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==Origin, Rastafarianism and the Nation of Islam== |
==Origin, Rastafarianism and the Nation of Islam== |
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[[Rastafarianism]] is a religion that originally was founded on principles that included |
[[Rastafarianism]] is a religion that originally was founded on principles that included the belief in the inherent wickedness of the white race and the superiority of the black race. This element of Rastafarian religious dogma, promulgated by preachers like [[Leonard Howell]], has been almost entirely abandoned in modern Rastafarianism, which accepts converts from all ethnicities. A few, small fringe groups, however, continue to adhere to a black supremacist doctrine. |
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Some earlier notions of black supremacy were taken from [[Marcus Garvey]], who believed that white achievements is due to teaching white children that they are superior. By the same token, if black children are taught that they are superior then there is a greater chance that they would suceed in life. In the [[1930s]], the [[Nation of Islam]] emerged, coming to prominence during the [[1960s]], when charismatic minister [[Malcolm X]] became a spokesman for the movement. It was during the time of the [[American Civil Rights Movement]] when a number of [[African American]] organizations became more militant in their demands for equality. |
Some other earlier notions of black supremacy were taken from [[Marcus Garvey]], who believed that white achievements is due to teaching white children that they are superior. By the same token, if black children are taught that they are superior then there is a greater chance that they would suceed in life. In the [[1930s]], the [[Nation of Islam]] emerged, coming to prominence during the [[1960s]], when charismatic minister [[Malcolm X]] became a spokesman for the movement. It was during the time of the [[American Civil Rights Movement]] when a number of [[African American]] organizations became more militant in their demands for equality. |
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While generally considered a black militant group, some believe that the Nation of Islam |
While generally considered a black militant group, some believe that the Nation of Islam is not a black supremacist organization. The earliest doctrines of the Nation of Islam held that whites were "devils" and enemies of blacks. Among other tenets, the group's founder, [[Elijah Muhammad]], preached the "Doctrine of Yakub," which held that the Original Man, was an "[[Asiatic]] black man." White people, it contended, were "grafted" from black people 6,000 years ago by a mad scientist named Yakub. Muhammad also preached black self-reliance, black cooperative economics, strict moral and physical discipline, and opposed black-white miscegenation. Most historians and social scientists, therefore, classify the Nation of Islam as a [[black nationalism|black nationalist]], or black separatist, organization. |
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Black supremacists point out that |
Black supremacists point out that scientific evidence strongly indicates that the first human beings evolved in Africa. The "Doctrine of Yakub," they argue, is simply an [[allegory]] for the evolution of whites from blacks as a result of climatic differences as humanity migrated out of Africa and populated other areas of the globe. Such colorful storytelling, they argue, is little different from the [[Bible]]'s account of [[God]] creating [[Eve]] from [[Adam]]'s rib, or the creation of heaven and earth in six days. |
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==Black supremacy vs. white supremacy == |
==Black supremacy vs. white supremacy == |
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{{npov}} |
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⚫ | Unlike many "[[white supremacy|white supremacists]]," who generally embrace the label, most "[[Blacks|black supremacists]]" reject the term because of its implicit meaning. They do not regard their belief in black superiority as an equivalent opposite of [[white supremacy]], which is far more |
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⚫ | Unlike many "[[white supremacy|white supremacists]]," who generally embrace the label, most "[[Blacks|black supremacists]]" reject the term because of its implicit meaning. They do not regard their belief in black superiority as an equivalent opposite of [[white supremacy]], which is far more widespread through Western economic, political and military power. The dominance of the [[United States of America|United States]] and [[European]] countries on world politics give fuel to this mode of thinking. By comparison, there is no powerful, far-reaching economic or political instrument under black control that have a corollary effect on whites. Nor does there appear to be any significant desire on the part of so-called "black supremacists" to have one. |
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It its simplest form, black supremacy is the belief in the inherent superiority of the "black race." Historically, however, it has manifested itself as a tool in framing an intellectual and conceptual [[Dialectics|dialectic]] (in the Hegelian sense) that has been utilized as a kind of [[liberation theology]] for the societally marginalized and oppressed. In neither its intellectual nor its political context, however, is black supremacy -- as many nonblacks are inclined to believe -- mere sophistry; it is a strongly held notion. Even so, it is little more than an intellectual construct. Author and social commentator [[bell hooks]] (1995, p.154) writes: |
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It its simplest form, black supremacy is the belief in the inherent superiority of the "black race." However, it has manifested itself as a kind of [[liberation theology]] for the historically marginalized and oppressed peoples. |
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<blockquote>...it is [the] system that promotes domination and subjugation. The prejudicial feelings some blacks may express about whites are in no way linked to a system of domination that affords us any power to coercively control the lives and well-being of white folks. That needs to be understood.</blockquote> |
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White supremacy, in contrast, has been historically— and remains today— a political ideology, a worldview, the power of which is projected outward as an instrument of dominance and oppression to preserve, protect and regain white hegemony, white power and white privilege. |
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The power and pervasiveness of white supremacy are such that even people of color, whose intrinsic worth it devalues, may subscribe to it. This internalization of a belief of a (usually) dominant group in the inherent inferiority of another group by members of that subject group generally is referred to as [[self-hatred]]. |
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Based on an understanding of power and ethnicity such as that expressed by hooks, there is no such thing as "black supremacy," ''per se'', as a corollary of white supremacy; it simply does not exist. But black supremacy as a core belief in the inherent superiority of indigenous peoples of [[Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub-Saharan]] and [[West Africa]] and their progeny has been a fairly marginal, but growing, school of thought among blacks for 75 years or more in the modern era. |
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== Black supremacy, melanin and Melanin Theory == |
== Black supremacy, melanin and Melanin Theory == |
Revision as of 01:22, 13 March 2005
Black supremacy is the belief that blacks are racially superior to members of other races. This belief is usually expressed within a bilateral framework, that is, within a black-white context.
