(Viera, de Montellano, and Barbour, 1997: 431). The author gives pictures of examples of negroid statues in pre-Columbian America, often with black people in comparison. There are Egyptian-like pyramids in the Americas and mummified persons similar to those in Egypt. suddenly this stream widened, and they saw in the distance what looked at first like a drifting island of black menWe estimated on examination that there might be about one hundred and fifty at the most; they appeared very well-built, exceedingly black, and all clothed in white cotton shirts. On 7 July 1987, Van Sertima testified before a United States Congressional committee to oppose recognition of the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's "discovery" of the Americas. Did we learn anything in there that I had simply forgotten? (Van Sertima, 1972: xiv; They Came Before Colombus). Columbus' "accidental stumbling into the Caribbean," theorist Ivan Van Sertima of Rutgers University said, followed incursions by native Africans who left traces in art, artifacts, maps, language, cultural influences and accounts related to early European explorers. Van Sertima's work on Olmec civilization has been criticised by Mesoamerican academics,[17] who describe his claims to be ill-founded and false. In doing so, he also attempts to combat the perceived inferiority of black Africans due to their perceived lack of technological or cultural advancements prior to colonialism in Africa. Last week came purported evidence that the Chinese admiral Zheng He sailed his great fleet of junks round the world a century before Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan. 1. How convenient. All of these claims are incrediblewhich means that they deserve incredible evidence in order to verify them. A second problem with the manner in which Van Sertima uses this piece of information is the assumption that the black people whom de Las Casas refers to were African. He talks about the risk factors for Bitcoin as an investment asset including origin risk, speculative market structure, regulatory, and environment. It was also concluded that it was not likely that these seeds were carried by birds. Experts have determined that the gourds floated across the Atlantic and washed ashore in the Americas to be adopted by Mesoamerican cultures. Reading these volumes sparked his interest in carrying further what Weiner, with his lack of knowledge about anthropology and archeology, had only suggested: the idea that Americans came to the Americas - and stayed - 2,000 years before Columbus. In addition, Spanish explorers found African war captives with American Indian tribes. Long time lurker, first time poster. [13] Van Sertima also discussed African scientific contributions in an essay for the volume African Renaissance, published in 1999 (he had first published the essay in 1983). [15], A chapter is also devoted to the presence of bottle gourds originally from Africa found in ancient Mesoamerican graves. Some paint themselves white, others red, and others of what color they find. Van Sertima cites a number of other European explorers who he claims reported seeing black people in the Americas as well. In the book They Came Before Columbus written by Ivan Van Sertima, chapter twelve, "Mystery of Mu-lan-pi", there is a reoccurring theme of disproving the notion that Columbus brought over many different things and products from his expeditions to American to the Eastern parts of the world when in reality . here is no question but that the book is landmark." John A- Wi am. From left to right are: Comes Again, Iron Hawk, High Eagle, Dewey Beard and John Sitting Bull. They noted that Olmec stone heads were carved hundreds of years prior to the claimed contact and only superficially appear to be African; the Nubians whom Van Sertima had claimed as their originators do not resemble these "portraits". document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. In the first place, there are no Egyptian historical records which suggest that the Egyptians ever sailed to America or even attempted such a journey. Columbus actually said in the journal of his second voyage when he was in Haiti, then known as Espanola, Native Americans came to him and told him that Black people had come in large boats from the south and southeast trading in gold-tipped metal spears. The book deals mostly with his arguments for an African origin of Mesoamerican culture in the Western Hemisphere. In Chapter Four, "Africans Across the Sea", Van Sertima explores numerous ways that he claims Africans could have travelled by boat to South and Central America. This was all that I could recall being formally taught. He arrived on these shores at about the same time that the Spanish defeated the Moors - and destroyed more than 3,000 Arab documents and many libraries. According to Dr. Van Sertima, whose book "They Came Before Columbus" (Random House, 1976) suggests Africans were in the New World before Columbus's journeys, the mainstream of academia. [15] A certain kind of shadow lifts. brilliantly [demonstrates] has that there is far more to black history than the slave trade."John A. Williams They Came Before Columbus reveals a compelling, dramatic, and superbly detailed documentation of the presence and legacy of Africans in ancient America.Examining navigation and shipbuilding; cultural analogies between Native Americans and Africans; the . No man who believes his history began with slavery can be a healthy man. In How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney explained that if any African canoes reached the Americas (as is sometimes maintained) they did not establish two-way links. If these two-way links were established, Umar fails to cite specific examples because there are no examples. I came here before you to correct this myth