Before the 15th century, skin color was considered a natural thing and taken for granted. Around the 15th century sinister attributes were introduced to skin color. Everything white started being symbolized as European and Christian and was perceived as good and superior and everything black symbolized the African and non-Christian and was perceived as bad and inferior. The continent of Africa was also labelled the dark continent.
Due to this stigmatization, prejudice based on skin color became a justification for brutality and hatred and racism towards the African. This is where sentiments like “the black sheep”, black magic, associated with Africa emanated from. In further trying to justify the inferiority of the “black African” the area south of the Sahara is categorized as sub- Saharan Africa which according to Owen Alik Shahadah has racist overtones:
“Sub-Saharan Africa is a racist byword for “primitive”, a place which has escaped advancement. Hence, we see statements like “no written languages exist in Sub-Saharan Africa.” “Ancient Egypt was not a Sub-Saharan African civilization.” Sub-Sahara serves as an exclusion, which moves, jumps and slides around to suit negative generalization of Africa” ( Shahadah, Owen Alik, Liguistic for a New African Reality).
Read more: http://socyberty.com/society/the-african-and-his-fight-for-survival/#ixzz11q6WHZS3
My heritage is in Africa and my identity started with Africa and it is my love. My bloggs are aimed at exposing to others the hidden mystery of Africa. They aim to inspire and challenge Africans to reach out themselves inorder to understand themselves with a clear perception. My blogs also articulate the case for Africa and expose the abuse of powers without who work to ensure that Africa remains a dependant continent even though it holds most of the world's natural resources.
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