Origin, Rastafarianism and the Nation of Islam
Rastafarianism is a religion that originally was founded on principles that included the belief in the inherent wickedness of the white race and the superiority of the black race. This element of Rastafarian religious dogma, promulgated by preachers like Leonard Howell, has been almost entirely abandoned in modern Rastafarianism, which accepts converts from all ethnicities. A few, small fringe groups, however, continue to adhere to a black supremacist doctrine.
Some other earlier notions of black supremacy were taken from Marcus Garvey, who believed that white achievements is due to teaching white children that they are superior. By the same token, if black children are taught that they are superior then there is a greater chance that they would suceed in life. In the 1930s, the Nation of Islam emerged, coming to prominence during the 1960s, when charismatic minister Malcolm X became a spokesman for the movement. It was during the time of the American Civil Rights Movement when a number of African American organizations became more militant in their demands for equality.
While generally considered a black militant group, some believe that the Nation of Islam is not a black supremacist organization. The earliest doctrines of the Nation of Islam held that whites were "devils" and enemies of blacks. Among other tenets, the group's founder, Elijah Muhammad, preached the "Doctrine of Yakub," which held that the Original Man, was an "Asiatic black man." White people, it contended, were "grafted" from black people 6,000 years ago by a mad scientist named Yakub. Muhammad also preached black self-reliance, black cooperative economics, strict moral and physical discipline, and opposed black-white miscegenation. Most historians and social scientists, therefore, classify the Nation of Islam as a black nationalist, or black separatist, organization.
Black supremacists point out that scientific evidence strongly indicates that the first human beings evolved in Africa. The "Doctrine of Yakub," they argue, is simply an allegory for the evolution of whites from blacks as a result of climatic differences as humanity migrated out of Africa and populated other areas of the globe. Such colorful storytelling, they argue, is little different from the Bible's account of God creating Eve from Adam's rib, or the creation of heaven and earth in six days.
Black supremacy vs. white supremacy
Unlike many "white supremacists," who generally embrace the label, most "black supremacists" reject the term because of its implicit meaning. They do not regard their belief in black superiority as an equivalent opposite of white supremacy, which is far more widespread through Western economic, political and military power. The dominance of the United States and European countries on world politics give fuel to this mode of thinking. By comparison, there is no powerful, far-reaching economic or political instrument under black control that have a corollary effect on whites. Nor does there appear to be any significant desire on the part of so-called "black supremacists" to have one. It its simplest form, black supremacy is the belief in the inherent superiority of the "black race." However, it has manifested itself as a kind of liberation theology for the historically marginalized and oppressed peoples.
Black supremacy, melanin and Melanin Theory
There are some blacks who today believe that, because human beings first evolved in Africa, they are more advanced than other peoples of the planet. Their claims of the early, powerful black civilizations of Nubia and early dynastic Egypt are proof of inherent black superiority. See Afrocentrism for details.
Some black supremacists believe that the higher levels of melanin in black skin is one of the primary reasons for presumed black superiority and the existence of advanced black civilizations that predate those of other ethnic groups. They contend that, with higher levels of melanin in the skin such as those that occur in people of black African descent, athleticism, intelligence and emotional, psychic and spiritual sensitivity likewise are enhanced. This contention, generally known as Melanin Theory, has been a subject of interest in the African-American community for approximately 30 years, since the discovery of melanin as a semiconductor in the early 1970's.
There exists some interesting information related to black supremacist claims and melanin as a bona fide neurotransmitter. Melanin deficiency is definitively associated with deafness in cats and nerve degeneration in humans. Blue-eyed, white (albino) cats are widely known to have a significantly higher incidence of deafness than cats with pigmented coats and eyes of a different color. This type of congenital deafness has been attributed to a deficit of inner ear melanin. Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative condition marked by the deterioration of the melanin-containing cells in the substantia nigra (literally, "black substance"), located in the basal ganglia of the human brain. However, Melanin Theory itself is generally dismissed as pseudoscience and has little credibility in mainstream social scientific thought, medicine, or scientific study.
References
- bell hooks: Killing Rage: Ending Racism, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1995, ISBN 0805037829