A brief analysis of color based racism's history

A brief analysis of color based racism’s history

It seems Africans have been fighting for the respect

of Europeans for centuries

Racism has scarred our modern day world. It has been the cause of the death of untold millions and helped perpetuate chattel slavery into a socio-economic institution that lasted for almost 1000 years.
As we look at history we see that racism as we know it has not always existed.  In ancient times the ideal of slavery was not connected to skin color. Today when you hear the word slave you automatically picture a Black African in chains. The irony of this is the fact that the word slave comes from the Greek sklabos  used to describe the Slavic laborers of Byzantium and later from the medieval Latin root "sclavus"  the Latinized name of the Slavic tribes of Eastern Europe.  By the 10th century in Europe pagan Slavic peoples were sold in slave markets from Dublin to Prague to Marseilles. Historians suggest Slavic slavery underpinned the economic growth of Europe in the 9th and 10th centuries just as the trans Atlantic slave trade would later fuel the economic growth of America There is evidence when the Bubonic plague killed off 1/3 of Europe's population the need for laborers began to shift to a concentration on Black Africans as a source of slave labor.  The Arabs supplied many of the Slavic slaves to Europe and the Middle East and having been exposed to African slavery by Muslims Portugal was the 1st European country to import slaves into Europe. This brought but a trickle of Africans into Europe but it is the beginning of the shift to Africans becoming the sole source of slave labor. When the new world was discovered Europeans attempted to enslave the native Americans 1st but were unsuccessful. The Native Americans died off as a result of the brutality of the Europeans and others easily escaped into the well known forest of their native lands easily evading capture. The Europeans began importing Africans into the new world to work the fields and plantations and as they say -the rest is history .

Depiction of Slavic slaves being presented to a ruler

Slavic slaves have been romanticized in history as the "White" Slave girl

As stated today's negative view of Black people did not exist in ancient times.  As the early 20^th century historian John Clark Ridpath wrote:
“In Greek times, the Egyptians depicted Ethiopia as an ideal state. The Puranas, the ancient historical books of India, speak of the civilization of Ethiopia as being older than that of Egypt. These Sanskrit books mention the names of old Cushite kings that were worshipped in India and who were adopted and changed to suit the fancy of the later people of Greece and Rome.” –this quote is not only doubly but three times indicative of ancient attitudes towards Black peoples. For one It speaks to the Greek attitude towards Black Africans. Secondly it speaks to ancient India’s ties with Black Africans and third it shows John C. Ridpath found so much evidence of Black Africans prominence that even in a time when scientific racialism was rampant he could not deny what history had shown Blacks to truly be.
 The father of history Herodotus wrote:  ” The Ethiopians to whom this embassy was sent are said to be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world”
So when did  color 1^st begin to be a marker of inferiority and the positive view of Black Africans adultered to the negative image we see today?  As stated over all the ancient view of Black Africans was positive but we do see strikingly close similarities to what could be viewed as racism in some ancient cultures. The Hindu Vedas are the 1st ancient BCE text that stand out as illustrating an apparent bias towards dark skin.  Are the Hindu Vedas referring to race is a subject long debated. The text I have read seem to clearly indicate a higher status of one group as opposed to another and displays one group as “dusky” or “Black” skinned as compared to another  “fair complexioned” group.
Examples are :
Rg Veda
Hymn100- verse 18  "He, much invoked, hath slain Dasyus and Śimyus, after his wont, and laid them low with arrows.
The mighty Thunderer with his fair-complexioned friends won the land, the sunlight, and the waters."
and Rg Veda
Hymn130 verse 8- "Indra in battles help his Āryan worshipper, he who hath hundred helps at hand in every fray, in frays that win the light of heaven. Plaguing the lawless he gave up to Manu's seed the dusky skin ".

Krishna & Radhal

Krishna depicted as an Infant

There are many other examples that can be interpreted as speaking to the skin color of the Daysus and the Aryan combatants. The word Varna means color and India's caste system is called the Varna system. I am not alone in believing these to be the root to India’s color consciousness and that the Vedic Varna/Caste system is an ancient form of apartheid that  helped relegate the darker aboriginals primarily to the lower caste. One can argue if the Vedas are referring to color or not when they speak of  black people (krsnagarbha) or skin (tvácaṃ )  but one cannot argue the fact the Vedas are speaking about one group of people conquering and enslaving another group of people they have labeled as demons and animals. India later had these Hindu beliefs compounded and manipulated by the British when they colonized India.

