Black people is a term which is usually used to define a racial group of human beings with dark skin color. The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets Notions of race based on Human genetic variation have replaced historical approaches such as Craniology with the advent of Human genetics in Human genetic variation is the natural variation in gene frequencies observed between the genomes of individuals or groups of humans The historical definition of race was an immutable and distinct type or Species, sharing distinct racial characteristics such as constitution temperament Race and health research is mostly from the United States. It has found both current and historical racial differences in the frequency treatments and availability of treatments The study of race and intelligence is a controversial field which seeks to determine whether or not human intellectual abilities vary between races The modern controversy Social interpretation of physical variation Incongruities of racial classifications Even as the idea of "race" was becoming a powerful organizing principle in many List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that banned Interracial marriage and sometimes interracial sex between whites and members of other Racialism is an emphasis on race or racial considerations Racialism entails a belief in the existence and significance of racial categories but not necessarily in a Racial profiling is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime or The United States is a racially diverse country There is an extensive history of race-based Slavery, the abolishment of it and its economic Brazil is a racially diverse and Multiracial country Intermarriage among different Ethnic groups has been part of the country's history Human evolution, or anthropogenesis, is the part of biological Evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct Species Genetics (from Ancient Greek grc-Latn genetikos, “genitive” and that from grc-Latn genesis, “origin” a discipline of Biology, is This is a list of topics related to Racism: A Affirmative action Afrocentrism Anti-Arabism The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Human skin color can range from almost black (due to very high concentrations of the dark brown pigment melanin to nearly colorless (appearing reddish white due to the Blood Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan African descent (see African diaspora), while others extend the term to any of the populations characterized by dark skin color, a definition that also includes certain populations in Oceania and Southeast Asia. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world - predominantly to the Americas, then later to Europe, the [1][2]
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In the early twentieth century many scientists held the view that biologically distinct races existed. The Maasai are an indigenous African Ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Notions of race based on Human genetic variation have replaced historical approaches such as Craniology with the advent of Human genetics in The races corresponded to the major continental regions of Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America These races were distinguished from each other based on a few visible traits such as skin color and hair texture. Black people were largely defined by their dark skin and sometimes curly hair. The belief at that time was that not only did the races differ in appearance but in behavior, intellect and origins. Some scientists such as Carleton S. Coon believed the different races to have evolved separately over millions of years and that racial differences were thus extremely significant. Carleton Stevens Coon, ( 23 June 1904 &ndash 3 June 1981) was a American physical anthropologist, Professor of Anthropology
Today most scholars have abandoned these views and see race as a social construct with no biological basis. Breakthroughs in genetics and the mapping of the human genome in the late twentieth century have helped dispel many of the earlier myths about race. The human genome is the Genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs At least 99. 9% of any one person's DNA is exactly the same as any other person's, regardless of ethnicity. Deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) is a Nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known [3] Of the 0. 1% variation, there is an 8% variation between ethnic groups within a race, such as between the French and the Dutch. Legal residents and citizens To be French according to the first article of the Constitution is to be a citizen of France regardless of one's origin race or religion ( The Dutch people ( Dutch:) are the dominant Ethnic group of the Netherlands. On average, only 7% of all human genetic variation lies between major human races such as those of Africa, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. 85% of all genetic variation lies within any local group. The proportion of genetic variation within continental groups (~93%) is therefore far greater than that between the various continental groups (~7%). [4] Or to put it another way, "any two individuals within a particular population are about as different genetically as any two people selected from any two populations in the world"[5]
Because of these facts, there is general agreement among biologists that human racial differences are too small to qualify races as separate sub-species. In Zoology, as in other branches of Biology, subspecies is the Taxonomic rank immediately subordinate to a Species. However there is still much controversy regarding the significance of these small differences. For example, some scholars argue that even though there is more variation within populations than between them, the small between-population variation may have implications in medical science. [6][7]
Based from genetic evidence, contemporary world population is assumed to be descended from a relatively small population of Homo sapiens living in Africa some 70,000 years ago—in population bottleneck scenarios, this group may have been as small as 2,000 individuals. In Paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans is one of two hypotheses of the origin of anatomically modern humans Homo sapiens sapiens The world population is the total number of living Humans on Earth at a given time Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus A population bottleneck (or genetic bottleneck) is an Evolutionary event in which a significant percentage of a population or species is killed or otherwise prevented [8][9] The differences in physical appearance between the various peoples of the world is as a result of adaptations to the different environments encountered by various populations subsequent to this split.
