especially to those of the sahel and north africa.
as a result day-to-day racism in a crisis morphs into deadly attacks on
people who might have had nothing to do with foreign mercenaries, who
indeed might have been libyan, or just one of the thousands who worked
for libyans in oil fields and throughout the economy

 

Thanks for making this point. It is the sort of analysis that is woefully lacking in the current reporting by the Western media on the Libyan issue.

 

Kwabby

 

 

 

In a message dated 2/26/2011 6:18:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, harrow@msu.edu writes:

the following was reported today on al jazeera (which, i will remind
everyone, can be accessed on your computers quite simply at
http://english.aljazeera.net/)

"Anti-government protesters have attacked black Africans in
Libya, mistaking them for mercenaries.

"The situation is very dangerous. Every day there are more than a
hundred who die, every day there are shootings. The most dangerous
situation is for foreigners like us and also us black people. Because
Gaddafi brought soldiers from Chad from Niger. They are black and they
are killing Arabs," Seidou Boubaker Jallou told Al Jazeera.

Jallou and his friend, both from Mali, fled by night to the Tunisian
border. They said the roads out of the West are still in the hands of
those loyal to Gaddafi."


as i have been so well reminded--lest we forget-- "black africans"
attacking "arabs" is a formulation a little like that which pervaded the
reportage on Darfur. "black" becomes a synonym for sub-saharan africans,
as if the saharan formed a color line, which is doesn't in any single
north african country. it is a vision that divides africa along racial
lines that do not correspond to the actual populations of any single
african country, and especially to those of the sahel and north africa.
as a result day-to-day racism in a crisis morphs into deadly attacks on
people who might have had nothing to do with foreign mercenaries, who
indeed might have been libyan, or just one of the thousands who worked
for libyans in oil fields and throughout the economy.
perhaps some of you remember this parallel situation having developed on
the mauritanian-senegalese border in 1989, with lightish colored people
being identified with moors and attacked in senegal, and darkish colored
people being attacked as "africans" in mauretania and driven across the
border.

ken

--
kenneth w. harrow
distinguished professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
east lansing, mi 48824-1036
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu

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