The next epoch in color based racism we see takes place when Arabs initiate the Arab slave trade. This abomination lasted in various forms from 650 AD  far into the 20th century (only having been outlawed in the 1960’s.) Here we begin to clearly see the role slavery and subjugation play in dehumanizing a people. With in the extra Koranic sayings attributed to Muhammad in the Hadith you have derogatory statements such as - :"Allah’s Apostle said “You should listen to and obey your ruler even if he was an Ethiopian slave who head looks like a raisin” 
Sahih Bukhari 9:89:256
Sahih Bukhari 9:89:256
The Prophet said, "Listen and obey (your chief) even if an Ethiopian whose head is like a raisin were made your chief."
Ahmad ibn Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun said, “Anyone who says that the Prophet was black should be killed."
Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, Qadi ‘Iyad, p.375”
One of the main justifications used by Arabs for the enslavement of Black Africans was the "Curse of Ham". This is an adulterated version of the Biblical story in Genesis where Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan.  The original story in Genesis chapter 9 reads:
"20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: ²¹ And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. ²³ And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. ²⁴ ¶ And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. ²⁵ And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. ²⁶ And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. ²⁷ God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."
Actually it was the Jews who created the misnomer of the story between 200 C.E and 500 C.E in the Babylonian Talmud (which contains many other morally controversial sayings). Why the Jews 1st created this pseudo biblical myth is unknown. Unlike the Arya of India they were not conquering a darker people and unlike Europeans or Arabs they were not enslaving solely Black Africans at the time they wrote the Talmud. One could speculate that since the Jews were enslaved by the descendants of Ham -Mizriam or Egypt and the Babylonians who descend from Ham's son Nimrod). The Jews may have enacted a grudge on Hams lineage while writing the Talmud. Arabs later (by 700 CE) would use the curse of Ham myth to justify the enslavement of Black Africans. Arabs even expanded upon the already adulterated  story and apparently creating negative pseudo biblical stories of their own:
“Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks; Ham was the father of the Black Africans; and Japheth was the father of the Turks and of Gog and Magog who were cousins of the Turks. Noah prayed that the prophets and apostles would be descended from Shem and kings would be from Japheth. He prayed that the African’s color would change so that their descendants would be slaves to the Arabs and Turks.
Al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 11, p. 11
Ham [Africans] begat all those who are black and curly-haired, while Japheth [Turks] begat all those who are full-faced with small eyes, and Shem [Arabs] begat everyone who is handsome of face with beautiful hair. Noah prayed that the hair of Ham’s descendants would not grow beyond their ears, and that whenever his descendants met Shem’s, the latter would enslave them.
Al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 21, p. 21”
“"Abu Darda reported that the Holy Prophet said: Allah created Adam when he created him (sic). Then He stroke (sic) his right shoulder and took out a white race as if they were seeds, and He stroke (sic) his left shoulder and took out a black race as if they were coals. Then He said to those who were in his right side: Towards paradise and I don't care. He said to those who were on his left shoulder: Towards Hell and I don't care. - Ahmad"
Mishkat, Vol. 3, p. 117
Ahmad ibn Abi Sulayman, the companion of Sahnun said, “Anyone who says that the Prophet was black should be killed."
Ibn Musa al-Yahsubi, Qadi ‘Iyad, p.375”
Sadly these are just a few of the many racist quotes with in early Islamic literature. I am extremely grateful none are with in the Koran. Other Arabs during medieval  times wrote:
Al-Muqaddasi (945/946-1000) was a medieval Muslim geographer wrote:
"Of the neighbors of the Bujja, Maqdisi had heard that "there is no marriage among them; the child does not know his father, and they eat people -- but God knows best. As for the Zanj, they are people of black color, flat noses, kinky hair, and little understanding or intelligence."
I must note Al-Muqaddasi  and other Arab writers with derogatory views on Blacks never traveled to Africa. Al-Muqaddasi  only visited the Islamic East. He and other Arab medieval writers clearly were projecting their view of Black slaves upon all of Black Africa.  When you read the opinion from someone who actually visited the African lands he talks about you hear a totally different picture.
  -Ibn Battuta writes:
"We ... traveled by sea to the city of Kulwa [Kilwa in East Africa]...Most of its people are Zunuj, extremely black...The city of Kulwa is amongst the most beautiful of cities and most elegantly built... Their uppermost virtue is religion and righteousness and they are Shafi'i in rite."
"Then I reached [a West African town]. This town had as its governor an excellent man, a pilgrim called Farba Sulaiman, well known for his bravery and tenacity...An Arab slave girl of his from Damascus came in to us. She was an Arab and spoke to me in Arabic."
"[the people of Iwalatan in West Africa] were generous to me and entertained me...and as for their women -- they are extremely beautiful and are more important than the men"
"Another of [the Malli blacks'] good qualities is their concern for learning the sublime Qur'an by heart...One day I passed a handsome youth from them dressed in fine clothes and on his feet was a heavy chain. I said to the man who was with me, 'What has this youth done -- has he killed someone?' The youth heard my remark and laughed. It was told me, 'He has been chained so that he will learn the Qu'ran by heart.'"
-Ibn Battuta
So here we see the drastic contrast between a person who actually traveled to the lands and met the people he wrote about and the varied Arabs who had never been in contact with Black African cultures and wrote only using the demeaning descriptions others relayed to them.  Another dynamic we see in Arab racism is the need to justify the brutal, ungodly and unrighteous treatment they have heaped upon Blacks by dehumanizing Africans.  As my earlier quotes display, Arabs even used twisted religious scripture and false parables using biblical character’s to justify enslaving Africans. Later Europeans would do the same. Almost all of the European racial stereotypes appeared previously in Arab racist attitudes. It may be possible that many of  Western Europe’s early attitudes towards Blacks were shaped by Arabs but it is clear the religious justifications such as the curse of Ham mirror each other. I’d like to note that the Bible speaks of no curse on Ham but rather his son Canaan.This and the fact according to biblical historiography Canaan descendants lived in Asia Minor illustrates the stretch the creators of “the curse of Ham” had to take to place a theological causation for the Black Africans plight. Today Africans find themselves in a self fulfilling negative prophecy. Due to a millennium of being ravaged by slavery and colonization Africa is poor and struggling . In many parts of Africa despotic regimes rule killing their own citizens and causing starvation for the rest. Outsiders look at this and see all of the negative stereotypes being displayed. What began as lies and derogatory exaggeration has manifested its self into a reality in some parts of Africa. Today many Black Africans and Africans of the diaspora display many of the negative stereotypes applied to them. This the long term effects of racist dogma coupled with brutal, continuous, systemic oppression. Centuries of negative treatment has caused Blacks to internalize this negative self view into their culture.
The oppressor group has internalized behavior based in racism as well. Recent studies point to biological and neural changes that occur when Caucasians see images of dark skinned people
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2555431/