The African population exhibits a great degree of physical variation. Even though most sub-Saharan Africans share a skin color that is dark relative to many other peoples of the world, they do differ significantly in physical appearance. Examples include the Dinka, some of the tallest people in the world and the Mbuti, the shortest people in the world. The Dinka are a group of tribes of south Sudan, inhabiting the swamplands of the Bahr el Ghazal region of The Mbuti people or Bambuti as they are collectively called are one of several indigenous Hunter-gatherer groups in the Congo region of Others such as the Khoisan people have an epicanthal fold similar to the peoples of Central Asia. Khoisan (increasingly commonly spelled Khoesan or Khoe-San) is the name for two major Ethnic groups of Southern Africa. A recent study found that Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest skin color diversity within population. [10]
The evolution of dark skin is tied with the question of loss of body hair. Human skin color can range from almost black (due to very high concentrations of the dark brown pigment melanin to nearly colorless (appearing reddish white due to the Blood Albinism (from Latin albus, "white" see extended etymology) is a form of hypopigmentary Congenital disorder, Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya By 1. 2 million years ago, all people having descendants today had exactly the receptor protein of today's Africans; their skin was dark, and the intense sun killed off the progeny with any lighter skin that resulted from mutational variation in the receptor protein. [11] This is significantly earlier than the speciation of Homo sapiens from Homo erectus some 250,000 years ago. Speciation is the Evolutionary process by which new biological Species arise Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Homo erectus ( Latin: "upright man" is an extinct species of the genus Homo, believed to have been the first hominin
Dark skin helps protect against skin cancer that develops as a result of ultraviolet light radiation, causing mutations in the skin. Skin cancer is a Malignant growth on the Skin which can have many causes Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays Furthermore, dark skin prevents an essential B vitamin, folate, from being destroyed. Folic acid (also known as Vitamin M and Folacin) and Folate (the Anionic form are forms of the water-soluble Vitamin B9 Therefore, in the absence of modern medicine and diet, a person with dark skin in the tropics would live longer, be more healthy and more likely to reproduce than a person with light skin. White Australians have some of the highest rates of skin cancer as evidence of this expectation. [12] Conversely, as dark skin prevents sunlight from penetrating the skin it hinders the production of vitamin D3. Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble Prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 (or Ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (or Hence when humans migrated to less sun-intensive regions in the north, low vitamin D3 levels became a problem and lighter skin colors started appearing. Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble Prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 (or Ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (or The people of Europe, who have low levels of melanin, naturally have an almost colorless skin pigmentation, especially when untanned. Melanin is a class of compounds found in the Plant, Animal and Protista kingdoms, where it serves predominantly as a Pigment. This low level of pigmentation allows the blood vessels to become visible and gives the characteristic pale pink color of white people. The difference in skin color between black and whites is however a minor genetic difference accounting for just one letter in 3. 1 billion letters of DNA. [13]
Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe African countries located south of the Sahara. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest It is used as a cultural and ecological distinction from North Africa. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Because the indigenous people of this region are primarily dark skinned it is sometimes used as a politically correct term or euphemism for "Black Africa". Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener or in the case of doublespeak [14] Some criticize the use of the term in defining the part of Africa inhabited by black people because the Sahara cuts across countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Sudan, leaving some parts of them in North Africa and some in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mauritania (موريتانيا Mūrītāniyā officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country Mali, officially the Republic of Mali (République du Mali is a Landlocked nation in Western Africa. Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa.
Owen 'Alik Shahadah argues that the term sub-Saharan Africa has racist overtones:
Sub-Saharan Africa is a racist byword for "primitive", a place which has escaped advancement. Owen 'Alik Shahadah (b 1973) is a director, African Writer, Musician, Photographer and Music producer. 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. [15]
However, some black Africans prefer to be culturally distinguished from those who live in the north of the continent. [16]
In South Africa during the apartheid era, the population was classified into four groups: Black, White, Asian (mostly Indian), and Coloured. The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country In the South African Namibian Zambian Botswanan and Zimbabwean context the term Coloured (also known as Bruinmense The Coloured group included people of mixed Bantu, Khoisan, and European descent (with some Malay ancestry, especially in the Western Cape). Bantu may refer to Bantu expansion, a series of migrations of Bantu speakers Bantu languages Bantu people Khoisan (increasingly commonly spelled Khoesan or Khoe-San) is the name for two major Ethnic groups of Southern Africa. The European peoples are the various Nations and Ethnic groups of Europe. The Cape Malay community is an Ethnic group or Community in South Africa, taking its name from what is now known as the Western Cape of The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The Coloured definition occupied an intermediary position between the Black and White definitions in South Africa.
The apartheid bureaucracy devised complex (and often arbitrary) criteria in the Population Registration Act to determine who belonged in which group. The Population Registration Act of 1950 required that each inhabitant of South Africa be classified and registered in accordance with their racial characteristics Minor officials administered tests to enforce the classifications. When it was unclear from a person's physical appearance whether a person was to be considered Colored or Black, the "pencil test" was employed. This involved inserting a pencil in a person's hair to determine if the hair was kinky enough for the pencil to get stuck. [17]
During the apartheid era, the Coloureds were oppressed and discriminated against. However, they did have limited rights and overall had slightly better socioeconomic conditions than Blacks. In the post-apartheid era the government's policies of affirmative action have favored Blacks over Coloureds. Affirmative action in the United States|Employment equity (Canada|Reservation in India|Numerus clausus The term affirmative action describes many policies aimed at a historically Some South Africans categorized as Black openly state that Coloureds did not suffer as much as they did during apartheid. The popular saying by Coloured South Africans to illustrate this dilemma is:
Not white enough under apartheid and not black enough under the ANC (African National Congress)
Other than by appearance, Coloureds can be distinguished from Blacks by language. The African National Congress (ANC has been South Africa 's governing party supported by its Tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions Most speak Afrikaans or English as a first language, as opposed to Bantu languages such as Zulu or Xhosa. Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from 17th century Dutch and classified as Low Franconian Germanic, mainly spoken in A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth The Bantu languages (technically Narrow Bantu languages) constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo family Zulu (called isiZulu in Zulu is a Language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers the vast majority (over 95% of whom live in South See also Xhosa language The Xhosa (ǁʰɔsɑ( people are speakers of Bantu languages living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two They also tend to have more European-sounding names than Bantu names. [18]
Black African and Near Eastern peoples have interacted since prehistoric times. Afro-Arab (sometimes referred to as African Arab) refers to people who possess both Black African and Arab ancestry B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century [19][20] Some historians estimate that as many as 14 million black slaves crossed the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Sahara Desert from 650 to 1900 CE. The Red Sea is a Salt water Inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest [21]
The Afro-Asiatic languages, which include Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew, are believed by some scholars to have originated in Ethiopia. The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language NOTE This intro is the result of careful NPOV work Please do not make potentially controversial edits to it without first discussing on the talk page [22] This is because the region has very diverse language groups in close geographic proximity, often considered a telltale sign for a linguistic geographic origin.
