"semper_augustus" <willrobey@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:1105147833.628182.173810@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> There is a fallacy I was often in the habit of correcting among my high
> school compatriots and found still among college students (am now a
> graduate student). Blacks are NOT the only inhabitants of Africa.
> Subsaharan Africa I will concede, but on the Mediterranean coast, they
> were not predominant.
>
> I've seen paintings of Clepoatra which depict her as Black when she
> certainly was not. I've seen the Emperor Septimius Severus (r.193-211
> A.D.) referred to as the Black Emperor just because he was from Lepcis
> Magna in Africa, even though we have a painting of him (contem****ary)
> in which he is clearly not Black (though neither is he light-skinned).
> There is a confusion between African and Black amonst many. My
> schoolmates in high school seemed to believe there was a magic line in
> the Sinai Peninsula that if you were born west of it, you were Black
> and east of it you were White.
>
> The original Minoans may have been from Africa. hat does not mean they
> were Black. Their art seems to say that they were not.
>
> As a academic (in the good sense, I hope), I am all for researching the
> topic of African roots, but only if they stand up to either proofs or
> reasonable inferences. Using the race card to defend against attacks
> just seems to be proof of failure to defned one's theories adequately.
> I have heard some spectacular nonsense from Afrocentrists, but then
> maybe only the nonsense is being published as there is plenty of
> non-Afrocentrist nonsense out there as well. I'll keep an open mind so
> long as rejection of these theories ON LOGICAL GROUNDS does not get me
> accused of having a closed mind.
All sounds sensible stuff to me. I didn't deviate into the Egyptian
sideroad as I don't myself know an awful lot about it. Giving the close
proximity of Egypt to sub-Saharan Africa then it wouldn't be too
surprising
if there was a black element among the population right enough. However
as
in the picture you mention there are many contem****ary depictions of
ancient
Egyptians and it appears pretty clear that on the whole they weren't
black.
As for the Stonehenge thing it is of course complete nonsense, and it's
nonsense on so many levels. It was claimed it was built by black Buddhist
Celts called Silures but.............
* We know it was built over a thousand years before the Celtic period
* It was of course built long before Buddhism existed as another poster
has
pointed out
* The aforementioned Silures had no part of England as their territory
* There is not a shred of evidence or even the slightest suggestion that
the
Silures (or any other British tribes) were black, in fact the only early
description we have of them likens them to the Spanish.
There are Stonehenge type monuments built all over Britain and it's
universally accepted (excepting the odd kooks) that they were built by
ancestors of the modern British. You are also right about the word black.
It was often used for various other reasons than racial. It could merely
refer to the colour of hair, or the colour of an emblem, or it could refer
to someone as evil (ie of the night). Hence for a few examples here in
Scotland we had the Black Douglases; Black Agnes; the famous reiver Johnny
Armstrong was known in his time as Black Jock of Gilnockie; one of our
monarchs was nick-named the Black Boy; and one of our regiments is called
the Black Watch. None of these signify anyone being black in a racial way.
Out of interest the thread did get me thinking about the subject of
sub-Saharan African history. I admit to being pretty ignorant about it. My
wife went down to the library so I asked her to get a book on the subject
for me. She came back with a history of Persia stating it was the closest
thing they had to what I wanted. Something like her sending me down to
the
shop for cheese and me returning with jam. Anyway I was wondering if you
could recommend any books on the subject. Alternatively I'm wary about
websites because there is so much nonsnese about but do you know any good
ones.
thanks in advance
Allan
|