Whether if this is natural reaction based in genetic evolution, a learned reaction based in a racist culture or a combination of both is still in question. One dynamic that is apparent in every case where there is a significant minority existing within a larger dominant majority there is a history of oppression. The dominant groups attitude towards the oppressed are that traits such as “criminal behavior, being unemployed and having low intelligence” are inherent not a result of the oppressive environment. In fact the dominant group rarely views their treatment of the minority group as oppression. Today some minority groups have a strong enough and positive enough culture to still function fairly well in spite of living in an oppressive society but if you examine these groups history you will find they have suffered greatly at the hands of oppressive societies. The Jews strong, positive and rich culture could do nothing in the face of an extreme Nazi assault on life and liberty. Pundits such as Dinesh D’souza point to culture alone as the causation of Black failure in society. They negate the existence of modern day racism and do not factor in the psychological affects of 300 plus years of slavery and 100 years of American apartheid(Jim Crow). Again this is another example of the oppressor blaming the oppressed for their condition. D’Souza has pointed out that he is of East Indian heritage as if this gives him sort of “pass” to speak on and or insight into African American problems. As I alluded to earlier the East Indian Hindu Vedas carry if not racist an “anti-dark skin” message. D’Souza was raised by parents who are decedent from Goa Catholics. Goa Catholics superimposed Catholicism on top of their native Hindu beliefs. As recently as the 1960’s Goan’s have struggled with their Indian identity having been Westernized by the Portuguese who converted Goan Indians in 1510. So in D’Souza we have an East Indian American Republican Christian/Hindu born in a culture that historically has ethnic identity issues, a man that was more than likely taught the Aryan Invasion theory as he grew up drumming a color and caste system complex into his head. This is the man who penned “The End of Racism”. Unfortunately D’Souza is not alone in this line of thought. Many Whites truly feel racism no longer exist. This is one of the new hurdles Black people have to overcome. The fact they live in a society that has set obstacles in place for them that non Blacks cant or refuse to see. The one thing Black Africans have on their side is history. I point to the tribes of Gaul who were forced from their lands by invading Huns. The Gauls migrated towards Rome to seek refuge from The Hunnish hordes. Rome over taxed the Gauls and treated them as inferiors. It is said Romans made the starving Gauls sell their women and children into slavery for dog meat.
“Soon after, high taxes, Roman prejudice, and government corruption turned them against the Empire” -Wiki
This is why the barbarians smashed the gates of Rome. Whether if it’s the common people of 18^th century France, the serfs and workers of pre Soviet Russia or the colonist of  the American revolution, oppressed people will always rise shrugging of the yoke that afflicts them. I hope in this more enlightened era the people of the world can learn to truly respect their fellow humans with out the need for violent struggle to bring that respect about.

