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North Africa

From:Mike Adams <abrigon@...>
Date:Thursday, September 7, 2000, 6:04
Well, major reason why North Africa is often excluded from Africa
(Afro-American) is that it is often part of the Meditranean world, or
maybe part of the Middle East (Egypt), or cause Egypt has had a culture
going back some 6000 or so years, including splinter groups such as
Meorites(sp) and to a part Ethiopia/Somalia, which when people think of
Black they don't often think tall, medium colored persons, with features
that look closer to European (sort of) as being "African", most I
suspect think of persons of Subsharan Africa, medium height, wide nose,
dark skinned (or have the features of many who have a broad nose and
like).  I do find it funny that to the Romans, Africa was the nothern
coast of "Africa", and they had other names for lower Africa
(subsahara).  So in a way in the modern world, calling a person African
is sort of saying "Barbarian", after all to many subsaharan never had a
major civilization (I know of Zimbabwe and Timbuktu and like) atleast in
their eyes. Times change, southern africa has alot of potential. I know
Africa it is the "home" of humanity. But I think many anthropologists
have great imaginations, and take one sample of a body for a whole
species of humans, no not doubting humans came from Africa, just
doubting the conclusions of Anthrologists. I have seen persons here in
Alaska, living and breathing who look exactly like a supposed
Neaderthal, but they are human, part of the same race/species we all
are, Human. But part of a lingo is often words to seperate one group
from another. Some are just terms for regions, and sometimes, especially
today have little ethnic meaning.. An American can be anyone who is a
resident of a nation in the "New World", even if their ancestors came
from elsewheres, or developed in the "new world".
So what happens when a word for a racial/ethnic group is no longer valid
for the original term, but now changes to a word for a region? Asia?
Europe? Africa? A Afrikaaner is an African, just most of their ancestors
came from Europe, but not all, some Afrikaaners intermingled with local
blacks. South Africa has as well a large Indian (East Indian)
population.

Mike



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