Memette
1) In the traditional African worldview, the universe is as a spiritual whole, where everything "interexists" with one another. So what is emphasized is connectedness, and we experience ourselves AS nature (since humans are comprised of "non-human" elements). This connects us to the forces of nature, and to each other. Physical reality is simply how that connectedness manifests itself. So, the concept of "self" has a much less structured meaning than in European cultures, because interaction with others and the environment affects personal thinking and vitality.
For starters that sort of pagan type belief system is endemic to every part of the world, Europe included. It's just that Abrahamic Religion rolled in and forced it from influence. And the further problem here is that a good half of Africa was Muslim for long before the Atlantic Slave Trade, and in the case of Ethiopia, Christian. In fact Ethiopia was Christian when parts of Europe were as pagan as can be.
Also call me unenleightened but how does this ...
1. Have any reflection in actual people.
2. Still allegedly exist in African-Americans who were indoctrinated with their owner's Christianity as soon as they got off the boats. Introducing the same element into the mix that altered Europe's own more nature oriented religions.
And your description is so vague as to not really sound any different at all from the way most people of any culture go about life.
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2) The European concept of the universe is that human beings are distinct and separate individuals. Nature is comprised of individualistic elements. Man is separate from nature, and the only way to know about the universe to isolate and analyze individualistic components to see how they work.
You're confusing the Religious aspect that introduced ideas of people standing outside of nature with the sort of Renaissance though that actually clashed with that same religious thing.
Which isn't really European either. Greek sure, but the Arabs and Persians were the ones advancing that analytical thought for ages before it came back into Europe. And the Arabs were the ones who influenced the Northern half of Africa for a looong looong time. Aside from Ethiopia any major African empire you could name was part of larger Islamic world that was very in tune with the sciences.
Also China and India you know...had all of this same stuff. Which is even more interesting when you consider their dominant philosophies are not "analytical" as you describe it. Same with Japan.
And I'm not read on it but I'd bet a fair amount of money that Timbuktu had science up the wazoo in it's heyday. I could probably link to pictures of old books showing astronomy and s**t, in a major city in a major sub-saharan African empire.
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This takes interexistence out of things, and thereby creates "objects" to study. Therefore, Europeans are more likely to "analyze" things. In order for analysis to occur, there must be an "analyzer" and the "analyzed". So analyzing requires assumptions that things are already separate and distinct from one another. This concept, "analyzing", is the backbone of scientific thought, academia, and the European concept of "intellectual thought".
Science does not and never has belonged to Europe. I'm sorry this is just silly. I fail to see the evidence of this sort of culture in either white or black Americans.
In fact I'd venture saying science has nothing to do with culture. It's a process universal.
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3) Teachers generally are reinforcers of the European worldview.
I do think it's pretty wrong that history is so incredibly focused on Europe, and more specifically Western Europe. There's so much rest of the world that lies neglected, let alone Africa. Hell not even Eastern Europe gets a fair shake past the Ancient Greeks.
And I do think this leads to lots of assumptions by people, to assume the rest of the world contributed little or did little or what have you.
It would be good for folks to even hear of Timbuktu like I was referencing above.
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Academia is dominated by analytical-minded people,
Well...depending on the discipline....good.
Math? Science? Social Studies? Are analytical by nature.
English of course touches on different things, though analytical thought applies there too. Come to think of it where DOESN'T analytical thought apply?
Maybe you need to better define what you mean by analytical.
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- African Americans are generally considered more "street smart." That's because they consider "learning" as taking knowledge, and being able to apply it to real life. Interconnecting themselves with the material is HOW they learn.
Hey that sounds like me. As in, can you actually show where your definitions of analytical and the uh....African thing you allege to exist are in real life? I don't mean pointing at things resembling them because any theory could be proven that way. I mean something solid real I can look at or whatever.
Which more to the point I don't follow that this is even a separate mindset. In fact it's part of science. And all education.
By this vague a description then....this is experiments in science right? Putting on the gloves and goggles and holding a nickel over a bunsen burner to show something I would know if I were a science major.
Or to use my field of specialty. The "black" part of History/Geography/Political Science would be like taking an abroad trip to Cyprus and researching the ethnic conflict in the field.
Or....a more visual excercise or...
Well I dunno lemme wipe away a lot of what you're claiming this comes from, all the silly ethnic origin motherland talk. Because that really doesn't even matter.
It is what it (maybe) is. And so would you say that for whatever reason, wherever it comes from, African-Americans would do better to have hands on active visual exercises then lectures with writing on the chalkboard? And that this isn't common?
If so, ******** race, how could I get into THAT school. That would be my dream for real.
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Because the African worldview emphasizes interrelatedness, learning they believe, should have an intrinsic relationship to "real life". "Context" therefore, is very important in African American learning styles, because the child needs to know how material can be applied in the "context" of "their" personal lives. To become "one" with it, if you will. Therefore, African Americans often idealize "mentorship" qualities in teachers. Because in order for the teacher to know HOW to teach the African American child, the teacher needs to have an intimate understanding of where that child is coming from, and how they think--- because to black people, learning is about synthesizing the material with themselves.
Hmm, none of this stuff matters. Real or no.
Instead of these sort of...psuedo-anthropology things can you get some actual hard data from teachers and professionals (no not critical theory professors god) on sort of experimental alternative teaching methods with more hands on stuff. Again it really really doesn't matter where or why that preset exists, if it does is all. And if it does how can that be explored in schools.
Because it could potentially benefit a helluva lot more than African-Americans. Boys in general in fact, white or black, are said to be learners of that type. And uh me.
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- Unfortunately in Europeanized societies, many teachers don't think having an intimate understanding
of their students is a NECESSARY component of teaching.
Most teachers can't have intimate mentor relationships with students as fact of...reality. Class size and curriculum limits that. I assure you the part of the job teachers like best is making connections to kids.
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Simply being "nice" to children is sufficient and politically correct. This is because Europeanized cultures don't think that learning requires a whole lot of personal context.
I really strongly question that as being true.
Also what is "Europeanized" anyway.
Are we talking Germanic Europe? Presumably.
Because other parts are very different. Southern Europe in particular in many ways resembles African-American culture in regards to family life and so forth.
If you spent any amount of time with a particularly old world Italian or Greek family you'd definitely feel it more similar to the African-American one than if you were hanging with some WASPs or Germans.
I just think that sort of nuance is important to acknowledge.