On The Origin Of Blacks

On The Origin Of Blacks' Underdevelopment

Baba El-Yakubu

By any reasonable standard, black race is at the bottom of human development pyramid. In any field of human endeavor - material possessions, literature, culture or ability to organize into purposeful society - today, the race is at the lowest level of any scale. It is part of human nature to crave for more and better. All sensible humans aspire for prosperity and economic development. They go to any extent to avoid anything that may jeopardize their wellbeing. The fact that the blacks languish in avoidable deprivations and misery; leads to a necessary question. Are Blacks sensible humans? It is true that this question is problematic. It is based on some assumptions. But it is not unreasonable. There is nothing more important and nothing deserves our attention more than these types of questions about the present state of the black race. This attempt may unravel the difficulties associated with improving the blacks' conditions.

To answer the question, we need to address another difficult one. Why are blacks backward and underdeveloped? The two questions are linked because development is about learning and improving. A person may observe that another is better than him. Because he is sensible and intelligent; he imagines what he wants and finds ways to take him from where he is to where he wants go. If regression is accepted as a fact of life without attempt to learn and grow; then the first question arises. I have been grappling with the second question for more than two decades. I read books. I closely observe blacks and discuss my concern with others. Still I could not answer why they are retrogressive, unorganized, of low self-esteem and insignificant achievements. L. Sprague De Camp's "Ancient Engineers" and many other sources discuss important engineering feats of different races in different civilizations, but there is nothing significant recorded from black Africa. Last July a list of the new 'Seven Wonders of the World' was unveiled based on about 100m votes on the internet. There was no significant architectural or civil engineering feat from the blacks. If you look at economic indices such as purchasing power parity and gross domestic product per capita, blacks' countries are among the poorest of the poor. About 50 years ago, the GDP per capita of Ghana was higher then that of Malaysia and that of Taiwan was lower that that of Sudan. Today, the African countries are seeking economic aids from the Asians. Over the 1960-1973 period, the African countries growth rate was 2.0% compared with world average of 3.0% and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD countries of 4.2%. In 1981 – 1988; Africans exhibited negative growth rate (-0.1%) while OECDs had 2.9% growth. The blacks' countries are highly corrupt and unstable. Recent report of failed state shows a large percentage of them to be Blacks majority countries.

Many blame geography and colonialism. My observation is that the location is not an important factor. Blacks have the same characteristics irrespective of their past or current circumstances. Take group of blacks to any where – the Caribbean islands, South America or Papua New Guinea. It is the same story of political instability, abject poverty and retrogressions. They fail to organize themselves into a developed and vibrant nation. Compare them with non-blacks neighbors to see the irrelevance of geographical condition. Even in countries where they live along with other races (such as Dominican Republic, Mauritania and USA), blacks are at the bottoms of socioeconomic, political and intellectual ladders. The authors of the controversial "Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" used census and other data sources to show that blacks in the US were at the bottom of intelligence pyramid, irrespective of the environmental factors. Instead of chasing the shadow by focusing on symptoms such as corruption and poverty, the blacks' brains and how they function individually and in groups, may give the most important insight towards alleviating their despair.

It is true that colonialism and slavery disrupted African development or lack thereof. Other races had similar experiences, but were able to heal and move forward faster. For example, the development gap between Japan and its former colonies – Korea and Taiwan - is relatively small. But there are no significant differences on development scale among the blacks' countries of Haiti, Namibia and Ethiopia; despite their diverse experience with colonialism. Haiti was the first blacks' country to gain political independence while Namibia was the last. Ethiopia was not even directly colonized. These countries are not better than others. In fact, why the Blacks are the victims rather than culprits of colonialism? Why they could not developed effective tools to conquer other races? It is true that the blacks invented many tools necessary for their primitive survival. Why nothing else? It appears that they could not advance beyond certain limit of development. Therefore, they could not compete with others. Fernand Braudel's "A History of Civilizations" demonstrated that there was no apparent record of blacks' inferiority in the past. Their relative underdevelopment we observe today is perhaps a recent phenomenon. Or put another way, it seems other races were able to learn and progress at faster rate than the blacks.

