Dear Editor:
I was appalled to read the February 18th piece on Afrocentrism and to see the negative cartoons about Afrocentric education. As one of the principal founders of the Afrocentric paradigm I was struck by how little the article reflected the current state of scholarship. It was an emotional, oppositional, and anti-African outburst with limited reflection on the central issue: African descended people must be viewed and must view themselves as agents and actors of history rather than as on the margins of Europe. Those who insist on Afrocentric education simply state that the child who sits in the classroom must be given ownership of knowledge rather than be made to feel like a renter. There are several
advantages to this type of education. First, black and white children learn to respect Africa as the birthplace of all humanity. Secondly, African descended children find teachers credible who do not ignore the contributions of Africans to human knowledge. Thirdly, children discover that education, not an imposed Eurocentric particularism, is liberating and opens them to positive discussions about all human cultures. Afrocentricity is the anti-particularist position; it creates the space for education without hierarchy and establishes the basis for pluralism without hegemony. Of course, those who seek a narrow provincialism will find this view dangerous.
Molefi Kete Asante
author, An Afrocentric Manifesto (Oxford, Polity Press, 2008)
[...] Letter from Molefi re: Racist Cartoon [...]
From: The Williams’s
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 7:31 PM
To: pcrawley@globeandmail.com; egreenspon@globeandmail.com
Cc: Barbara.Hall@ohrc.on.ca; michellechughes@gmail.com; cco@ohrc.on.ca
Subject: Cartoon on Afrocentric Schools – Globe & Mail Issue 18th Feb
2008
Its difficult to know where to start on something of this nature; but having
seen the Editors dismissive response to the initial letters that reached the
Globe and Mail on this issue, I feel doubly maligned as a black man and the
parent of black teenagers in the school system.
The cartoon that appeared in your paper treated an obviously divisive, but
nonetheless important, issue to the Black Community and the Community in
general with such disdain that it should be an embarrassment to the Globe
and Mail and its editors. Additionally the Globe and Mail should apologise
to the Black Community for the evident insensitivity and what I would deem
racist nature of the caricature that they deemed acceptable.
The cartoon chose to show in one capacity that black teachers do in fact
teach math but at the same time chose to characterize said teacher with
thick lips, an idiotic look, and vernacular that if used by any teacher in a
school that my kids attended I would have a problem with.
I suspect that if this particular issue was with any other community with a
larger political sway, substantially more thought would have been given to
the implication of such a cartoon. South Indian Community, the Chinese
Community, the Jewish Community, the Italian Community?
I imagine a caricature of that nature would have never made it past
editorial control if one of said communities was the possible target.
As a father with a 15 year old son, and as a black man who feels a large
degree of empathy on some of the issues leading to the desire for black
schools, I understand how divisive this issue has been to the Black
Community and the larger community. It was evident in the way the vote went
and the number of impassioned speeches for and against.
I support the notion if only to highlight what is a big issue for young
black men in this province and how little effort or resources have been
applied to resolving it thus far.
So this notion of Afrocentric Schools represents a move in the right
direction. Why? The issue has now been provided some focus and highlight,
lacking prior to last months vote.
Therefore the fact that the Globe and Mail would choose to belittle the
issue with a cartoon of this nature is not only racist, its also shameful
and speaks very clearly to the nature of how its Editorial Board views the
Black Community.
This is the second time I have had reason to write to the Globe and Mail on
issues involving race: the last one was the rather even and disgraceful
piece that was done on Pte Mark Anthony Graham who died of friendly fire
while serving in Afghanistan though once again the Globe and Mail coverage
was so evidently biased and negative that it left many people writing in
very strong letters as is the case here once again.
This begins to show a pattern which is likely reflected by the lack of
exposure of those with editorial approval to people from the diverse
community that we currently exist within.
I would have thought that the Globe has a standard of balanced and
responsible reporting; but the arrogance that was shown in the initial
Editors response suggests otherwise.
Regards
Ray Williams
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I also forwarded this to Premier McGuinty’s office per the info I had read on this website, which I think is doing a fantastic service to the community, based on some of the other stories/issues I have read on here.
Obviously…the “Obama” mania is not going to solve the/our underlying…and over-lying problems within our community… society…or globally…I hope that we remain vigilant…and intellectually active…our children deserve no less than that!