of Columbus, to present a more objective vision of our American history. Zinn perpetuates Koning's smears. Van Sertimas case in They Came Before Columbus is the best known, certainly not the only one. With that being said, the narration isnt the best that Ive heard. He never returned, though some (including Van Sertima) argued that he arrived in the Americas. All Rights Reserved. From 1957 to 1959, Van Sertima worked as a Press and Broadcasting Officer in the Guyana Information Services. So total is the Euro-Americans onslaught on black people that . Black settlements developed at the end points of major currents from Africa, he contended. They wear the hairs brought down to the eyebrows, except a few locks behind, which they wear long and never cut. Human Biodiversity, IQ, Evolutionary Psychology, Epigenetics and Evolution, Home Refuting Afrocentrism They Did Not Come Before Columbus. Many historians have worked at debunking the They Came Before Columbus and Africans Were Already In America myth. They would claim them as west African too if they could. Theres not a shred of evidence to prove this. In 1997 academics in a Journal of Current Anthropology article criticised in detail many elements of They Came Before Columbus (1976). (LogOut/ ", Van Sertima said he didn't travel much to research the book. Bro, are you serious now?Who brought the slaves from Africa, native Indians or Columbus Europeans?When did slave trade start that Red-Indians became yall history?So in a bid to stay off Africans yall tracing your ancestry to Indians?Mehn thats something else. In Chapter 5, called "Among the Quetzalcoatls", Van Sertima narrates the arrival of Abu Bakr II to an Aztec civilization in Mexico in 1311, describing the Mali king as "a true child of the sun burned dark by its rays" in direct and explicit comparison to the Aztec "sun god" Quetzalcoatl, as Van Sertima writes. There are, of course, numerous problems with these claims: most importantly, the evidence that Van Sertima provides in his book to prove an ancient African presence in America is highly lacking. [5] They further noted that in the 1980s, Van Sertima had changed his timeline of African influence, suggesting that Africans made their way to the New World in the 10th century B.C., to account for more recent independent scholarship in the dating of Olmec culture. I have, 2600 words What do normativity and intentionality mean? Laster that year he returned to this country to teach at Rutgers. Moreover, how would he have known? There are many similarities between Egyptian civilization and Native American cultures. One of the most baffling claims to me is the idea that the slave trade happened inreverseand that Native Americans were shipped to Africa, not the other way around. I knew that the subjext was suspect. The slave ship narrative is a myth. Sometimes the conversation will somehow, turn into a history lesson about China. ( Van Sertima, 1972: xiv; They Came Before Colombus) Ivan Van Sertima is a fringe Afrocentric theorist (they all are), who argued that there was an African presence in America, long before Colombus set shore in the Bahamas in 1492. [16], Van Sertima argues that African contact likely happened more than once. Mike Harrington: His team looks good, even without Alex Tuch. So below are my questions: Is there any truth or evidence that strongly supports the argument that Africans arrived in the Americas before Columbus? Others hold true to the story of the American slave trade in which enslaved Africans were brought to Americas shores to provide free labor to build the country and grow the economy. What did I know or was taught? Thus, historians of the time removed, ignored, or minimized any evidence of black contributions to ancient Egyptian civilization. Reportedly, from American historian and linguist Leo Weiner of Harvard Universitys book Africa and the Discovery of America (Ill have to add that one to the list too) in one of Columbuss journals there is an account of a statement by the Native Americans saying that they had encountered black people prior to the arrival of Columbus. But once we understand, 1250 words Science is concerned with studying physical processes and phenomena. This work was published by Random House and did not go through a peer review process. He was a . This interaction is not rooted in historical evidence and Van Sertima does not offer a cited source to back up his narrative. In 1970 Van Sertima immigrated to the United States, where he entered Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for graduate work. Moreover, he suggests that an early 14th-century Atlantic expedition headed by Mali King Abu Bakari II may have reached the Americas. He was asked to write a magazine piece simplifying and summarizing Weiner. A generation of work in this area had unearthed a large number of Negroid heads in clay, gold, copper and copal sculpted by pre-Colombian American artists. This two-way trade never happened. Click Here to Get Smart on Protecting Your Family and Loves Ones, No Matter What Happens. In fact, that . 