In more recent times, about 1000 CE, interactions between blacks and Arabs resulted in the incorporation of several Arabic words into Swahili, which became a useful lingua franca for merchants. Swahili (called Kiswahili in the language itself is the First language of the Swahili people (Waswahili who inhabit several large stretches A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely Some of this because of the slave trade; the history of Islam and slavery shows that the major juristic schools traditionally accepted the institution of slavery. The major juristic schools of Islam traditionally accepted the institution of Slavery. Madhhab or Mazhab ( Arabic مذهب mæðhæb pl مذاهب mæðæːhıb) is an Islamic school of thought, or As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another [23] As a result, Arab influence spread along the east coast of Africa and to some extent into the interior (see East Africa). East Africa is the Easternmost Region of the African Continent. Timbuktu was a trading outpost that linked west Africa with Berber, Arab, and Jewish traders throughout the Arab World. Timbuktu ( Timbuctoo; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; French: Tombouctou) is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. As a result of these interactions many Arab people in the Middle East have black ancestry and many blacks on the east coast of Africa and along the Sahara have Arab ancestry. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. [24]
According to Dr. Carlos Moore, resident scholar at Brazil's Universidade do Estado da Bahia, Afro-multiracials in the Arab world self-identify in ways that resemble Latin America. He claims that black-looking Arabs, much like black-looking Latin Americans, consider themselves white because they have some distant white ancestry. [25]
Moore also claims that a film about Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had to be canceled when Sadat discovered that an African-American had been cast to play him. The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the elected Head of State of Egypt. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa In fact, the 1983 television movie Sadat, starring Louis Gossett, Jr., was not canceled. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr (born May 27 1936) is an American Emmy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award winning Actor The Egyptian government refused to let the drama air in Egypt, partially on the grounds of the casting of Gossett. [26] The objections, however, did not come from Sadat, who had been assassinated two years earlier.
Sadat's mother was a black Sudanese woman and his father was a lighter-skinned Egyptian. Sudan (officially the Republic of Sudan) ( السودان al-Sūdān is a country in northeastern Africa. This article is about the contemporary North African ethnic group In response to an advertisement for an acting position he remarked, "I am not white but I am not exactly black either. My blackness is tending to reddish". [27]
Fathia Nkrumah was another Egyptian intimately tied with black Africa. Fathia Nkrumah (1932-2007 born Fathia Rizk; Arabic: فتحية رزق was the Egyptian wife of Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of She was the late wife of Ghanaian revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah, whose marriage was seen as helping plant the seeds of cooperation between Egypt and other African countries as they struggled for independence from European colonization, which in turn helped advance the formation of the African Union. The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the Kwame Nkrumah ( September 21, 1909 - April 27, 1972) was an influential 20th century advocate of Pan-Africanism, and the leader of The African Union (abbreviated AU in English, and UA in its other working languages is a Confederation consisting of 53  African [28]
In general, Arab had a more positive view of black women than black men, even if the women were of slave origin. More black women were enslaved than men, and, because the Qur'an was interpreted to permit sexual relations between a male master and his female slave outside of marriage,[29][30] many mixed race children resulted. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran In Islamic Divine law, Ma malakat aymanukum is the term for slaves which may be captives of war The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from different races. When an enslaved woman became pregnant with her Arab captor's child, she became “umm walad” or “mother of a child”, a status that granted her privileged rights. The child would have prospered from the wealth of the father and been given rights of inheritance. [31] Because of patrilineality, the children were born free and sometimes even became successors to their ruling fathers, as was the case with Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur, (whose mother was a Fulani concubine), who ruled Morocco from 1578-1608. Patrilineality (aka agnatic kinship) is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage it generally involves the Inheritance of property names or titles Ahmad I al-Mansur (أحمد المنصور السعدي (also Ahmed el-Mansour and El-Mansour Eddahbi (the Golden (أحمد المنصور الذهبي was Sultan The Fula or Fulbe or Fulani (the latter being an Anglicisation of the word in their language Fulɓe) are an ethnic group of Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa Such tolerance, however, was not extended to wholly black persons, even when technically "free," and the notion that to be black meant to be a slave became a common belief. [32] The term "abd," (Arabic: عبد,) "slave," remains a common term for black people in the Middle East, often though not always derogatory. Abd (عبد is an Arabic word meaning one who is totally subordinated a Slave. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language [33]
Approximately 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade from 1492 to 1888. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America The Atlantic Slave trade, also known as the transatlantic slave trade, was the trade of African people supplied to the Colonies of the New World Today their descendants number approximately 150 million. [34] Many have a multiracial background of African, Amerindian, European and Asian ancestry. The various regions developed complex social conventions with which their multi-ethnic populations were classified.
