Dr. Kperogi ,
I can imagine one of the rascals under your purview meeting you and asking you "Are you a real doctor, or one of those African witchdoctors?" Exactly how would you handle the insolent kwestion?
Even some of our own people have ridiculed Good luck's PhD calling it "Port Harcourt Degree"
Fact is that we have to concede some space to the free word, free space to even those who may want to deceive the doctors of their language, insult us and call it poetry, poetic license exploitation and misuse of language resources…
Apart from pontificating as usual, I really wish that you would give some examples - diverse examples if possible, to buttress your charges. I still think that Joyce Cary's Mister Johnson is funny, as is Paul Theroux's "Fong and the Indians" as is Mr. Bean and sometimes, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sorry, I can't stop laughing. This however is not funny , nor is Balachandra Rajan's seminal "Under Western Eyes"
Keeping up with the times, other contemporary lines:
"You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief" (Gotta serve somebody )
Who be me? At this late stage I am more familiar with the devil's dictionary than with Dr. Samuel Johnson, which is merely to say that no lexicographer am I nor do I know to what extent under pressure of war, so many other trials and vicissitudes along with loss of empire, the English language has declined and the disdainful effects to which the words chief and chieftaincy , tribe and tribesmen, head and headman are / were used, have declined in potency along with the sun setting on empire.
About tribes , I mostly have in mind the many Arab tribes their and their absolute relevance in the politics of yesterday, today and tomorrow, in history.
Status equivalences of course vary from culture to culture and for me the idea that every elected little village chief should be elevated to the status of "King" sounds preposterous, don't you think? I remember that at school our senior prefect also used to think that he was "king" as in "Just do your thing, you'll be king" (I gave up my prefects badge just after two weeks – too much responsibility especially the semi-divine right to mete out punishments) - there was of course the one who crowned himself Emperor Bokassa…
Also these lines from Tennessee Williams'" A streetcar named Desire "
Stanley: "Remember what Huey Long said — "Every Man is a King I" And I am the king around here, so don't forget it"
He was of course speaking the English Language ( you may call it "American English" if you like) and those who don't like it and still believe in liberty can jolly well go and create their own language or as Madiba Nelson Mandela once said in reaction to some other kind of frustration, "can go jump in the pool!!!"
Btw, I usually address Ogbeni Kadiri as "Your Majesty" and other times I call him "Carl Gusted" and can hear him smiling…
As for me,
I remain
Yours sincerely,
Cornelius E
On Sunday, 3 May 2015 20:06:02 UTC+2, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
I don't know why the text was highlighted. I think the problem is from my Google Chrome browser. Here is the snippet without the annoying highlight on the text:5 Words Native English Speakers Never Ever Use for ThemselvesThere are certain words that native English speakers in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand liberally use only for people they perceive to be culturally and racially inferior to them. I call them vocabularies of racial differentiation and exclusion. In this article I am concerned only with words whose racial "othering" is so subtle that most linguistically undiscerning people don't notice it. I must add that modern native English speakers who use these words aren't racist or intentionally offensive; they are just subconsciously influenced by their socio-linguistic environments.1. Chief. Most English dictionaries define this word as the head of a "tribe" or "clan." That's why it's also rendered as "tribal chief." Since Europeans—or at least contemporary Europeans—have no "tribes" (see the entry on "tribe" below), they have no "chiefs." Only nonwhite people do. What Europeans had or have are "kings." But a little more context is needed to unpack the ethnocentrism of the term. I recently read an 1821 British Foreign Office document titled Correspondence with Foreign Courts Regarding Execution of Treaties Contracted. On page 110 of the document, the reader finds that the British colonial government actually went out of its way to purposively discourage people in their African and Asian colonies from calling their monarchs "kings." King, the document says, is reserved only for a British monarch. Monarchs in the colonies should just be called "chiefs." If the chiefs enjoy enduring historic prestige among their people, they might be called "paramount chiefs," but never kings.Nigerians have internalized this nomenclatural discrimination and call their monarchs "chiefs." This is especially true in northern Nigeria where non-Muslim—or non-Emirate— traditional rulers are called "chiefs" and their spheres of traditional influence are called "chiefdoms." In southern Nigeria "chief" is chiefly prefixed to the name of a traditional title holder. (See my June 15, 2014 article titled "A Pragmatic Analysis of 'Emir,' 'Sarki,' 'Oba' and 'Chief' in Nigerian English.")Won't it be nice, in the interest of linguistic equity, to prefix "Chief" to the names of these European monarchs: the Chief of England, the Chief of Denmark, the Chief of Norway, the Chief of Spain, the Chief of Sweden, the Chief of the Netherlands, the Chief of Belgium, etc.?For the rest of the article, click here http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2014/08/5-words-native- english-speakers-never.html Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of Journalism & Citizen Media
Department of Communication
Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road, MD 2207Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi Twitter: @farooqkperogi
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. WillOn Sun, May 3, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu> wrote:Farooq,
This is a really important, illuminating piece.
