From a Former Black Nationalist

"I am a black man, a former nationalist. I became disillusioned with 'black unity and nationalism' during the massacre in Rwanda and Zaire during the mid 1990s. It seemed to me, a student at a historically black college at the time, that black progressives did not lift a finger to protest or press our government or the UN to act to prevent the slaughter amongst black Africans the same way they did apartheid, Haiti, or even the plight of the Palestinians. Why not? Well for one, because there was no white victimizer oppressing people of color, both parties were of the same race. But the main reason was that our black American leadership did not want our intervention in Africa to cost Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party politically. Getting Bill Clinton and some other white Democrat governors, congressmen, and senators re - elected to preserve our puny little integrationist affirmative action and welfare programs was worth more to us than the lives of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of our African brothers and sisters. Even yet today obtaining real debt relief and nationbuilding for blacks in Africa and Latin America takes a backseat on our agenda to protecting a black police chief in L.A. Irish rocker Bono has gotten more done with George W. Bush and Jesse Helms on that issue in three months than our leadership has dealing with THEIR OWN PARTY in 30 years, because it really isn't much of a priority! So much for our common bond and unity with all members of the diaspora.

"And as for African unity, we still cannot ignore the interminable tribal and religious warfare that wracks the continent. We would like to blame slavery and colonialism, but the truth is that colonialism stopped that warfare and imposed order and the rule of law, even if racist brutal crushing racism and oppression was the heavy price. Also, as soon as the Spanish, British, Dutch, and French left the continent they plunged back into warfare. Plus the warfare predated slavery anyway. As a matter of fact, that is how we got here! The losers of religious and tribal warfare were taken as slaves and frequently sold back and forth amongst the Africans themselves. The Europeans were just another set of customers. Wherever there is religious extremism and tribalism there will be constant warfare as well as slavery. Those things pervaded Africa before Europeans sacked the continent, and have continued after the Europeans have more or less left, such as slavery in chocolate fields and Muslim slavery of Christians in Sudan and other states.

"Before there can be unity between American blacks and Africans, we black Americans have to start caring more about economic and social turmoil in Africa than we do Halle Berry getting an Oscar. Calling ourselves African Americans (which I honestly believe we have no right to), jumping over brooms at weddings, wearing kente cloth (often made in Korea or China), buying African art (ditto), and lighting candles during Kwanzaa (a black American holiday invented by black Americans for black Americans that has nothing to do with Africa) has nothing to do with addressing the real problems in that continent. Why don't black professionals, who claim that they cannot start or operate businesses or receive fair pay and promotions at European countries, use their talents to help Africa? What is keeping black politicians, who cannot gain any real power to do any good in America, from implementing their liberal reforms in Ghana, Nigeria, or Chad? Rather than doing that, we stay in America and invoke our alleged Africanness merely to spite Europeans. Heck, we blacks didn't even start calling ourselves African Americans en masse until it became the vogue thing to do to stick it to the man and show solidarity with Nelson Mandela during Reagan era.

"And of course, before there can be unity among Africans, the religious extremism, tribal cultures, and subjugation of women and children have to go. They must accept and adopt modern democratic societies, including economies (if Marxism failed in the Soviet Union, Latin America, and Asia, what makes you think it will work in Africa)? There are no real attempts at unity between blacks and Africans or even Africans and Africans despite all these conferences, nongovernmental organizations, official declarations, etc. It is past time that we stop living a lie and provide real help for Africa (even if it means giving up some of our own agenda in America), and also demand that Africa provide real help for itself, as in stop slaughtering and oppressing each other over tribal differences.

Gerald Ball

http://www.afrocentricnews.com/html/myth_of_african_unity.html