In the first 200 years that blacks had been in the United States, they commonly referred to themselves as Africans. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Africans immigrants, in the scope of this article are recent immigrants to the United States from the continent of Africa and their descendants The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In Africa, people primarily identified themselves by tribe or ethnic group (closely allied to language) and not by skin color. Individuals would be Asante, Yoruba, Kikongo or Wolof. Kikongo or Kongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic But when Africans were brought to the Americas they were forced to give up their tribal affiliations for fear of uprisings. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America The result was the Africans had to intermingle with other Africans from different tribal groups. This is significant as Africans came from a vast geographic region, the West African coastline stretching from Senegal to Angola and in some cases from the south east coast such as Mozambique. West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (República de Angola Pronounced ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈgɔlɐ Repubilika ya Ngola is a country in south-central Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique (Moçambique or República de Moçambique, ʁɛ'publikɐ d musɐ̃'bik is a country in southeastern Africa A new identity and culture was born that incorporated elements of the various tribal groups and of European cultural heritage, resulting in fusions such as the Black church and Black English. The term black church or African American church refers to predominantly African-American Christian churches that minister to predominantly black congregations African American Vernacular English ( AAVE) – also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, This new identity was now based on skin color and African ancestry rather than any one tribal group. [15]
In March of 1807, Britain, which largely controlled the Atlantic, declared the trans-atlantic slave trade illegal, as did the United States. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 See also Atlantic slave trade, Abolitionism The Slave Trade Act (citation 47 Geo III Sess (The latter prohibition took effect January 1, 1808, the earliest date on which Congress had the power to do so under Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1808 ( MDCCCVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme Law of the United States. )
By that time, the majority of blacks were U. S. -born, so use of the term "African" became problematic. Though initially a source of pride, many blacks feared its continued use would be a hindrance to their fight for full citizenship in the US. They also felt that it would give ammunition to those who were advocating repatriating blacks back to Africa. In 1835 black leaders called upon black Americans to remove the title of "African" from their institutions and replace it with "Negro" or "Colored American". Negro is a term referring to people of Black African ancestry A few institutions however elected to keep their historical names such as African Methodist Episcopal Church. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the " AME Church " is a Christian denomination founded by Bishop Richard Allen in Philadelphia "Negro" and "colored" remained the popular terms until the late 1960s. [35]
The term black was used throughout but not frequently as it carried a certain stigma. In his 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech,[36] Martin Luther King, Jr. uses the terms Negro 15 times and black 4 times. " I Have A Dream " is the popular name given to the historic public speech by Martin Luther King Jr Martin Luther King Jr ( January 15, 1929 April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, Activist and prominent leader Each time he uses black it is in parallel construction with white (e. g. , black men and white men). [37] With the successes of the civil rights movement a new term was needed to break from the past and help shed the reminders of legalized discrimination. The American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968 refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racial discrimination against African In place of Negro, black was promoted as standing for racial pride, militancy and power. Some of the turning points included the use of the term "Black Power" by Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael) and the release of James Brown's song "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". Black Power is a racially based Political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies Stokely Standiford Churchill Carmichael ( June 29, 1941 November 15, 1998) also known as Kwame Ture, was a Trinidadian " Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud " is a Funk song written and recorded by James Brown in 1968
In 1988 Jesse Jackson urged Americans to use the term African American because the term has a historical cultural base. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr (born October 8 1941 is an American Civil rights activist and Baptist minister. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa Since then African American and black have essentially a coequal status. There is still much controversy over which term is more appropriate. Some strongly reject the term African American in preference for black citing that they have little connection with Africa. Others believe the term black is inaccurate because African Americans have a variety of skin tones. [38] Surveys show that when interacting with each other African Americans prefer the term black, as it is associated with intimacy and familiarity. The term "African American" is preferred for public and formal use. [39] The appropriateness of this term is further confused, however, by increases in black immigrants from Africa the Caribbean and Latin America. Africans immigrants, in the scope of this article are recent immigrants to the United States from the continent of Africa and their descendants The more recent immigrants, may sometimes view themselves, and be viewed, as culturally distinct from native descendants of African slaves. [40]
The U.S. census race definitions says a black is a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am. , or Negro," or who provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian. The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north Somalia to the northeast Tanzania to the south Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal However, the Census Bureau notes that these classifications are socio-political constructs and should not be interpreted as scientific or anthropological. The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census [41]
A considerable portion of the U.S. population identified as black actually have some Native American or European American ancestry. The United States is an urbanized nation with 808 percent of its population of 305186613 residing in cities and suburbs as of mid-year 2005 For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. A European American (Euro-American is a person who resides in the United States and is either from Europe or is the descendant of European immigrants For instance, genetic studies of African American people show an ancestry that is on average 17-18% European. [42]
Historically the United States used a colloquial term, the one drop rule, to designate a black as any person with any known African ancestry. A colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or Paralinguistics. The one-drop rule is a historical colloquial term in the United States that holds that a person with any trace of African ancestry is considered black unless [43] The one drop rule was virtually unique to the United States and was applied almost exclusively to blacks. Outside of the US, definitions of who is black vary from country to country but generally, multiracial people are not required by society to identify themselves as black (cf. mulatto and related terms). Mulatto is a term used to describe a person with one white parent and one black parent or a person whose Ancestry is a mixture of black and white The most significant consequence of the one drop rule was that many African Americans who had significant European ancestry, whose appearance was very European, would identify themselves as black.