Can you please re-send without the blue highlighter.
I am so happy that you included the words 'chief' and 'chiefdom' in your critique.
I have always considered these insulting terms but could not find the
appropriate language to address them as you have done.
The four biggest culprits are: 'chief', 'chiefdom', 'witchdoctor' and even 'tribe'.
Can you please send us the entire article, without highlights.
I really look forward to reading it.
One day I hope you look at the American racist concept
'black on black'.
Thanks.
GE
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________ From: usaafric...@
googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com ] On Behalf Of Farooq A. Kperogi [farooq...@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, May 03, 2015 10:38 AM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: HOW A NIGERIAN WITCHDOCTOR, SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS IN JAIL, CONCOCTED SUPERNATURAL POWERS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS
Thanks for this intervention, Professor Emeagwali. An article I wrote in my grammar column on August 3, 2014 titled "5 Words Native English Speakers Never Ever Use for Themselves"<http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2014/08/5- > might interest you.words-native-english-speakers- never.html
Snippet: There are certain words that native English speakers in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand liberally use only for people they perceive to be culturally and racially inferior to them. I call them vocabularies of racial differentiation and exclusion. In this article I am concerned only with words whose racial "othering" is so subtle that most linguistically undiscerning people don't notice it. I must add that modern native English speakers who use these words aren't racist or intentionally offensive; they are just subconsciously influenced by their socio-linguistic environments. 1. Chief. Most English dictionaries define this word as the head of a "tribe" or "clan." That's why it's also rendered as "tribal chief." Since Europeans—or at least contemporary Europeans—have no "tribes" (see the entry on "tribe" below), they have no "chiefs." Only nonwhite people do. What Europeans had or have are "kings." But a little more context is needed to unpack the ethnocentrism of the term. I recently read an 1821 British Foreign Office document titled Correspondence with Foreign Courts Regarding Execution of Treaties Contracted. On page 110 of the document, the reader finds that the British colonial government actually went out of its way to purposively discourage people in their African and Asian colonies from calling their monarchs "kings." King, the document says, is reserved only for a British monarch. Monarchs in the colonies should just be called "chiefs." If the chiefs enjoy enduring historic prestige among their people, they might be called "paramount chiefs," but never kings. An Indian "chief" Nigerians have internalized this nomenclatural discrimination and call their monarchs "chiefs." This is especially true in northern Nigeria where non-Muslim—or non-Emirate— traditional rulers are called "chiefs" and their spheres of traditional influence are called "chiefdoms." In southern Nigeria "chief" is chiefly prefixed to the name of a traditional title holder. (See my June 15, 2014 article titled "A Pragmatic Analysis of 'Emir,' 'Sarki,' 'Oba' and 'Chief' in Nigerian English.") Won't it be nice, in the interest of linguistic equity, to prefix "Chief" to the names of these European monarchs: the Chief of England, the Chief of Denmark, the Chief of Norway, the Chief of Spain, the Chief of Sweden, the Chief of the Netherlands, the Chief of Belgium, etc.?
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com >
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
Twitter: @farooqkperogi<https://twitter.com/#%21/farooqkperogi >
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
On Sun, May 3, 2015 at 9:48 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emea...@mail.ccsu.edu africahistory.net<http://>> wrote:
Why do we continue to use the virulent word 'witchdoctor'?
This is a toxic word that racist colonialists
invented for Africa.
For other parts of the world, for the same phenomenon,
they use the word 'shaman' and 'medicine men'.
For Europe itself they use the term 'psychic', 'diviner' etc.
Let us elevate our discourse.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net >
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/ >videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
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Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: HOW A NIGERIAN WITCHDOCTOR, SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS IN JAIL, CONCOCTED SUPERNATURAL POWERS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS
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