This made colonialism and slavery inevitable. In the 1441 to 1860s, Africa witnessed the first wave of Western European conquests initiated by the Portuguese in West, South and East Africa. Dutch joined the scrambles for Africa by the invasion and encroachment in South Africa in the 1650's. There was also the Belgian conquest of the Congo by Leopold II in the 1860's. Why the Europeans were able to reach and conquest Africa? Why the Blacks could not retaliate? The answer is a simple fact that they had better tools. That is the availability of superior means of travel and subduing others based on better and organized brainpower. This gave them strength. It is an immutable law that the stronger always defeats the weaker. If we observe otherwise, we call it a miracle. As Prince Hector cautioned his religious father, King Priam; who was about to face enemies in an Oscar-nominated movie ‘Troy’, “Even Gods help the strongest”.

The period above, coincide with the many discoveries in Europe that led to the modern chemical industry and therefore more leverages against others. In 1600s and 1700s, Germany, France and England were already manufacturing chemicals to preserve food, make gunpowder, dye fabric and produce soap. I wonder what blacks were doing at that time! The race that is more intelligent develops necessary tools to dominate or colonize others. Gunpowder and its derivatives remain one of the most potent weapons in the arsenal of mankind. In my beloved Kano city we have a legend about how the Whiteman used gunpowder to destroy the city gate that was hitherto considered sacred and impenetrable by enemies. The residences were so 'shocked and awed' that still some refer to Whiteman as a lion. This is not a mere metaphoric syntax, but a psychological surrender to a superior brain. If a Muslim Hausaman wants explain how mighty and magnificent Allah is; he simply tells you that 'Allah is the one who could create a Whiteman in a single night'. He will say it with such assurance and finality that you wouldn't miss the point. Allah is great because He could create somebody so intelligent and powerful. As a group, Hausa tribe seems to accept the reality of its inferior position.

There are many current examples to buttress the fact that as a group, blacks are backward and unorganized. Europeans set up the first crude oil refineries in Austrian Empire in the year 1856. Today, 150 years after, blacks in Nigeria could not even maintain and run one refinery properly. About half of local gasoline demand is imported! Of all the major ingredients required for oil refining – solvents, catalysts etc – none is produced locally.

Take another example. I am traveling to the city of Kano for a summer break, but perennial water shortage is going to be my most important headache. Piped drinking water that is taken for granted in other places; is a rare luxury there. This is only one problem of a black community. Kano was founded more than 1,000 years back, but still in some places residences defecate and urinate on street sides. Its open gutters (if put end-to-end) are many times longer than its paved streets. Mountains of refuse dump compete for space with people in the city and surrounding areas. People carry on with daily life as if there is nothing wrong. It is common to see big signboard cautioning that "Do not defecate, urinate or dump refuse here". Kano is just one example. Go to Lagos, Brixton, Harlem or that bastion of drug-induced blacks' self-destruction - the inner cities of aborigines in Australia to see blacks in squalor. Visit Faisalia - that island of poverty in the midst of abundance – in the outskirt of Riyadh, to see former black slaves wallowing in deprivation. These places are like stable where blacks carry their lives akin to mentally retarded herd that could not organize themselves into purposeful groups.

I am not saying Blackman is unintelligent. The point is blacks are less intelligent compare with other races. Individually, Blackman can be a hero, but as a group he is a failure. He is on a level zero on the scale of human development. I had opportunities to study with or teach students of different racial backgrounds. My observation is that as individual, black is generally of similar 'quality' compared with others. Go to any place, where blacks are given the opportunity to see their individual performances. Commensurate to his opportunities, his general performances are similar to that of any other person. As a group, however; they are a different story. This leads to an obvious question. Does the Blackman's brain works differently in such a way that it cannot produce the necessary synergy when it interacts with others? Per Bak's "How Nature Works: The Science of Self-Organized Criticality" gives insights into the necessity of certain minimum number of individuals for any group to evolve into a desired structure and behavior. There are many progressive and intelligent blacks. But it seems they are not able to create a critical mass necessary to achieve anything tangible and irreversible in their society. This deficiency appears to be the bane of the black race.