The one drop rule may have originated as a means of increasing the number of black slaves[44] and been maintained as an attempt to keep the white race pure,[45] but one of its unintended consequences was uniting the African American community and preserving an African identity. Unintended consequences are outcomes that are not (or not limited to what the actor intended in a particular situation [43] Some of the most prominent civil rights activists were multiracial but yet stood up for equality for all. It is said that W.E.B. Du Bois could have easily passed for white yet he became the preeminent scholar in Afro-American studies. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (duːˈbɔɪz ( February 23, 1868 August 27, 1963) was an American Civil rights activist [46] He chose to spend his final years in Africa and immigrated to Ghana where he died aged 95. The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast to the west Burkina Faso to the north Togo to the Booker T. Washington had a white father,[47] and Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan both had at least one white grandparent. Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5 1856 &ndash November 14 1915 was an American educator orator author and leader of the African-American community Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little; May 19 1925 February 21 1965 also known as El-Hajj Malik El- Shabazz, was an African American Louis Farrakhan (born Louis Eugene Walcott, May 11, 1933) is the Supreme Minister of the Nation of Islam as the National Representative That said, colorism, or intraracial discrimination based on skin tone, does affect the black community. Colorism is a form of Discrimination in which human beings are accorded differing social and treatment based on skin color It is a sensitive issue or a taboo subject. Open discussions are often labeled as "airing dirty laundry". [48][49]
Many people in the United States are rejecting the one drop rule and are questioning whether a person with one black parent should be considered black or biracial. The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from different races. Although politician Barack Obama self-identifies as black, 55 percent of whites and 61 percent of Hispanics classified him as biracial instead of black after being told that his mother is white. Blacks were less likely to acknowledge a multiracial category, with 66% labeling Obama as black. [50] Forty-two percent of African-Americans described Tiger Woods as black, as did 7% of white Americans. Background and family Woods was born in Cypress, California to Earl (1932-2006 and Kultida (Tida Woods [51]
The concept of blackness in the United States has been described as the degree to which one associates themselves with mainstream African American culture and values. Blackness is the degree to which an individual regardless of their ethnic background is sympathetic to or a part of the mainstream African-American culture African American culture in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of African ethnic groups to the culture of the United States either as part of or distinct from This concept is not so much about skin color or tone but more about culture and behavior. Spike Lee may be considered authentically black by some for his contribution to black consciousness through film. Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20 1957 is an Emmy Award -winning and Academy Award -nominated American Film director, Muhammad Ali may also be considered authentically black as a global symbol of the black identity. Biography Early life Cassius Clay Jr was born on January 17 1942
Blackness can be contrasted with "acting white" in which black individuals are said to behave more like mainstream white Americans than fellow blacks. Acting white, from an Epithet applied to Black people, and also within ethnic groups such as Asians and Native Americans and sometimes culturally This includes choice in fashion, the way one speaks or listening to stereotypically white music. [52]
The notion of blackness can also be extended to non-blacks. Toni Morrison once described Bill Clinton as the first black president. Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford on February 18 1931 is a Nobel Prize -winning American author editor and professor William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States [53] This was because of his warm relations with African Americans, his poor upbringing and also because he is a jazz musician. Christopher Hitchens was offended by the notion of Clinton as the first black president noting "we can still define blackness by the following symptoms: alcoholic mothers, under-the-bridge habits. Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949) is a British Author, Journalist, Literary critic and American . . the tendency to sexual predation and shameless perjury about the same"[54] Some black activists were also offended, claiming Clinton used his knowledge of black culture to exploit blacks like no other president ever has[55] for political gain, while not serving black interests. They note his lack of action during the Rwanda genocide,[56] his welfare reform which led to the worst child poverty since the 1960s[57] along with the fact that number of blacks in jail increased during his administration. The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda 's minority Tutsis and the moderates of its Hutu majority Welfare reform is a movement for policy change in countries with a state-administered social welfare systems Child poverty concerns poverty of people under the age of 18 Causes Government corruption. [58]
The question of blackness arose in the early stages of Barack Obama's campaign for the 2008 presidential campaign. The United States presidential election of 2008, scheduled for Tuesday November 4 2008 will be the 56th consecutive Some have questioned whether Obama, who is likely to be the first black presidential candidate of a major American political party, is black enough, since his mother is white American and his father is a Kenyan immigrant. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Obama refers to himself as black and African American using both terms interchangeably. [59] Polls at the start of the campaign showed Hillary Clinton to be more popular amongst black voters than Obama. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26 1947 is the junior United States Senator from On the other hand, much of Obama's support is derived from white liberals. [60][61][62] By early 2008 however, Obama's support in the black community began surging, with polls showing him leading Clinton by 50 points among black men. Even among black women (once Clinton's most loyal constituency), polls show Obama leading Clinton by 11 points. [63] Ultimately Obama would go on to capature about 90% of the black vote against Hillary Clinton. [64] Illinois state senate president Emil Jones expressed anger when Bill Clinton disparaged Obama, noting that it was black people who saved Bill Clinton's presidency during impeachment. The Clintons owe the African American community, he argued, not the reverse, and suggested that perhaps to return the favour, the Clintons should support Obama. [65]
Unlike in the United States, race in Brazil is based on skin color and physical appearance rather than ancestry. A Brazilian child was never automatically identified with the racial type of one or both parents, nor were there only two categories to choose from. Between a pure black and a very light mulatto over a dozen racial categories would be recognized in conformity with the combinations of hair color, hair texture, eye color, and skin color. These types grade into each other like the colors of the spectrum, and no one category stands significantly isolated from the rest. That is, race referred to appearance, not heredity. [66]