 

The Big Brain Cipher – The fallacies in J. Philippe Rushton 's theory

The Big Brain Cipher – The fallacies in J. Philippe Rushton 's theory

Many are familiar with J. Philippe Rushton . Rushton is a British born psychologist that believes Black Africans low IQ scores are due to the fact Black Africans have smaller brains than Europeans and Asians. The fact that Rushton is a psychologist and has arrived at this conclusion all the more points to his own short comings. Being a psychologist one should factor in all available data from socio-economic, environmental and psycho-social data-all aspects of psychology not just brain size and genetics which are aspects of biology. Again Rustin is a psychologist, he is neither a geneticist nor biologist.  It seems Rushton has failed to take in all possible data relevant to such a study purposely or by lack of insight on his own part. Rushton also has arrived at his conclusions using indirect data. For example Rushton jumps to the conclusion that African American low IQ is due to African Americans having a smaller brain with out factoring in psycho-social & or environmental factors. Nor does he delve into brain anatomy or function, two things that also could possibly explain away any assumed big brain advantage. These are all factors I will address and in the end clearly illustrate the holes in Rushton's theory.

I will briefly state that most minorities are marginalized & suffer from some form of oppression or discrimination by the larger group they live near or with in. The Dalits and North East Indians of India, American Indians, Rohingya Muslims of Burma, Palestinians and almost any marginalized or minority group has been labeled lazy, ignorant, violent and suffers from unemployment and poor education. So when looking at other marginalized populations outside and with in the U.S. one finds the same social-environmental dynamics and the same symptoms. It takes a small leap of logic to conclude the socio-environmental conditions are the primary causation of the social ills or at the very least significant contributing factors. Where you have a population that is discriminated against you will also find members of the dominant/privileged  group assuming the symptoms of this discrimination(lack of achievement, crime, etc) are inherent natural traits of the oppressed group. Rushton being a member of a privileged group has fallen into this faulty line of thinking. Clearly there are psycho-social dynamics that are in effect here that Rushton seems to overlook in the case of Black Americans. Either ignoring, minimalizing or dismissing as non existent the effects of slavery, Jim Crow (American Apartheid) and systemic racism (such as conservative pundits such as Dinesh D'Souza does) has had on stifling Black academic achievement and IQ levels the psychologist J.Ruston choses to theorize this lack of achievement is based in genetics and biology. Again for a psychologist to ignore phenomena rooted in his field of study and to base his theory on phenomena out side his field of expertise is not only strange but disturbing.

So lets address the "boogie man" / "elephant" in the room

Are Europeans and Asians brains bigger than Black Africans?

Why yes they are but here lies the rub. European and Asians also have bigger eyeballs. In fact all people living in and or native to northern latitudes have bigger brains and eyeballs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110804214410.htm

You can see this dynamic with in the populations living at varying latitudes in Europe. As you travel north in latitude studies show Northern Europeans have bigger eyeballs and brains than Southern Europeans

This being the case the people with the biggest brains and eyeballs are Eskimos or the Inuit people who live near the North Pole. European and Asian brains are bigger in the areas dealing with sight. During the ice age it was dark and difficult to see. Also today due to sunlight refraction it is more difficult to see in Northern latitudes.

