Do you ever feel like you have no history?

Question

I mean, this is from a black perspective here, but I was just wondering about that. It's like there's virtually nothing in the textbooks about black people outside of slavery and the civil rights movement. Even with world history, the only thing we learned about was Europe and Asia. It's probably just that it was a crappy school I went to lol.

But I notice it in other things. It's just like--"you have no history. You come from nothing, you were never anything, and the only thing that anyone who looks like you has ever done in history is be a slave and fight for equality. Nothing good comes from Africa." I even asked my history teacher about it and he just said "nothing was going on there." Even now the only thing you ever see about Africa is war, poverty and starvation. These are all things we should be concerned about, but there ARE cities there. High rise buildings, businesses, etc. But how come we never see THAT on TV? Outside of South Africa, I mean...?

Do you think that if the history of African Civilizations was taught along with the other stuff from Europe, Asia, India, and Egypt, black people (in the US) would have more self-awareness? Would it assuage the feeling of inherent failure and uselessness if we recognized our place in history and saw that despite popular opinion, we really ARE capable of creating, organizing and leading our own societies?

What do you think?

Answer 1

lol i feel that way all the time!

Answer 2

First, you do have a history.  I am sure I can't answer this fully, being white, but I'll try.

Every race and culture has a history.  Just because it isn't all taught in schools doesn't mean it isn't there.  They don't have time to teach everything, and so they choose the things they fell are relevant.  Salvery is a great example because it shaped so much of the modern world and we are still fighting off the mess that it made for everyone concerned, black and white.  Anything that led to world wars or economic boom/bust is another, and because most of Africa was controlled by Europe for much of recent history, this gets lumped in, but it is a whitized, economic history which doesn't explain much about anything cultural.

The fact is that white folks, apart from very recent history, have contributed little for the good of the world.  I'm not trying to play down my own race or anything, I think it's a bit weird to portray any race as having contributed more than another, we shouldn't isolate ourselves from eachother that way, but again this is a throwback to the unequal system we have built for ourselves, another story.  The Chinese invented so many of the things like gunpowder, food canning, steel, fireworks, I could go on for ages!  The middle east and egypt were once the centre of the developed world.  They were practicing medicine and had egalitarian societies while europeans were still hucking rocks at each other.  Diplomacy between African tribes was very advanced, methods of irrigation, even conservation centuries ahead of europe.  

The history is there if you want to find it.  I find your teacher's attitude a bit disturbing- there wasn't much going on there indeed!  But don't think of it in terms of 'my history.'  The history of Africa and black people is everyone's history.  

Answer 3

Yes, I felt this way many times as a child, and it's one of the reasons why I've made it my lifelong avocation to research the history of Black people beyond that of the legacy of slavery in the southern US. Bottom line: If we wait for someone else to tell us "our" history, we'll be waiting forever. We must take the initiative and get out there and find the information for ourselves...and then share with our families and others in our communities.

Although I have more than 50 credits of university level history courses under my belt, I've been something of an amateur historian/genealogist since the age of 16.  I've found the quest for answers at times frustrating, but at other times very rewarding. There is so much "hidden history" out there just waiting to be discovered both in real time in our libraries and historical societies and post-secondary history books and college courses, as well as online, and it's just a matter of MAKING the time to get out there, learn it, absorb it, share it.  In my case, I do that through my original music and poetry. Others have different ways such as becoming museum volunteers, going to historic re-enactments or writing non-fiction articles and books.

Anyway,  I would suggest starting off by going to any search engine and then taking the words Black, African American and adding whatever it is that interests you...and see what comes up.  For example, I had an interest in the history of Black people living West of the Mississipi River, this includes cowboys, pioneers, entertainers, forestry workers, surfers, etc...so I punch in those terms and have learned a great deal. In the past two years, I've made a mini-documentary and wrote a song about black surfers, and I also wrote a spoken word poem about the black people who helped settle the American West. I've used the in gigs, poetry slams, and other special events. It's called The Pioneers Of Color...and I hope it inspires people of all nationalities to seek their out their history and learn more about cultural heritage.

Answer 4

As I was watching the olympics opening ceremony about China's history, it made me realise what an edited version of history I was taught in school.

I'm actually from the UK and so we were taught history going back to the Romans, but focus mostly on Britain and occasionally Europe.

From a white perspective I think we have so much to learn from each other. All cultures should be taught and celebrated.  

Answer 5

Very interesting question. Star for you. I'm a white woman and don't feel I'm qualified to answer, but just wanted to let ya know I loved the question. I'll be checking out the answers you get.  

Answer 6

yea its unfortunate...but that was another ploy to keep us down and ignorant...for example...how do you keep a famous engineer with amnesia from succeeding...lie to him make him believe he was never anything important...tell him he should be grateful to be anything considering how low he was...same concept about black ppl...i dont think they want us to know who we are for fear of us realizing our FULL potential as a race...and also so we cant collect on the things that that are owed to us