There is some disagreement among scholars over the effects of social status on racial classifications in Brazil. It is generally believed that upward mobility and education results in reclassification of individuals into lighter skinned categories. The popular claim is that in Brazil poor whites are considered black and wealthy blacks are considered white. Some scholars disagree arguing that whitening of one's social status may be open to people of mixed race, but a typically black person will consistently be identified as black regardless of wealth or social status. [67][68]
| Year | White | Brown | Black |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1835 | 24. Notions of race based on Human genetic variation have replaced historical approaches such as Craniology with the advent of Human genetics in 4% | 18. 2% | 51. 4% |
| 2000 | 53. 7% | 38. 5% | 6. 2% |
From the year 1500 to 1850 an estimated 3. 5 million Africans were forcibly shipped to Brazil. [67] An estimated 80 million Brazilians, almost half the population, are at least in part descendants of these Africans. Brazil has the largest population of Afro-descendants outside of Africa. In contrast to the US there were no segregation or anti-miscegenation laws in Brazil and as a result intermarriage has affected a large majority of the Brazilian population. Miscegenation (Latin miscere "to mix" + genus "kind" is the mixing of different racial groups, that is marrying, cohabiting Even much of the white population has either African or Amerindian blood. According to the last census 54% identified themselves as white, 6. 2% identified themselves as black and 39. 5% identified themselves as Pardo (brown)- a broad multiracial category. In Brazil, the Pardos are a mixture of Whites Blacks and Amerindians, varying from light to dark complexion as used by the Brazilian Institute [69]
A philosophy of whitening emerged in Brazil in the 19th century. Until recently the government did not keep data on race. However, statisticians estimate that in 1835 half the population was black, one fifth was Pardo (brown) and one fourth white. By 2000 the black population had fallen to only 6. 2% and the Pardo had increased to 40% and white to 55%. Essentially most of the black population was absorbed into the multiracial category by intermarriage. [66] A recent study found that at least 29% of the middle class white Brazilian population had some recent African ancestry. [70]
Because of the ideology of miscegenation, Brazil has avoided the polarization of Society into black and white. The bitter and sometimes violent racial tensions that divide the US are notably absent in Brazil. However the philosophy of the racial democracy in Brazil has drawn criticism from some quarters. Brazil has one of the largest gaps in income distribution in the world. The richest 10% of the population earn 28 times the average income of the bottom 40%. The richest 10 percent is almost exclusively white. One-third of the population lives under the poverty line of which blacks and other non-whites account for 70 percent of the poor. [71]
In the US blacks earn 75% of what whites earn, in Brazil non-whites earn less than 50% of what whites earn. Some have posited that Brazil does in fact practice the one drop rule when social economic factors are considered. This because the gap income between blacks and other non-whites is relatively small compared with the large gap between whites and non-whites. Other factors such as illiteracy and education level show the same patterns. [72] Unlike in the US where African Americans were united in the civil rights struggle, in Brazil the philosophy of whitening has helped divide blacks from other non-whites and prevented a more active civil rights movement.
Though Afro-Brazilians make up half the population there are very few black politicians. The city of Salvador, Bahia for instance is 80% Afro-Brazilian but has never had a black mayor. Salvador (historic name São Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos, in English "Holy Savior of All Saints' Bay" is a City on the northeast coast of Critics indicate that in US cities like Detroit and New Orleans that have a black majority, have never had white mayors since first electing black mayors in the 1970s. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana [73]
Non-white people also have limited media visibility. The Latin American media, in particular the Brazilian media, has been accused of hiding its black and indigenous population. For example the telenovelas or soaps are said to be a hotbed of white, largely blonde and blue/green-eyed actors who resemble Scandinavians or other northern Europeans more than they resemble the typical whites of Brazil, who are mostly of Southern European descent. A telenovela is a limited-run Television serial Melodrama of the type made famous in Latin America. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well The term Southern Europe can have four definitions geographical political climatic phytogeographic [74][75][76]
These patterns of discrimination against non-whites have led some to advocate for the use of the Portuguese term 'negro' to encompass non-whites so as to renew a black consciousness and identity, in effect an African descent rule. [77]
There are several groups of dark-skinned people who live in various parts of Asia, Australia and Oceania. Melanesia (from Greek: μέλας black, νῆσος island) means "islands of the black-skinned people" Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu ( French: République de Vanuatu, Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu) is an Island For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. They include the Indigenous Australians, the Melanesians (now divided into Austronesian-speaking populations and Papuans, and including the great genetic diversity of New Guinea), the Andamanese people of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, the Semang people of the Malay peninsula, the Aeta people of Luzon, the Ati of Panay, and various indigenous peoples sometimes collectively known as Negritos. Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. Melanesia (from Greek: μέλας black, νῆσος island) means "islands of the black-skinned people" New Guinea, located just north of Australia, is the world's second largest island, having become separated from the Australian mainland when the area now known The Andamanese is a collective term to describe the peoples who are the aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, located in the Bay of Bengal The Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a Union territory of India. Informally the territory's name is often abbreviated to A & N Islands, or ANI India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Semang are a Negrito ethnic group of the Malay Peninsula. The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula (Semenanjung Tanah Melayu (คาบสมุทรมลายู is a major Peninsula located in Southeast The Aeta (pronounced as “eye-ta” Agta or Ayta are an Indigenous people who live in scattered isolated mountainous parts of Luzon, Luzon is the largest and most economically and politically important Island in the Philippines and one of the three island groups in the country with Visayas The Ati is a Negrito ethnic group in Panay, which is located in the Visayas (Islands of Panay Negros and Guimaras the central portion of the Panay is an Island in the Philippines located in the Visayas. The term Negrito refers to several ethnic groups in isolated parts of Southeast Asia.
