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DainPig
Gondor
Jul 8 2015, 9:24pm
Post #1 of 8
(390 views)
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Why we learn so little about african kingdoms and empires?
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There's so african folks to learn about, but our children don't learn about it at the school. Why?
The Kush empire, the Mali empire, the Ghana kingdom.... many of us really don't know nothing about african culture.
In the school we learn about white kingdoms at Europe but nothing about Africa, only when we talk about slavery!
(sorry for the bad english)
How aaaaaaaaaaaaaare you all???
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Annael
Immortal
Jul 8 2015, 10:22pm
Post #2 of 8
(353 views)
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most "World Religions" classes ignore them entirely, and the original religions of different areas of Africa are quite beautiful.
http://www.ewao.com/...ever-heard-of-before
You are right, we are sadly uninformed about the largest continent on the planet.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Elarie
Grey Havens
Jul 8 2015, 10:33pm
Post #3 of 8
(350 views)
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The primary reason is cultural - Here in the U.S. it's been traditional for a long time to teach mostly European history because the majority of the population, and the people making the teaching decisions, were of European descent and until recently no one really questioned it.
Another reason is possibly the lack of extensive written records in certain cultures. Europe has so many written records that you can literally know what the Romans ate for dinner, but with cultures that didn't write everything down it can be really hard to piece together the events of their history.
__________________
Gold is the strife of kinsmen,
and fire of the flood-tide,
and the path of the serpent.
(Old Icelandic Fe rune poem)
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squire
Half-elven
Jul 9 2015, 1:04am
Post #4 of 8
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Quote from the classified ad that one of my students ran in our "Medieval Times" newspaper project in 10th grade Global History. Other headlines included "Europe Under Attack By Fleas!" and "Protesting Against the Church".
In the U.S. in the past two or three decades there have been major advances in teaching our students about Africa and other non-European parts of the world. In N.Y. state, where I teach, what used to be called "European History" is now called "Global History". Pre-colonial Africa, including the Kush, Mali, and Ghana, are covered in the 9th and 10th grades, with a state test (the 'Regents') at the end for which a passing grade is required for graduation.
That said, African history can get lost in the vast morass that is high school Global. The fabulous story of Mansa Musa, and the gold/salt trade out of Timbuktu, is what most students retain, in my opinion. A lot comes down to the teacher and what he or she is interested in and can convey to the students with enough passion and life for it to stick a bit in overstuffed, underengaged, young minds.
If, as your profile says, you're from Brazil, I guess I'm very surprised that your schools don't focus more on African history.
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Darkstone
Immortal
Jul 9 2015, 4:49pm
Post #5 of 8
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Back in high school I learned about African and Asian civilizations and religions in two semesters of World History. The course was required for graduation. Loved it! And that was in a poor cash-strapped lower-class school in the racist southern part of the US during the 1960s where we had to share textbooks.
So today's schools aren't teaching kids any of that stuff anymore? How sad!
******************************************
I met a Balrog on the stair.
He had some wings that weren't there.
They weren't there again today.
I wish he would just fly away.
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Elanor of Rohan
Lorien
Jul 10 2015, 5:04pm
Post #6 of 8
(253 views)
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therefore my POV is different of course, but one of the reasons lies in the lack of written documents. We study the colonization of Africa by the European powers, with all its disastrous consequences, but we retain our side of the story.
I don't know how many hours are dedicated to history in other countries' syllabuses but in two hours per week you have to make choices.
Of course it is always up to the teachers to prepare a project about it- and it would be interesting indeed.
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Salmacis81
Tol Eressea
Jul 10 2015, 10:10pm
Post #7 of 8
(237 views)
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Africa is not the largest continent on the planet...
[In reply to]
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...the Eurasia landmass is, by far. And Asia on it's own is still much larger than Africa.
Anyway, regarding the topic, I can recall learning a bit about Kush, Axum, and Timbuktu in history classes. But yeah, I guess that isn't very much.
Same goes for the Indian sub-continent and East Asia though. We learned bits and pieces about Mohenjo Daro, the ancient Chinese dynasties, the Mongol hordes, and feudal Japan, but not much more than that.
I WOULD say that Africa in antiquity is better represented in US history classes than, say, the early history of the Slavs and the formation of Russia, the Germanic tribes (who were mostly responsible for what we know as the "Dark Ages") or the history of Southeast Asia and Oceania, but I guess that's not really saying much.
But that was 15 years ago. I don't know how much things have changed since then.
(This post was edited by Salmacis81 on Jul 10 2015, 10:18pm)
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Salmacis81
Tol Eressea
Jul 10 2015, 10:22pm
Post #8 of 8
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...we learned quite a bit about pre-Columbian American civilizations like the Aztecs, the Mayans, and the Incas (even a bit about the Olmecs) and we also learned a lot about the ancient Middle Eastern civilizations like the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, the Hittites, etc. And we spent a ton of time on the Egyptians. It wasn't so Eurocentric back when I was in school.
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