I don't think so. Infact - i know so. But this is based on my individual belief.

This topic came into my head when a guy in my class, of East African parentage, overheard me talking to my friends about the caribbean and its cultural history. I must have finished with the sentence "i am not African" for some reason that i can't remember.

I recall him saying: "You are African". I wasnt really shocked at his afro-centric statement, but with all due respect i replied "no i am not - i'm caribbean". By now i got everyone in the class, including my tutor, to turn heads. Then it continued..

"You are African because your ancestors..." blah blah blah...you guys know the rest, "came from Africa..."

At this point I changed my voice to a solemn tone. " How can i be African? Yes i know my ancestors came from there but i am of Jamaican parentage..."

"And where do Jamaican people come from?" He challenged, as if he thought i was in denial of my African roots.

"Er...Jamaica?" I answered with sarcasm.

"Yeah...and Jamaicans come from Africa." Hold up wait a minute...he just generalised...doesnt he read books?

"In fact Jamaicans descend from other parts of the world aswell."

"You are African." He persisted with nonchalance.

"How can i be African? I am more close to Jamaica than Africa."

"You are still African." He repeated the ancestors thing.

"How can i be African? When i don't know what part of Africa i come from? How can i be African when i don't know the many dialects? How can i be african when i don't eat the food? Yes most Jamaicans have Africa in their music, blood, and food but you have to remember that other Jamaicans descend from Asia, Europe and the Middle East..."

I think we ended it there but i have to ask these questions to u guys...

Are Africans who tellcaribbeans that they r African trying to claim a part of our culture?

Why do some spend their time claiming to be african when they dont have much access to afro-centric books in their native countries?

Why are so many i approach bemused or curious at to why i know about african history prior the slave trade era?

Or is it just a way of uniting the black diaspora?

I'm afraid that if it is the latter then there is a slim chance this could happen. Even in Africa they and still have different tribes fighting against eachother. But as i said, this is MY opinion so let me see yours...

My Dear, You are free to be whatever you want. It is human nature to reject the apparently undesirable. Africa will not always be at the bottom of the barrell begging other people to bear the title "African". America was hardly a great country 200 years ago, Niether was Japan an Economic Empire it is today. Thependulum swingsandthe dynamics are such that it isswinging in Africa's way. Hence the rush to control the African population.

Make the choice that will help you survive today.

How can i be african when i don't eat the food?

I am confused at this question...


Or is it just a way of uniting the black diaspora?
I'm afraid that if it is the latter then there is a slim chance this could happen. Even in Africa they and still have different tribes fighting against eachother.

You Think? Tanzania has created a pretty good model for Pan Africanism/Black Nationalism. It has experienced very little, if any, periods of "tribes fighting against eachother" and has also been the refuge for Black Panthers and Black Americans postindependence. Also, Rwanda has gone from having a horrible past to becoming a large player in technology and fiber optics.
http://www.summitreports.com/rwanda/ict.htm
As far as Im concerned "uniting of the Black diaspora" comes from strategic leadership and not from mere words. Just as the Jews and Asians, who continue to maintain a global hegemony.
Infact, read the book review of "Tribes" (by Joel Kotkin):

Francis Fukuyama, move over. The theory of individualism as the prime motivator in a new world system is being challenged. Kotkin, an economic reporter and coauthor of The Third Century (Crown, 1988) here offers a different paradigm for the future of the global economy, asserting that ethnic solidarity has been and will continue to be an important force in world business. Kotkin focuses on five groups: Jewish, British, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian. In trying to explain the material success of these particular "tribes," he emphasizes historical patterns common to them all: a strong ethnic identity that allows the group to undergo economic and political changes without loss of essential unity; a global network based on mutual trust and communal self-help; and an open-minded approach to the adoption of scientific and technological innovations. On this basis, he argues that potentially powerful economic groups of the future may include Palestinians and Armenians. Ethnic stereotyping is dangerous territory, and Kotkin jumps headlong into the controversial minefield.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679752994/sr=8-8/qid=1144643444/ref=pd_bbs_8/002-9448866-4628862?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Makes you wonder why there are such classifications like Chinese Jamaican:?

this perpetual confusion between nationality and race is getting quite sickening but understandable when the word African is often used to identify both.

...not forgetting the confusion between nationality and culture- many argue they are Jamaican and when you usetheir very own reasonings of ill-logic it would mean thatactually they are British but adhere to Jamaican culture.

But as BB said, if we are talking from personal opinion, then I personally think of African Jamaicans as Africans with their own or even shared culture. Jamaican is not a race. Even if you have a diluted bloodline you still descend from a race of people...and that'sirrespective of the culture you choose to identify yourself with.

If you water down a glass of ribenaand find the taste too weakthen add more ribena. If your African bloodline has been watered down and you want to strengthen it for the generations to come then marry and breed with anAfrican but I guess that's precisely what many are really trying to avoid.

Why do some spend their time claiming to be african when they dont have much access to afro-centric books in their native countries?

If my interpretation of your analysis is correct then i am assuming that you are refering to people whocome from the african continet that dont have access to afrocentric books? Why would they need to there is a oral tradition which makes up for the books!

Okay...the moral of the story is i am not AFRICAN - okay? Africa runs through my veins but my parents come from Jamaica.

Is that so hard to understand?

I have respect for their culture but we 500 years between us.

BB, so your children, what will they be?I only ask because I had a similar debate wth an old pal who suggested his children would also be Jamaican. I argued that if we are going by where our parents come from then surely that makes your children British as in that's where we are born.

He then went on to explain his reasonings which led to my questionwhat if your children adopt the Barbadian culture of their mother and not the Jamaican one of their father, does this mean the children are now Bajan?I didn't get an answer so maybe you can oblige?

BB - for the record, BlackBeauty was the name given to a horse, why? because black is nondescript.