Politics of skin color: ancient egypt

Photo by BamBuk

                   African Origin of Civilization Myth or Reality by Chiekh Anta Diop 
Chapter Twelve, 
Mr. Raymond Mauny a heavy critic of Diop's work stated in his criticism that, ''to determine  the amount of melanin in pigmentation.'' (Diop., page 237), must be known and made available to the public. He does not believe Diop's findings of facts that assert that the ancient Egyptian were Black-skinned Africans. Because that would upset the white supremacist view of Black Africans and would expose modern daylight robbery of African people of their authentic history.

The Oracles of Amon and Dodona were two kidnapped Black-skinned women from Upper, Egypt according to Herodotus. This is an example of one of the most respected scholars in antiquity describing the ancient Egyptians. I doubt he was confused about their colour and appearance. The ancients were descriptive and were down to the last detail as far as detailing red, yellow, and brown undertones of people they've encountered. ''We shall see that for Herodotus, the Egyptian had black skin, woolly hair, and was circumcised.'' (Diop., page 243). 

Mr. Raymond Mauny continues by saying,  
''I fail to see anything that proves that the Egyptian were black.'' (Diop., page 245). He comes from a generation that has strong negative beliefs about Blacks. He cannot reconcile Diop's finding with his fundamental racist training in education and waking life in a white world. For Diop to be right it would mean western civilization was influenced by the very same people enslaved in the Americas, Carribean and so on. 

Another famous tool of deflection that is used is, ''that in Egypt there was a melange of various races.'' (Diop., page 247). The first white population in Egypt were branded, slaves. It was only after the Egyptian dynasty was conquered in 525 B.C by Persia did Asiatics and so on continue to dominate. Such people were not the foundation of the Egyptian dynasty but were beneficiaries of its decline. White people then benefitted from the overthrow of the authentic rulers and then began to write and deceive the world of Egypt's authentic beginnings, being a Negro one. 

Diop continues by saying, ''the colour of the Egyptians has become lighter down through the years, like that of West Indian Negroes, but the Egyptians have never stopped being Negroes.'' Diop., page 249). Meaning regardless of what happened in Egypt up to this day. The people in the land are the descendants of the ancient Black population that were conquered. ''The intellectual and affective dispositions of present-day Blacks are the same as those of the people who edited the hieroglyphic texts of the pyramids and other monuments and sculptured bas-reliefs of the temples.'' (Diop., page 250). Current day African people should not be judged through the lense of colonization that took thousands of years. Ancient African societies that were conquered became re-tribalize out of survival. African people should not be judged by what they did to survive but instead, we should understand what took place to understand the spiral decline.

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