Honour

It has been pointed out before I think, that there is another African experience outside the usa. I will not speak of the Caribbean because that has already been done. What should be kept in mind before assertions about how 'light'-skinned blacks oppress no one systematically is the fact that the majority ofAfricans do not live in the usa, so, conditions in the usa cannot be used as a basis for theorising on thier condition. In fact, the majority of Africans live in Africa and in Africa, there have been for many centuries, communities who have differentiated themselves from the BLACK mass on the basis of THIER appearance. Some of these refer to themselves as arabs, others claim a different semitic origin. These people, in most cases have ruled over societies where social position was based either on membership of the physically differentiated group or service to the physically differentiated group.

And on occasion, the group to whom one is SEEN to belong to has been the difference between living or dying. In other words, we are not just talking about 'privileges' like getting a good job.

Points of view that are based on LOCAL experience should not be extended to represent the norm. After all, we have criticised 'white' people for doing the very same thing (when they go on about thier 'values' being universal values).