Neanderthal man who was an early cousin to homo sapiens (us) evolved during the ice age and had a bigger brain than any human.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130319093639.htm

We can tell from early Neanderthal artifacts they were less intelligent than homo sapiens archaic or homo sapiens sapiens(us/modern man) so their bigger brains did not equate to a higher intelligence. In fact it appears to have been substantially lower

Europeans and Asians like Neanderthal developed in the northern hemisphere during ice age climatic changes. Both Asians and Europeans evolved bigger eyes and optic nerve areas to see better and developed bigger brains to deal with the extra sight sensory input

So now we understand "why" Europeans and Asians have bigger brains. The next question is does this correlate with their inherently having a higher IQ than Africans?

First lets look at two areas of the brain Asians and Europeans have increased size and have more grey matter dedicated to:



Above we have illustrated the visual cortex . Again note this extra brain matter is dedicated to analyzing increased visual input. Another area larger in Asians and Europeans are the lateral ventricles (seen in image below) These are filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which bathes and cushions the brain and spinal cord . The lateral ventricles do not consist of any grey or white matter.


Cognitive functions such as -executive functions, planning, abstract reasoning, impulse control, sustained attention and insight are not carried out in these areas. These functions are carried out primarily in the frontal lobe were the Orbitofrontal Cortex is located.
 African Americans in fact have a larger orbitofrontal cortex  than Caucasians.

African Americans in fact have a larger orbitofrontal cortex than Caucasians . The orbitofrontal cortex carries out many cognitive functions.

 

 

The Plos study states that over all :
"there were no statistically significant differences in total gray matter, total white matter, or ventricular CSF volumes. (Plos-  http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0013642 )

The study goes on to state-  "In models examining specific brain regions, the only statistically significant difference was that African-Americans exhibited larger left OFC volumes than Caucasians. However, when regional ratios were examined (regional volume/total cerebral volume), the African-American cohort exhibited greater ratios for the right amygdala and bilaterally for the OFC "

 

Another point Rushton glazes over is the fact that women have smaller brains than men. When asked about this in a recent documentary “Race and Intelligence : Science's Last Taboo" Rushton stated that “the difference between men and women’s brains is due to spatial ability, the difference between White, Black and East Asian brains is due to general intelligence” he ends this statement in saying “ this is what we think.” He does not explain why brain size does not correlate to higher intelligence between White men and White women but he indicates brain size is something significant between Blacks and Whites. He simply states this is what he thinks. Again he does not factor in any environmental or cultural elements that a psychologist should. Rushton is arriving at conclusions from biological and incomplete educational data. I say incomplete because if I test an African American child raised in a drug and gang infested project and a White child raised in suburbia and conclude the Blacks lower score is due to his or her brain size alone I am disregarding the whole environmental factor. Not until I can test a Black person and White person who not only share the same economic bracket but both have cultures that support or encourage education my test data will always be skewed. As a psychologist Rushton should understand that the psychological legacy of racism and slavery has affected Black culture negatively and the presence of systemic racism in today's society act as a negative psychological effect. A psychologist should not be negating these factors and should be doing further research into them to arrive at an accurate answer. The conclusion Rushton has arrived at is the equivalent of a florist stating the white roses grown in fertilizer and sunlight are inherently superior to red roses grown in poor soil not only because the white roses have grown bigger & taller but because the roses are white. If the florist does not consider the conditions the roses were grown in the florist conclusions will be invalid.


Some might theorize "well" since Europeans & Asians have bigger eyeballs thus cans see better and have a bigger brain dedicated to the increased sensory input and the analysis of this input perhaps this gives them some type of edge. The opposite of this is shown in studies. People who are myopic (nearsighted) tend to have higher IQ’s
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/20/science/study-links-intelligence-and-myopia.html


So this would suggest the increased eyesight of Asians and Europeans would at best be a non factor in intelligence

Again I must point out the whole brain size argument is invalid because again Whites and Asians only possess more brain matter used for sight sensory intake and processing. This is the same as if certain human groups had a brain that possessed a larger primary olfactory cortex for smelling . This in no way would make one smarter.

The latest studies state that overall a bigger brain(with in the human range of 1100 grams to 1400 grams)does not equate to higher intelligence.
http://www.livescience.com/32142-are-big-brains-smarter.html

You do have older yet relatively recent studies that state brain size does equate to higher intelligence and men are more intelligent than women because of this. Throwing a wrench in the conclusions arrived at by these studies are women like the last Guinness world record holder for IQ - Marilyn vos Savant who IQ was tested at 228.