By their external physical appearance (phenotype) such people resemble Africans with dark skin and sometimes tightly coiled hair. A phenotype is any observable characteristic of an Organism, such as its morphology, Development, biochemical or physiological properties Genetically they are distant from Africans and are more closely related to the surrounding Asian populations in the same way that Africans are more closely linked genetically to Europeans despite differences in skin colour. [79]
The Black War refers to a period of conflict between the British colonists and Tasmanian Aborigines in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in the early years of the 1800s. The Black War refers to a period of conflict between the British colonists and Tasmanian Aborigines in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands The Tasmanian Aborigines ( Aboriginal name Palawa) are the indigenous people of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Van Diemen's Land was the original name used by Europeans for the island of Tasmania, now part of Australia. Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name It is located south of the eastern side of the Continent, being separated from it by Bass
The Australian Aboriginal Flag was designed by Harold Thomas, an artist and an Aboriginal, in 1971. The Australian Aboriginal flag was originally designed as a protest Flag for the land rights movement of Indigenous Australians but has since become a symbol Harold Joseph Thomas (born c 1947) is an Indigenous Australian descended from the Luritja people of Central Australia. The flag was designed to be an eye-catching rallying symbol for the Aboriginal people and a symbol of their race and identity. The black represents the Aboriginal people, the red the earth and their spiritual relationship to the land, and the yellow the sun, the giver of life.
For many centuries throughout the Age of Discovery and the colonial empires, black people came from the colonies to the "mother country", either voluntarily (sometimes for education) or under duress (sometimes as slaves). Euro-Africans or African Europeans are people with African ancestry racial cultural and social heritage born in or citizens of a European country The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans explored See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism Even prior to that, the Arab slave trade brought large numbers of Africans to the furthest reaches of Europe; for example, Peter the Great took as a protégé Abram Petrovich Gannibal, whose descendants number poet Alexandr Pushkin and Hugh Grosvenor, heir apparent to Britain's wealthiest aristocrat. The Arab Slave trade was the practice of Slavery in West Asia, North Africa, East Africa, and certain parts of Europe (such Major-General Abram Petrovich Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal or Ibrahim Hannibal or Abram Petrov, (1696 &ndash 14 May Hugh Richard Louis Grosvenor Earl Grosvenor (born 29 January 1991) is the third of four children and the only son of the 6th Duke of Westminster, An heir apparent is an Heir who (short of a fundamental change in the situation cannot be displaced from inheriting the term is used in contrast to Heir presumptive Major-General Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor 6th Duke of Westminster, KG, CB, OBE, TD, DL (born 22 December 1951 [80] Most of the black people living in Europe, however, have their origins in relatively recent waves of immigration. Since the decolonisation of the mid-twentieth century, substantial black populations have moved to certain countries in Europe; other European countries have very few black people. At present, black people have limited visibility in mainstream European society, except in a handful of roles such as sporting activities.
See also: British African-Caribbean community and Black British
According to National Statistics, as of the 2001 census, there are over a million black people in the United Kingdom; 1% of the total population describe themselves as "Black Caribbean", 0. Naomi Campbell (born 22 May 1970 is an English model, Singer, Author, Actress, and Fashion designer. The British African Caribbean community are residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background and whose ancestors were indigenous to Africa See also British African-Caribbean community, Caribbean British Black British is a term which has had different meanings and uses as a racial and political The Office for National Statistics (ONS is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located 8% as "Black African", and 0. 2% as "Black other". [81] The largest single number comes from Nigeria, just over 88 000[82]. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Britain encouraged workers from the Caribbean after World War II; the first symbolic movement was those who came on the ship the Empire Windrush. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Empire Windrush was a Ship that is an important part of the history of Multiracialism in the United Kingdom. The preferred official umbrella term is "black and minority ethnic" (BME), but sometimes the term "black" is used on its own, to express unified opposition to racism, as in the Southall Black Sisters, which started with a mainly British Asian constituency. An umbrella term is a word that provides a Superset or grouping of related concepts also called a Hypernym. Southall Black Sisters is a non-profit organisation based in Southall, West London UK British Asians are British citizens who are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Black Britons tend to live in the cities, whereas the white population is moving more to suburbs and the countryside (see white flight). White flight is a term for the demographic trend in which working and Middle-class White people move away from Suburbs
As African states became independent in the 1960s, the Soviet Union offered them the chance to study in Russia; over 40 years, 400,000 African students came, and many settled there. Decolonization refers to the undoing of Colonialism, the establishment of governance or authority through the creation of settlements by another country or jurisdiction The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 [83][84] This extended beyond the Soviet Union to many countries of the Eastern bloc. During the Cold War, the term Communist Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and countries it either controlled or that were