This mysterious Black Gap (between individuals and group achievements) may be decreased by improving the quality of more and more Africans. Generally, human quality increases by imparting appropriate education. Perhaps blacks need higher ratio of educated population to be able to gravitate towards irreversible state of development. Therefore, Africa should take education (special education, I mean) as a means of turning Blackman's fortunes. Special because based on their disposition and characteristics, they need special curriculum design, delivery tools, testing methods and indicators of outcomes. Perhaps all along, African educationists (burdened by the colonial legacy) have been using wrong approaches. Education may be part of the answer. As H. G. Well suggested, education is the greatest social equalizing tool. In fact, we have seen this in our time. Within one to two generations, India has been transformed from what Mao described as a "country of Taj Mahal and poverty" to one that a BBC ad touted as an "incredible India" – a destination for outsourcing, IT and tourism. All over the world, Indians are known (not as criminals and butlers), but as service providers, university professors and businessmen. Today, non-residence Indians (NRI) is the richest race in Diaspora. China used to be associated with hunger and starvation. Today it is the engine of the world economy. Before this, the Asian tigers – witnessed exponential growth from rural and underdeveloped economy to developing ones. Scholars have associated these rapid developments to the earlier improvement in the human quality. Robert Solow of MIT received 1987 Nobel Prize for his work on determining the sources of economic growth. He concluded that the bulk of such growths are the result of technological advances. In turn, the technology is related to investment in human capital – through education, training and effective healthcare.

However, human capital development cannot be achieved overnight. It takes time. In the interim, blacks need to take action. We have to face reality as it is, not as we want it to be. It remains a fact today that Blackman is a disgrace to himself and a liability to the world. As blacks, this is a fact of our life. Racists and bigots may use it as excuses to disrespect, dehumanize and enslave us. They may write and say unsavory things about us. This should serve as a clear reminder to us that all is not well. Instead of burying our heads or taking arms, we should look at these facts and ponder. Instead of asking who is right, we should be more interested in what is right. Therefore, earlier we start addressing this issue the better. Accepting this fact may lead to a new paradigm in blacks' relation with other races. If we assume that all races are equal (which tragically is the case in today's world), a game based on the "survival of the fittest" will always end with weakest as the looser. With the world's 'dog eats dog' mentality, is there any wonder why scramble for Africa led to colonialism, slavery, etc? How about considering the fact that not all dogs are equal? (apology to George Orwell). If we accept that blacks are not equal to other races in certain critical 'qualities', it will lead to a change in the 'rule of engagement' and the game will be fairer. UN, IMF, WTO, US, EU, etc will have a different moral challenge while dealing with the Africa south of Sahara. It will also give the Geldofs, Bonos and Gates stronger ground to fight African Poverty.

Geldof's beautiful BBC documentary and book, Geldof in Africa demonstrate African poverty and development challenges. Everybody knows that blacks have peculiar problems. But many blacks are afraid of reality. Instead of looking for help, they prefer self-delusions and excuses. Whether Europe underdeveloped Africa or Africans underdeveloped Africa, as some authors suggest, or that blacks were left plundered, disoriented and confused by their triple heritage, is not our concern here. As blacks, we need to be realistic and dispassionate. Look around the world. Are what you see what blacks deserve? Our attempt here is to suggest why (in a group) blacks are retrogressive and unorganized. I believe Blackman is sensible and intelligent like other humans, but he ceases to display sensible human behaviors (that lead to prosperity and progress) when he forms a group. There is a gap between individuals' and group's learning and growth. Therefore, Africans appear to need higher ratio of improved/educated part of population than other races to be able to gravitate towards a critical mass of individuals necessary to form useful and irreversible characteristics. Otherwise, there may be ‘spur of a moment’ progress that may soon dissipate. This means we should imbibe the culture of learning and education. At same time, we should surrender to the fact that as a group, we have problem. We need help. "Accurate diagnosis", as they say, "is half the cure". I believe it is part of our moral obligation as blacks to discuss and diagnose the so-called blacks' curse and attempt to solve it or invite others to fix us.