Quote:
Originally Posted by Drolefille
GC, I learn things here.
/thanks centaur  |
I am a wealth of useful/less information! I'll try and find the link where all this is written (a book called 'How Europe Underdeveloped Africa' or something like that. Really interesting!).
EDIT: Found it!
http://www.marxists.org/subject/afri...rope/index.htm
Pay no heed to the website it's hosted on. I really don't know why people dismiss historical fact because of political leanings. The guy who wrote this was a socialist...big deal!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alphagamuga
Yeah, me too.
So are you saying that there aren't ANY culturally distinct groups prior to colonization or just that in certain places the tribal stuff was overblown by colonial powers?
How do you explain like the Zulus, Ebo, and stuff?
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I think you might be missing my point...maybe I'm just not clear enough. I can ramble sometimes.
Before there were tribes as we know them, Africans lived in culturally distinct groups and societies, separate from each other, perhaps sharing a geographical area but remaining unique with their own customs and traditions. When the colonialists rolled in (yes, the brits were infamous for screwing up countries the world over!) they put these smaller societies together and made them into a tribe, such as the Hutus or the Zulus, all because they lived in the same area. The colonialists had no respect whatsoever for Africa's cultural diversity. So I am saying the colonialists MADE the Zulu tribe-before that, they co-existed in the same area peacefully but had nothing in common other than their geographical location.
Another example-England and France share the English Channel. Let's say Denmark invades, starts conquering Europe all over the place and says, "England and France are close. They share common water. It's easier for us if we make them one country." The cultures are entirely different from one another but now the former countries are expected to unify under one name, even if there was hostility prior to this grouping.
Does that make sense? There were always culturally distinct groups, but not the tribes we know today.