Since Africans in America have been dislocated-that is, taken off their own terms for the past 345 years-we seldom operate as the subjects of our own historical experiences. We often operate based on an illusion that creates disillusionment and self-alienation, the most fundamental alienation a person can have. Afrocentricity is a struggle against extreme misorientation, where many of us believe that we share the same history as whites; indeed, that we came across on the Mayflower.
In its practical implications, Afrocentricity aims to locate African-American children in the center of the information being presented in classrooms across the nation. Most African-American children sit in classrooms, yet are outside the information being discussed. The white child sits in the middle of the information, whether it is literature, history, politics or art. The task of the Afrocentric curriculum is finding patterns in African-American history and culture that help the teacher place the child in the middle of the intellectual experience. This is not an idea to replace all things European, but to expand the dialogue to include AfricanAmerican information. An Afrocentric curriculum covers kindergarten through 12th grade in every subject area. It can then be infused into an academic program cleansed of pejoratives like “Bushman” and “wild Indian” in order to have a truly multicultural curriculum.
Afrocentricity is neither racist nor antiSemitic; it is about placing African people within our own historical framework. In none of the major works of Afrocentricity has there ever been a hint of racism, ethnocentrism or anti-anybody. Indeed, Afrocentricity believes that in order to have a stable society, we must always have a society that respects difference. One cannot argue that there is no difference-or that difference necessarily means hostility. One may be alien and yet not hostile. We only have to witness “E.T.” to see the truth of that proposition.
Recent African-American history has shown that we have frequently been imitative of whites, following in the path of Europeans without understanding our own identities. Few African-American students or adults can tell you the names of any of the African ethnic groups that were brought to the Americas during the Great Enslavement; and yet prior to the Civil War there were no African-Americans, merely enslaved Africans, We know European ethnic names, but not these names, because we have seldom participated in our own historical traditions.
Afrocentricity resonates with the African-American community because it is fundamental to sanity. It is the fastest growing intellectual and practical idea in the community because of its validity when tested against other experiences. What could be any more correct for any people than to see with their own eyes?
