180 Abibisika (Black Gold) Points

Rank: Unranked Obibini

Thank you for this. I also agree with you and Nana Khalid’s thoughts. I’m considering doing social maps, diagrams, or visualizations of the dualities of classism. As mentioned there is a dichotomy within class where Afrikan descendants are marginalized via racialism (Black/white divides). ———————– As you mentioned in your conversation with Dr. Ball, U.S. segregation, Mzansi’s apartheid, and India’s caste system are all examples of this. Your upcoming study of the condition, position, and situation of Black people makes me think about the political spectrum (liberal, moderate, conservative in the American context; or neoliberalism, realism, and constructivism in the international relations context) and how social hierarchy based on race is present in each political system or theory. I believe this is because of capitalism, or states are primarily controlled by non-Afrikans due to Western civilization/Westphalian states. I am reading Robert Vitalis’ “White World Order, Black Power Politics: The Birth of American International Relations (2015), and he discusses how the birth of the field of international relations/international affairs as it is referenced to in Western society, was actually the field of international race theory. ——————- He mentions: “In the first decades of the 20th century in the US, international relations meant race relations. The problem of imperialism, sometimes referred to as ‘race subjugation’, was what preoccupied the first self-identified professors of international relations. They wrestled with the prospect that a race war might lead to the end of the world hegemony of whites, a future that appeared to many to be in the offing. The scholars had also identified the epicenter of the global biological threat in the three square miles of so at the northern end of Manhattan borough known as Harlem. Today, professors teach that international relations is the scientific study of interactions among ‘states’ or countries, with other, lesser ‘actors’ (financers, corporations and paramilitary organizations), trailing behind.” ———- I mention this because, considering your comments, and my experience this social hierarchy is inherent or manifests in the social relations among Afrikans as we now distinguish ourselves based on the social, political, and economic constructions and concepts, and systems created by white people. Nana Nkrumah discusses the traditionalist, Islamic, and Christianity systems of ideology that have impacted the continent in Consciencism, and I am interested in using this framework, as well as the perspectives of Pan-Afrikan women to develop versions of class/caste that simplify what we are saying. ——————————– In my experience advocating for and promoting Pan-Afrikanism, I have experienced much “backlash”, indifference, or apathy from our people because we separate ourselves based on social, political, and economic satus (i.e., how much money we have, or our educational background, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality, political party or affiliation, gang affiliation, geographic location, language, etc.). All of this is classism or social stratification among ourselves. I am not advocating for blanket, universal Afrikanity that does not recognize our social distinctions, however as a Pan-Afrikan or naive person, I am compelled to believe we should look at the world as 90% brown/Black, but due to the aforementioned, conditioning and coloniality (Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks) and miseducation, we are very much separate. Not only do we subscribe to European social systems, but we abide by their borders (social and political, imaginary and imposed) and mimic their behavior. Very interested in discussing with everyone