LETTER: Tribalism is our collective curse as Africans
Africans have always been geographically divided along ethnic lines from long before Europeans identified our continent as a playground for colonial activities
13 February 2023 - 14:18
byAyanda Sakhile Zulu
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When will we finally admit that tribalism is our collective curse as Africans? How long will we keep calling it a remnant of colonialism and apartheid?
I can concede that apartheid in particular exacerbated tribalism through its creation of the homeland system. But the historical reality is that tribalism predates the arrival of European settlers on African soil.
We as Africans have always been geographically divided along ethnic lines, and we have always had our own squabbles, from long before Europeans identified our continent as a playground for colonial activities. Our bloody history of intertribal wars and massacres bears testament to this.
The pseudo Pan Africanists and black consciousness thinkers who conveniently ignore this history and speak of a “united”, pre-colonial Africa are either barefaced liars or embarrassed denialists. Upon reflection, their flawed narrative of pre-colonial Africa borders on a hysterical kind of utopianism.
May they be reminded that even Chinua Achebe , a towering figure in postcolonial literature , never depicted pre-colonial Africa as a utopia that was marred by the arrival of colonisers. On the contrary, he acknowledged the cleavages in pre-colonial society and explained how they were exploited by the colonisers to their advantage.
InThings Fall Apart, Achebe taught that those who found themselves on the margins of traditional Igbo society eventually converted to Christianity, and by default joined the colonial system.
Sooner or later, we will need to have an unsettling conversation about this phenomenon, which continues to haunt us in postcolonial Africa. Delaying the conversation or denying what has been outlined above will not solve the problem.
Ayanda Sakhile Zulu Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Tribalism is our collective curse as Africans
Africans have always been geographically divided along ethnic lines from long before Europeans identified our continent as a playground for colonial activities
When will we finally admit that tribalism is our collective curse as Africans? How long will we keep calling it a remnant of colonialism and apartheid?
I can concede that apartheid in particular exacerbated tribalism through its creation of the homeland system. But the historical reality is that tribalism predates the arrival of European settlers on African soil.
We as Africans have always been geographically divided along ethnic lines, and we have always had our own squabbles, from long before Europeans identified our continent as a playground for colonial activities. Our bloody history of intertribal wars and massacres bears testament to this.
The pseudo Pan Africanists and black consciousness thinkers who conveniently ignore this history and speak of a “united”, pre-colonial Africa are either barefaced liars or embarrassed denialists. Upon reflection, their flawed narrative of pre-colonial Africa borders on a hysterical kind of utopianism.
May they be reminded that even Chinua Achebe , a towering figure in postcolonial literature , never depicted pre-colonial Africa as a utopia that was marred by the arrival of colonisers. On the contrary, he acknowledged the cleavages in pre-colonial society and explained how they were exploited by the colonisers to their advantage.
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe taught that those who found themselves on the margins of traditional Igbo society eventually converted to Christianity, and by default joined the colonial system.
Sooner or later, we will need to have an unsettling conversation about this phenomenon, which continues to haunt us in postcolonial Africa. Delaying the conversation or denying what has been outlined above will not solve the problem.
Ayanda Sakhile Zulu
Via email
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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