[kictanet] Interesting Piece ...

Thu Jan 26 11:46:19 EAT 2012

Daniel,

I am not sure why you find it surprising to see such an article.
The only difference between Walter and many others of his kind is that he is
brave enough to speak it aloud. That does not change what many others think-
they think the same.
There is only one solution- TO ACT.
We all know what ails our lovely continent, what needs to be done, what we are
capable of etc.
Time to act. Less talk, more action.
It is the same practice in various aspects: whether it is black vs white, rich
vs poor, one ethnic tribe vs another- the more dominant one takes advantage of
the perceived "weaker" one. It is up to the "weaker" one to rise up and turn the
tables around.
Look at the case here in Kenya. The majority are in the "poorer" bracket but
always used by the rich to help them remain in their powerful positions.
The masses are yet to learn they have the power in their hands to bring about
the change they want rather than blame the rich for exploiting them.
It is the same mockery Walter is giving in the article. 
Why give anyone a chance to trample on you? Instead of moaning, we should simply
rise up and turn the tables around! Let us have the last laugh!

My two cents.

Gilda Odera

Quoting Daniel Waweru <daniel.waweru at gmail.com>:

> Thanks for the warm words, and apologies for the language.
> 
> It really is something of a surprise to see a piece like this; a piece
> couched explicitly in the language of superiority and inferiority. I mean,
> in my experience, nobody---except internet trolls and a segment of White
> rightwing opinion---actually thinks like this. If White folks by and large
> don't think this stuff, what possible reason is there for this silliness?
> 
> Daniel Waweru
> www.kenyaimagine.com
> Art and analysis; debate and opinion.
> 
> 
> On 23 January 2012 14:09, S.M. Muraya <murigi.muraya at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > Responding to Daniel's mostly excellent comments... Not to Darwinist /
> > Evolutionist ideologies which "justified" Colonial Practice.
> >
> > No need for the kind of foul language used by Colonials to describe
> > "Inferiors".
> >
> > What matters most is how we Africans treat each other. Do we believe in
> > "Do to others as we would have them do to us"?
> >
> > Polygamy never opened schools to educate Africans...
> >
> > The Principle / Conviction... "Do to others as you would have them do to
> > you" .... drove a few decent Euros to found schools / colleges such as
> > Alliance High, Precious Blood, Strathmore, Kianda, etc...
> >
> > This while their Darwinist kinsmen opened Colonial schools Africans were
> > not welcome to attend...
> >
> > Most of us love sports / games not formed in Africa but we reject as
> > "Foreign" more Universal / Civilizing principles such ... "Do to others as
> > you would have them do to you..."
> > On Jan 23, 2012 4:31 PM, "Daniel Waweru" <daniel.waweru at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> There doesn't appear to be a valid arguments in the piece.
> >>
> >> Walter argues as follows:
> >>
> >> (1) Africans are inferior.
> >>
> >> (The criterion for inferiority is White opinion. If White people *think*
> you're
> >> inferior, then you are. Walter clearly thinks Africans are inferior, and
> >> the listener, idiot that he is, accepts the thought.)
> >>
> >> (2) Africans are inferior *not* because they live in a world whose rules
> >> are set by people hostile to their interests, and have inherited a legacy
> >> of colonialism, slavery, apartheid and the like.
> >>
> >> (3) Africans are inferior because they don't make stuff.
> >>
> >> (Sub-argument: Africans don't make stuff because their intellectuals are
> >> stupid and lazy.)
> >>
> >> (4) Therefore, if Africans start making stuff, they'll stop being
> >> inferior.
> >>
> >> The argument neatly destroys itself. Walter tells us that if Africans
> >> made stuff, they would no longer be inferior. Now, the test of
> inferiority
> >> is White opinion, as both Walter and his listener make clear. So, all we
> >> have to do to test the argument is to look for examples of what White
> >> people think of non-White people who make things. The evidence is not far
> >> to seek, since *in the very same piece*, Walter claims that White people
> >> have contempt for Asians (I assume he means Indians and Chinese). Asians
> >> make things, yes, but, in the White view, according to Walter, they *
> >> stole* the technology for making it. Therefore, they remain inferior.
> >>
> >> Similar arguments can be found in the comments of any right-wing
> >> newspaper in English. Even where the industrial achievements of China or
> >> India are commended, White commentators will argue that Chinese, Indians
> or
> >> other East Asians are incapable of original thought. Their achievements
> are
> >> simply a copy of White achievement. There is no reason to think that
> making
> >> things will cause Africans to stop being regarded as inferior.
> >>
