By Pearson Mbendera
(News Of The South) – I am an African. And given the title of this article I don’t want to be a hypocrite and say that I am proud of being African. Maybe that’s just taking it too far. But we all have heard people say that they are proud of being African. But what does that really mean I wonder?
I am a huge sports fan and I have watched many athletes represent their countries with pride. They carry the flag of their nations with them and the way they participate in their various sporting disciplines, they will be flying the flags of their nations up high. That’s pride at its highest level, and I do admire such pride and dedication from these athletes.
Recently I watched a video clip of four African people being beaten and burnt to death by their fellow Africans and my jaw just dropped to floor as I couldn’t imagine any reasonable motive behind such an inhumane torture of your fellow Africans. Because they spoke in their native language I couldn’t make what they were saying and what crime these four had committed to deserve such a harsh punishment. But I close my eyes and see the face of an old man crying and being burnt alive and another guy striking this old man with a tree branch and just thinking, Lord can he just stop.
I’m no stranger to violence, I have watched enough share of violence on television but it was all acting, nothing real and it’s different when you see it happening for real. But you lose it all when you watch someone enjoying beating another human being and setting them on fire while the children stand and watch as it all happens. I couldn’t help it but ask, are we cursed as a people?
But that video confirmed what I already feared about my fellow Africans, we have been too harsh on each other, something that shouldn’t make us proud of ourselves. There is too much hate amongst us that makes the injustice the whites did to us look less inhumane. Where is the love that conquers all, or was it just another story told that never materialized?
I am proud of being African is just a defensive phrase people use because this continent is backward in some ways. Oh things are bad in Africa but I’m proud of my continent. There is no clean water to drink but I am proud of Africa. Infant mortality is high but still I am pride of my African roots. We have blood diamonds but guess what I am still pride. That’s just rubbish. Let’s face facts; there isn’t anything to be proud of here in Africa.
If being proud of being African means that we will have diamonds mines but people will die for them to be mined and that I won’t walk around wearing diamonds then count me out. If being African means there will be massive corruption and fraud by elected officials while the masses suffer then I’m not proud. If being proud means that we will always be fighting each other that we don’t produce homegrown solutions to our problems, that we won’t take responsibility for all the bad decisions we make then I’m definitely not proud.
But when I mention these things my patriotism for Africa gets questioned. I will fight for Africa as best as I can. But patriotism shouldn’t be blind. We shouldn’t ignore the stupid things we do all in the name of patriotism. I believe we are the most destructive people on the face of earth. For all the natural resources that the good Lord has given us, we have used all of them just to bring each other down.
And you wonder why the entire juju we have is just used to hurt each other, nothing constructive. If I can’t have it no one else should is the mentality that is carried by most African people. No one is really happy to witness the success and happiness of his or her neighbor, just more reason to hate. Where will that take us?
We have faced enough injustice from the white people through slavery and colonization, but the greatest injustice that an African has suffered has been to the hands of another African. We blame the white people for all our problems but we have been crueler to ourselves yet for every bad thing we have done to ourselves, we have cast a blind eye. Oh, how proud are we to be such a hateful people.
We have seen civil wars, acts of genocide, human rights violation, xenophobia, tribalism, religious disputes, human trafficking, torture, mass murder, miscarriage of justice all that happening in Africa, committed by Africans against Africans. Yet at the end we cry foul to the injustice we suffered to the hands of the whites.
In many circles, not being proud of where you come from makes you look like a terrorist. I’m not a terrorist and my thoughts aren’t the reason why Africa isn’t doing well, so don’t put the blame on me. I could say I’m proud of being African like everyone else and not mean it. But does it really matter.
The African pride is just a myth; just like the other make-believe stories we have been told. How can you be proud of the way things are? We owe it to ourselves to make this continent a better place, only then can we walk with our heads up high and say we are proud to being Africans and not a second before that. We have so much in common yet we have found the little things that divide us worthy enough to fight over. Maybe I am wrong; maybe this is how good we will ever have it in Africa. If that’s the case then well, we should be proud.
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