A cultural classification of people as "black" exists in Russia. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Certain groups of people who are ethnically different, and generally darker, than ethnic urbanite Russians (since many Russians from the countryside can be dark) are pejoratively referred to as "blacks" (chernye), and face specific sorts of social exclusion (see Racism in Russia). The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries Social Exclusion has no agreed to defined or specific single application though one suggested definition is as follows Social exclusion is a multidimensional process Racism in Russia during the 2000s appears in the form of negative attitudes and actions towards people who are not considered ethnically Russian. Roma, Georgians, and Tatars fall into this category. The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Tatars ( Tatar: Tatarlar/Татарлар sometimes spelled Tartars, are a Turkic -speaking ethnic group or multiple ethnic groups [85] Those referred to as "black" are from the former Soviet republics, predominantly peoples of the Caucasus, e. The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent nations that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics This article deals with the various Ethnic groups inhabiting the Caucasus region g. Chechens. Chechens ( Chechen: Hохчи / Noxçi) constitute the largest native Ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region [86] Although "Caucasian" is used in American English to mean "white people", in Russian – and most other varieties of English – it only refers to the Caucasus, not European people in general. Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages This is a list of varieties of the English language. Dialects are linguistic varieties which differ in Pronunciation, Vocabulary and The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East
A controversy over the skin color and ethnic origins of the ancient Egyptians was sparked as part of the Afrocentric debate. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now Afrocentrism or Afrocentricity is a World view that emphasizes the importance of African people in culture philosophy and history [88] Afrocentrist scholars such as Cheikh Anta Diop contend that ancient Egypt was primarily a "black civilization". Afrocentrism or Afrocentricity is a World view that emphasizes the importance of African people in culture philosophy and history Cheikh Anta Diop ( 29 December, 1923 &ndash 7 February, 1986) was a Senegalese Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now One source cited in support of their argument is Herodotus, who wrote around 450 B. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash C. that "Colchians, Ethiopians and Egyptians have thick lips, broad nose, woolly hair and they are burnt of skin. "[89] However, Classical scholar Frank Snowden, Jr. cautions against the reliance on accounts by ancient writers to describe the physical characteristics of other ancient peoples, as they held different connotations from those of modern-day terminology in the West. Frank M Snowden Jr ( July 17, 1911 &ndash February 18, 2007) was an American Professor Emeritus of Classics at He also points out that other ancient writers clearly distinguished between Egyptians and Ethiopians. [90]
Keita and Boyce confront this issue in a 1996 article entitled, "The Geographical Origins and Population Relationships of Early Ancient Egyptians". As anthropologists, they point out the danger in relying on ancient interpretation to reveal for us the biological make up of a population. In any case they contend, the relevant data indicates greater similarity between Egyptians and Ethiopians than the former group with the ancient Greeks. [91]
Ancient Egyptians are often portrayed in modern media as Caucasians, and many blacks, Afrocentrists in particular, have been critical of this. [92] According to Egyptologists, ancient Egypt was a multicultural society of Middle Eastern, Northeast African, and Saharan influences. Egyptology (from Egypt and Greek grc -λογία -logia. علم المصريات مصر شناسی is a major field of Archaeology [88][93] Anthropological and archaeological evidence shows that an Africoid element was evident in ancient Egypt,[94] which was predominant in Abydos in the First dynasty of Egypt. Africoid peoples are human populations of varying phenotypes who are considered black regardless of recent African ancestry Abydos ( Egyptian Abdju, 3bdw, Arabic: أبيدوس Greek Αβυδος one of the most ancient cities of The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the second dynasty under the group title Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. [95][96]
According to some historians, the tale in Genesis 9 in which Noah cursed the descendants of his son Ham with servitude was a seminal moment in defining black people, as the story was passed on through generations of Jewish, Christian and Islamic scholars. Hamitic is an obsolete ethno-linguistic classification of some Ethnic groups within the Afro-Asiatic (previously termed "Hamito-Semitic" language family The Curse of Ham (also called the curse of Canaan) refers to the curse that Ham 's father Noah placed upon Ham's son Canaan, after Ham "saw [97] According to columnist Felicia R. Lee, "Ham came to be widely portrayed as black; blackness, servitude and the idea of racial hierarchy became inextricably linked. " Some people believe that the tradition of dividing humankind into three major races is partly rooted in tales of Noah's three sons repopulating the Earth after the Deluge and giving rise to three separate races. The story of a Great Flood (also known as the Deluge) sent by a Deity or deities to destroy Civilization as an act of Divine retribution is a [98]
The biblical passage, Book of Genesis 9:20-27, which deals with the sons of Noah, however, makes no reference to race. The Table of Nations or Sons of Noah is an extensive list of descendants of Noah appearing within the Torah at Genesis 10 representing The reputed curse of Ham is not on Ham, but on Canaan, one of Ham's sons. The Curse of Ham (also called the curse of Canaan) refers to the curse that Ham 's father Noah placed upon Ham's son Canaan, after Ham "saw The Table of Nations or Sons of Noah is an extensive list of descendants of Noah appearing within the Torah at Genesis 10 representing Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. This is not a racial but geographic referent. The Canaanites, typically associated with the region of the Levant (Palestine, Lebanon, etc) were later subjugated by the Hebrews when they left bondage in Egypt according to the Biblical narrative. [99][100] The alleged inferiority of Hamitic descendants also is not supported by the Biblical narrative, nor claims of three races in relation to Noah's sons. Shem for example seems a linguistic not racial referent. In short the Bible does not define blacks, nor assign them to racial hierarchies. [100]
Historians believe that by the 19th century, the belief that blacks were descended from Ham was used by southern United States whites to justify slavery. [101] According to Benjamin Braude, a professor of history at Boston College:
in 18th- and 19th century Euro-America, Genesis 9:18-27 became the curse of Ham, a foundation myth for collective degradation, conventionally trotted out as God's reason for condemning generations of dark-skinned peoples from Africa to slavery. [101]
Author David M. Goldenberg contends that the Bible is not a racist document. According to Goldenberg, such racist interpretations came from post-biblical writers of antiquity like Philo and Origen, who equated blackness with darkness of the soul. List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Philo (20 BC - 50 AD) known also as Philo of Alexandria (gr Φίλων ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca [102]