"Black leaders say threats to undermine US democracy appear aimed at their community"
Victor Okafor
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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Harrow, Kenneth
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 7:06:27 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - "Black leaders say threats to undermine US democracy appear aimed at their community"
Dr. Oohay
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Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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Harrow, Kenneth
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2023 1:13:34 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Toyin Falola
Are they “nationalists” or “racists”? No one self describes as a racist, as in calling someone a terrorist?
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Michael Afolayan
Victor Okafor
One point that needs to be added to MOA's contention is my own position that the so-called average Nigerian--who all his/her life has lived in Nigeria—tends to lack racial consciousness, and so, does not and is not generally able to view and correctly interpret the racial dynamics of the domestic politics of the United States. Suffice it to say that the domestic politics of the United States is inescapably racially tinged, just as ethnicism/tribalism does infect domestic politics in Africa’s generally-ethnically diverse geopolitical terrains. Second, the so-called average Nigerian (like his other continental African counterparts)—who all his/her life has lived in Nigeria—tends to lack a nuanced and historically-informed understanding of the historical foundation and the historical conditioning of the contemporary circumstances of African Americans. In general, much of what that average Nigerian (like his other continental African counterparts) knows and thinks about African Americans tends to be derived from popular media; and the same generally goes for the average African American who has lived all his/her life in the United States. And, of course, if your fundamental understanding of life and life’s phenomena is driven primarily by popular media information, then misinformation, distortions, and the superficiality of that understanding are inevitable. This is not to imply that the established and rather more reliable alternative medium of information of human affairs known as academic knowledge is either fundamentally beret of misinformation and distortions or that it always generates reliable and valid knowledge. The academic world of knowledge production and dissemination also suffers from human frailties.
That said, it is my well-considered position that MOA erred in his postulation by limiting his implied racial naivete charge to only "the average Nigeria's pentecostal Christians." Also problematic is MOA’s implied justpositioning of Obama’s presidential bids with Trump’s as demonstrated in this line: “a group that would go on days of praying and fasting to be sure that Obama lost, Trump won…” To be clear, Barack Obama and Donald Trump were never presidential campaign rivals, as MOA’s preceding statement implied. In his first and successful presidential contest, Obama (Democrat) ran against John McCain (Republican) back then in 2008. And, in his re-election bid in four years later, Obama ran against Utah’s Senator Mitt Romney (Republican) in 2012. MOA’s other problematic assertion is that "the average Nigeria's pentecostal Christians” … “would go on days of praying and fasting to be sure that Obama lost…” This claim is belied by the history that I recall which tells me that on the contrary, Obama’s election in 2008 as the first Black president of the United States was greeted with huge acclaim across Africa in particular and across the world in general.
Generally speaking, except for African countries who had to wage protracted guerrilla wars for freedom against Western European colonial powers in what were known as Settler colonies (such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Algeria, and South Africa although South Africa’s bitter anti-apartheid struggle eventually ended without an outright internal guerrilla-type warfare), continental African nationals tend to lack racial consciousness. However, those of them who emigrated and settled in the Diaspora generally got to become racially conscious as they navigated the socioeconomic institutions of the West, particularly the educational, employment, and housing areas of Western societies.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/145800306.4848262.1695460340012%40mail.yahoo.com.
Victor Okafor
Below is an expanded version of my point of view.
One point that needs to be added to MOA's contention is my own position that the so-called average Nigerian--who all his/her life has lived in Nigeria—tends to lack racial consciousness, and so, does not and is not generally able to view and correctly interpret the racial dynamics of the domestic politics of the United States. Suffice it to say that the domestic politics of the United States is inescapably racially tinged, just as ethnicism/tribalism does infect domestic politics in Africa’s generally-ethnically diverse geopolitical terrains. Second, the so-called average Nigerian (like his other continental African counterparts)—who all his/her life has lived in Nigeria—tends to lack a nuanced and historically-informed understanding of the historical foundation and the historical conditioning of the contemporary circumstances of African Americans. In general, much of what that average Nigerian (like his other continental African counterparts) knows and thinks about African Americans tends to be derived from popular media; and the same generally goes for the average African American who has lived all his/her life in the United States—much of what he/she knows or thinks about continental Africa tends to be a product of popular media information. And, of course, if your fundamental understanding of life and life’s phenomena is driven primarily by popular media information, then misinformation, distortions, and the superficiality of that understanding are inevitable. This is not to imply that the established and rather more reliable alternative medium of information about human affairs known as academic knowledge is either fundamentally beret of misinformation and distortions or that it always generates or guarantees reliable and valid knowledge. Like any human endeavor, the academic world of knowledge production and dissemination also suffers from human frailties for though we came about in God’s image, we lack God’s perfectibility.
That said, it is my well-considered position that MOA erred in his postulation by limiting his implied racial naivete charge to only "the average Nigeria's pentecostal Christians." Also problematic is MOA’s implied justpositioning of Obama’s presidential bids with Trump’s as demonstrated in this line: “a group that would go on days of praying and fasting to be sure that Obama lost, Trump won…” To be clear, Barack Obama and Donald Trump were never presidential campaign rivals, as MOA’s preceding statement implied. In his first and successful presidential contest, Obama (Democrat) ran against John McCain (Republican) back then in 2008. And, in his re-election bid in four years later, Obama ran against Utah’s Senator Mitt Romney (Republican) in 2012. MOA’s other problematic assertion is that "the average Nigeria's pentecostal Christians” … “would go on days of praying and fasting to be sure that Obama lost…” This claim is belied by the history that I recall which tells me that on the contrary, Obama’s election in 2008 as the first Black president of the United States was greeted with huge acclaim across Africa in particular and across the world in general.
Generally speaking, except for African countries who had to wage protracted guerrilla wars for freedom against Western European colonial powers in what were known as Settler colonies (such as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Algeria, and South Africa although South Africa’s bitter anti-apartheid struggle eventually ended without an outright internal guerrilla-type warfare), continental African nationals tend to lack racial consciousness. However, those of them who emigrated and settled in the Diaspora generally became racially conscious as they navigated the socioeconomic institutions of the West, particularly the educational, employment, and housing areas of Western societies.
What then is the moral of all this? An important implication of my preceding postulations is that to navigate our world, its complexities, and its human affairs with a reasonable degree of success (for life has no perfection), we owe it as a duty to keep learning, to resist a temptation to assume that we know it all (no matter our station in life or the titles we wear), and to keep our minds open knowing that change is inevitable. Indeed, learning is a life-long journey.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/145800306.4848262.1695460340012%40mail.yahoo.com.
Michael Afolayan
Harrow, Kenneth
Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2023 12:54:20 PM