> >> The basic move here is the basic move in lots of colonial arguments. In
> >> virtue of being human, Africans are the equal of anyone else. The
> >> colonialist wants inequality. He has then to find a way to convince
> himself
> >> and others *either* that Africans are not human, *or* that equality
> >> rests on something other than humanity. Walter tells us that equality
> rests
> >> on the ability to make things. In the distant past, (see the concluding
> >> chapter of Johnston's A history of the colonisation of Africa by alien
> >> races <http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924074488234>), we were told
> >> that Africans were inferior because they had been unable to find a form
> of
> >> racial unity. Since they were unable to find a form of racial unity, they
> >> were doomed to be the servants of superior races from Africa and Asia. In
> >> the slightly less distant past (see Christopher Wilson's Kenya's
> >> Warning: The Challenge to White Supremacy in Our
>
Colony<http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Kenya_s_warning.html?id=8a0vAAAAIAAJ>)
> >> we were told that Africans were inferior, because their *cultures* were
> >> inferior, they circumcised their women and they were polygamous,
> therefore
> >> they had not earned the right to rule themselves. Examples could be
> >> multiplied. It's bad enough to have to read this shit from defenders of
> >> colonialism in the past and present, but I was not expecting to have to
> put
> >> up with it from Africans themselves.
> >>
> >> Daniel Waweru
> >> www.kenyaimagine.com
> >> Art and analysis; debate and opinion.
> >>
> >>
> >> On 22 January 2012 19:13, Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> If we look beyond the effrontery there are very valid arguements
> >>> there. Look at India - they manufacture many things - and yes they
> >>> still have poverty but they are slowly clawing their way out of an
> >>> abyss.
> >>>
> >>> I hear we have a bullet factory in eldoret - why can we not make
> >>> bicycles? We had the nyayo pioneer car and I would like to hear a
> >>> valid arguement why that could not have taken off and why we have
> >>> become a nation of ex-Japan cars. We used to have a good textile
> >>> industry but someone saw fit to allow containers of used clothes into
> >>> the country - now we have decently dressed, hungry and jobless people.
> >>>
> >>> I think the tone is harsh but sometimes we need to take bitter pills.
> >>> There is a generation growing up in Kenya who will start asking these
> >>> same questions - and we cannot wish away the problem and either have
> >>> to find credible answers or bring about some change.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On 22/01/2012, Daniel Waweru <daniel.waweru at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> > Astonishingly stupid piece. I wouldn't have been surprised had it
> >>> turned
> >>> > out that Ewart Grogan had written it. This part, in particular, is
> >>> > exceptionally stupid:
> >>> >
> >>> > Knowing well that King Cobra will not embody innovation at Walter’s
> >>> level
> >>> >> let’s begin to look for a technologically active-positive leader who
> >>> can
> >>> >> succeed him after a term or two. That way we can make our own stone
> >>> >> crushers, water filters, water pumps, razor blades, and harvesters.
> >>> Let’s
> >>> >> dream big and make tractors, cars, and planes, or, like Walter said,
> >>> >> forever remain inferior.
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > since it *fully* accepts the colonial premiss that the human value of
> >>> > people depends on their level of technological advancement. The author
> >>> > proves his point about African intellectuals, if not in quite the way
> >>> he
> >>> > expects.
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > Daniel Waweru
> >>> > www.kenyaimagine.com
> >>> > Art and analysis; debate and opinion.
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > On 22 January 2012 17:30, Agosta Liko <agostal at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> >>
> >>> >>
> >>>
> http://mindofmalaka.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/you-lazy-intellectual-african-scum/
> >>> >>
> >>> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>>
> >>>
> >>> --
> >>> Francis Hook
> >>> +254 733 504561
> >>>
> >>
> >>
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> >>
> >> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> >> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> >> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> >> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and
> development.
> >>
> >> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> >> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and
> bandwidth,
> >> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> >> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
> >>
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> 

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