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The Myth of Black Self-Destruction

Five hundred years after a European orchestrated criminal enterprise dragged the first Africans from their homes and subjected them to enslavement in service to Europeans, African people the world over, continue to find themselves in circumstances of decadence, destitution and despair. Despite the freedom struggles, the claims of emancipation and independence, African people are still at the mercy of their exploiters. As it were, the relationship of slavery remains intact.

In light of this, Dr. Na=im Akbar, a preeminent clinical psychologist asks, AGiven all the odds; given the almost impossible circumstances which we have faced; given these barriers which would have devastated any other human breed a long time ago - the simple question is: Why are we still here anyway?@ I interpret this to mean that, in light of our incomparable strength, why are black people still trapped in the destitution and darkness to which slavery and colonialism relegated us?

Among the unflattering answers to this question, it has been proposed that Black people are like crabs in a barrel, they pull each other down. That blacks are an accursed people, divinely destined to be the servants of others. That black people do not have the capacity for intelligence to be entrusted with their own destiny or an intelligence which could support their development comparable to other groups. That the black man is his own worst enemy.

While there are incidents and circumstances which tend to lend credence to these fatalistic characterizations of black people, there is overwhelming evidence of incidents, circumstances and people who have unequivocally illustrated the fallacy of these characterizations. In particular, the historical record is replete with examples of black men and women whose courage, accomplishments and intellectual brilliance, against incredible odds, have advanced the development of black people, totally shattering the myth of black inferiority, and dispelling the misconceptions that black people are inherently prone to self destruction.

In effect, the claim and evidence of black people=s propensity for self-destruction sharply contradict the evidence of black people=s record of self development. So what accounts for this contradiction? James Baldwin thought that it was not so much a matter of a contradiction, but a case of mistaken Aidentity@. Baldwin wrote, AYou cannot tell that a man is black by the colour of his skin@. So while it has been a common practice to identify blackness by the physical characteristics of a phenotype, Baldwin proposes that there was more to being black, more to the identity of black people, than skin colour or the characteristics racial categorization. So what was the identity of the character that was mistaken for the black man?

Incidentally, the invading Europeans applied the name Negro to represent their own perception and characterization of African people - a dim witted subhuman savage, created to be in the white man=s service and the object of the white man=s contempt. Subsequently, the experience of slavery and colonialism usurped the black man=s natural tendency towards self definition and self preservation. Soon, the black man, the African, began to think that Negro was his true identity. He thereby conducted himself in a way which validated the white man=s characterization. Therefore, the Negro remained a figment of the white man=s imagination until African people internalized Eurocentric values, beliefs and concepts and began to view the world and themselves through the eyes of Europeans. It is with this understanding that Frantz Fanon wrote, AIt is the white man who creates the Negro. But it is Negro who creates negritude.@ It is unfortunate, but up until now, the most significant and enduring accomplishment of colonialism is the degree of success it earned in transforming Africans into Negroes. It is the Negro who is so often mistakenly identified as a black man.

It is well established that the psyche, (spirit, mentality, consciousness), is an indispensable element of one=s identity. Black consciousness means the black man=s awareness and recognition of the completeness of his humanity despite the white man=s efforts to convince him that he is a Negro, a being less than human. The black man sees himself as a creation of the Divine Power, and is aware that the authority for the affirmation of his humanity lies in the knowledge of the history and culture of Africa. His identity is grounded in his African origins. He is committed to the redemption of Africa and Africans because he understands this as the answer to his predicament and the abatement of the adverse circumstances which confront him. He evaluates himself in the context of his African origins rather than in the context of a history beginning with the enslavement of African people.

Although the Negro and the black man share characteristics of physical appearance based on a common genetic ancestry, they have separate identities because of differing psyche (mental and psychological consciousness). That is, the substance of the mentality and the state of their consciousness make them more different, than their skin colour or racial classification makes them similar. It is for this reason and on this basis that we need to make the distinction.

What may appear to be the destruction of the black community, orchestrated from within, is actually the handiwork of the self-alienating Negro. Those who would frustrate or sabotage the liberation of Africans, are not guided by an African psyche. To the European (white man), the perpetual subjugation of Africans is necessary for the maintenance of white dominance and supremacy. The Negro has become the white man=s most useful instrument in this endeavor. As Steve Biko puts it, AThe white man=s most powerful weapon is the mind of the black man in the hands of the white man.@ The Negro, in complete obedience and loyalty to his creator, will discredit, denounce or destroy anything that is African. Very often masquerading as representing the interest of black people, he works tirelessly to secure the acceptance and approval of his master. In the interest of protecting the black man=s reputation, it is imperative to make the distinction between the black man and the Negro. In the absence of a way of making this distinction, one can observe the behaviour and mannerisms of the Negroes, and attribute them to black people.