Black Africans and other dark skinned peoples possess higher amounts of melanin & melatonin which acts as an neurotransmitter by which neurons (brain cells) communicate to each other. This coupled with the fact Blacks have a functional pineal gland and a larger orbitofrontal cortex arguments can be made that Black Africans are more intelligent and this is why many are still able to achieve academically and economically in spite of a societal system that’s is set against them.

I theorize people such as Rushton not only suffer from a cultural arrogance but psychologically deal with "White guilt" by placing blame on the victims for a plight their ancestors have placed them in and they themselves have helped perpetuate or remained apathetic to. This is a well known psychological defense tactic. In fact the term "blaming the victim" was a term coined by William Ryan  in his 1971 book Blaming the Victim. In the book, Ryan described victim blaming as an ideology used to justify racism and social injustice against black people in the United States 
(wiki-   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victim_blaming    )
You will find this "victim blaming attitude" common in people who are part of the upper, ruling  or privileged classes. By labeling a people  inherently inferior the inference is  made that their socio economic condition is of their own making. This slippery slope could even have one arrive at the conclusion that slavery, colonization and all other subjugation of peoples of color throughout the world are the fault of the subjugated. This circles around to the ‘White mans burden” mental state that states Europeans have done colonized peoples a favor for bringing them technology and so called civilization. The North Western Europeans who control much of the world seem to have forgotten they were the barbarians who with their "big brains" brought about Europe’s dark ages. They have forgotten they have borrowed (directly or indirectly) most of the technology that allowed them to conquer the world from their Asian, Arab and African brothers. Such theories as Rushton’s fall flat in the face of the absence of any early ancient North Western European civilizations.  You will find no pyramids in ancient Berlin no Pantheons in an ancient Norway. All early civilization are found near or with in the worlds tropical zone. Europe’s earliest civilization were the Minoans who were located south of Italy on the modern Islands of Crete and Thera, the most southern parts of Europe-nearest to Africa and the middle east.

 

In many ways I regard the African American as a Ferrari engine that’s been drop into a Chevy chassis and connected to a Ford transmission. An unsuspecting driver will curse the engine stating that it is a piece of junk and just doesn’t run right. The fact is that the reason for the malfunction is that the engine has been connected to a system that is not designed for it. Even though the Ferrari is one of the worlds best built and efficient engines as long as its connected to a system not designed for it, it will perform badly. This has been the Black mans plight in North America. A human with so much potential but held back by the very system he must live in.

(Brilliant Blacks From BCE to Present)

Imhotep

 Mansa Musa

 Angelo Soliman

                                            Neil deGrasse Tyson

The 1st Cipher (an Introduction)

Some may know me from Yahoo Answers. Some may know me from my You tube commentary. Many know me as Hip-Hop Rapper and Bay Area pioneer Hugh EMC. Ive created this blog to address issues of anthropology,history,civilizations origins and the origins of mankind it self. On Yahoo Answers I've received email from question askers about certain topics dealing with the roots of civilization ,genetics & history. This is what prompted me in part to create this blog. I consider my self neither Afro nor Euro centric. I consider my self world centric and a scientific thinker. I do my best to look at matters of history & culture through an anthropological lens. I seek truthful non biased answers to questions of race and civilization. I do my best to support my claims with empirical evidence and in the case of an over abundance of circumstantial data i will state the particular claim is a strong theory. Euro centric thinkers will undoubtedly find me Afro centric. This is due to the fact many new discoveries have come forth revealing not only mankind's roots in Africa but the very roots of language,culture and civilization it self. Euro centrics have had a long history of masking and denying Africa's role in world culture and civilization and this mind state will prove hard to break in some.  Many Afro centrics will consider me brainwashed by Euro centric schools of study but this is untrue. Much of Afro centric claims are over reactions to extreme Euro centric racism so instead of stating something is a probable theory Afro centrics state claims as if they have all of the supporting evidence and this is an error. The way many Afro centrics state their claims only hurt African history over all. Ive listened to and  or read research from so many brilliant Afro centric academics only to find error after error. The errors are usually small but they hurt the over all validity of the theory put forth. In the coming months I will be re posting many of my YA Answers and commentary from other sites but I also will be posting new commentary and linking this blog with my new You tube site that also will be dealing with historical and anthropological issues. I look forward to dialogue with you all.

                              Ancient coins from North Africa & the Greek Isle of Lesbos