Brother Cornelius:
Thank you very much for your enlightening and useful posting below. When it comes to matters of race, I always re-visit two slim books by Professors Cornel West (formerly of Princeton) and Michael Eric Dyson (of Georgetown university, USA). The titles of those two books say it all: "Race Matters" (West) and "Race Rules" (Dyson).
So, it is very much the same with the Italian situation of our Congolese sister, who is compared to an orangutan, regardless of the Pope's call for tolerance. We see how race rules in America everyday. otherwise, instead of Jury of one's peers, only five white women were assembled, with one Hispanic or whatever, to make it a jury of six to sit and adjudicate in a case about a black murder victim and a white defendant. If race does not matter and also does rule supreme, decency would have dictated that since the accused is white and the victim was black, maybe we needed very independent Jurors from other ethnic or racial groups, i.e. Latinos and Hispanics or (in the extreme) Asian American Jurors to handle the case! No, not so. Instead, the prosecutors, naively, agreed to a Jury of five white women and a Hispanic (a so-called black Hispanic)!
Well, the Trayvon's prosecutors and all genuine sympathizers now know that race matters and also race rules, just as Professors Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson have written about in those two books. Maybe, in Africa, it is a different nuance: Tribe rules, hence the abundance of Tribalism in many countries!
A.B. Assensoh.
Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 7:52 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - A short personal note on orangutan
Just the other day, Pope Francis was calling for tolerance on behalf of immigrants. But when they don't listen to Jesus himself, or to Peter the great or to Paul or hold the Black Madonna in reverence, how do we expect that they (all of them) are going to pay any attention to the latest Pope?
Are we to abide by the universal standards legislated by the world's religions - about the brotherhood of man, the sisterhood of woman – all women - and the motherhood and fatherhood of Adam and Eve?
It is recorded that in his very last sermon, the prophet of Islam salallahu alaihi wa salaam said,
"All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety (taqwa) and good action."
As to this question of accents: our ( Sweden's) former minister of integration & gender equality Nyamko Sabuni arrived in Sweden from Burundi as an eleven year old and so (thank God) cannot be faulted with having " an accent" - although she speaks Swedish almost the way that I speak English/Swenglish with a Stockholm accent, and of course this happens, gradually and with time. I guess if you lived in China, in time, your Yoruba could begin to sound a little Chinese? Do I hear Adebayo say " God forbid"? What about your Italian?
The probable advantage with hieroglyphics is that you don't have to speaks it.
About these animal epithets, sometimes we have to take some of them with a sense of humour, especially when affectionately expressed. This very week, my good friend Dan ( a Caucasian Swedish-American college mate from long ago, 1968-1969 – he visited me in Ghana in 1970 – on his way to Ibadan where he continued his studies) well, it was on my birthday too and Dan called me "Elephant man" - in high praise of my phenomenal memory as I reminded him of words said by so many, some forty something years ago. I did not take offence - furthermore there's the children's story about Cornelius the elephant, who incidentally wears glasses too. Then there's Todd ( African –American) who on occasion has called me " Jewish monkey" - at which I did take offence – seriously - would have liked to have whipped his butt...severely...
I too have my favourite chimp, the one I like to rib.
However, the Oyibo is well advised to stay away from any reference to Chimps, gorillas, baboons any kind of monkeys including pet monkeys when original man is around....
That's sound advice and then he/she doesn't lay himself/herself open to misinterpretation
"The monkeys stand for honesty
Giraffes are insincere
And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb
Ourang-outangs are sceptical
Of changes in their cages
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum
Zebras are reactionaries
Antelopes are missionaries
Pigeons plot in secrecy
And hamsters turn on frequently
What a gas ...." ( Paul Simon : At the zoo )
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