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On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. In a Medaille College debate moderated by Jesse E. Nash Jr., a Canisius College professor, Barbour and Van Sertima squared off over a theory that has found its way into American classrooms through adoption of "multicultural" materials and curricula. However, Columbus actually sent back on a mail boat to Spain samples of these gold-tipped metal spears. Van Sertima, 42, here Saturday for the concluding day of the third annual black writers conference sponsored by Howard University, said the pervious to original thought, who will letters exposed Daniel as "a man imnot even do honest battle with ideas he contends but tries to drown out in a sea of vituperation and abuse.". Dwayne is the author of Kingdoms and Civilizations of Africa and several other books on African and African Diaspora history. If you lift that shadow, you help repair that damage. Also according to Polish craniologist Wiercinsky 13.5% of skeletons in a pre-classic Olmec cemetery of Tlatilco were negroid which decreased in percentage over time, indicating intermixture with the native population over time. From rhinoplasty to cataract replacement, the Hindu vedic text Sushruta Samhita documents the discovery of advanced surgical techniques centuries before they found their way into the operating theaters of western Europe. He was one of the few academics who was brave enough to refute Afrocentric claims; unfortunately many academics are too afraid to criticize and reject pseudo-historical Afrocentrism because as soon they do that Afrocentrists start personally attacking them. As expected, this book has caused controversy and many of Van Sertimas have been debated over the years, but this book still remains a good look into possible history. The view is based almost completely on just observing the facial features of the Olmec colossal heads, as described by Van Sertima above. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Van Sertima answers that Africans were indeed sailors, that a division of Negro sea captains and mariners is reported to have been in the Egyptian navy of the 19th dynasty and the East Africans sailed between their countries and China in the 13th century. First discovered by Charles Spearman in 1904, noting that schoolchildren, 1550 words Introduction The role of the Jews in the slave tradeand in the civil warhas garnered a great amount of scholarly attention. Yeah, they forget about the actual red dark Indians in India. "I felt like a man who had come upon a dozen clues to a sensational murder but did not feel too confident about the evidence," he has written. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America at Amazon.com. They follow that quote with this statement: "In spite of the above evidence, education and curriculum development literature are generally silent on the Olmecs" (pg 5). The professor said that he was intrigued but skeptical when he first encountered the idea of ancient African contact with the Americas. Your email address will not be published. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, Sabres place Alex Tuch on injured reserve; top-line winger's status is uncertain, Paula's Donuts to move Clarence store that faced backlash for tax breaks to Amherst, Nebraska cheerleader competes by herself at state competition, but crowd doesn't let her feel alone, Chad Hall's departure from Buffalo Bills to Jaguars remains a bit of a mystery. This finding flatly contradicted the claim of the historian Herodotus that the Egyptians, compared to the Greeks and other European Caucasoids, were for the most part a black-skinned and wooly-haired people. He describes how Africans and Phoenicians probably made joint voyages to the Americas around 800 B.C., when the Olmec people lived in the coastal region near the Gulf of Mexico, evidence of African influence there, he said, can be seen in an array of material, including the four colossal Negroid stone heads found near La Venta, Mexico. The majority of us here in America the descendant of slaves were already aboriginal in America and were the slave population of choice. There have been a number of diffusion theories regarding the Olmec. Glyn Daniel, an archaeology professor at Cambridge University, called Van Sertimas book ignorant rubbish in a review he wrote for The New York Times Book Review. - Ivan Van Sertima Van Sertima said: "Many people feel a certain kind of happiness when they read my book. They never did import Africans as slaves because slave ships aren't real. Van Sertima uses written, archaeological, and cultural evidence to support his thesis. Travel between Africa and the Americas was possible, says Van Sertima, because of the worldwide ocean winds and currents that caused drift routes from east to west. His article "The Lost Sciences of Africa: An Overview" (1983) discusses early African advances in metallurgy, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, engineering, agriculture, navigation, medicine and writing. We need to know about the time when we had empires. There are similarities in Egyptian and Olmec figures such winged-discs consisting of a serpent and wings in both societies. During the 1960s, he worked for several years in Great Britain as a journalist, doing weekly broadcasts to the Caribbean and Africa. Kenneth L. FedderKenneth L. Feder, a specialist in archaeological pseudoscience, addresses prevalent misconceptions about the settlement of the Americas, discussing how they are stimulated by ethnic pride and religious faith, propagated uncritically in the media, and accepted by students. If you are experiencing difficulties logging in or are a subscriber getting a paywall, please try one or more of the following steps. Occasionally, Ive been asked by my colleagues some form of the question, Where are you from?, No, like where is your family from? If similar stones whose purpose were known to be to depict Native Americans did not also have these facial features, then this could argue against the possibility that the features of the statues were simply a Native American style. In addition, there are stories of Egyptian mariners. There is far more to Black history than the slave trade alright. I am of what you would call, recent African ancestry. I also work with many foreign-born Chinese people. History, as taught in the Western and Western-dominated world, gives the impression that the first Africans to reach the Americas were brought as slaves, in shackles on slaves-ships. West May 9, 1977 Anthropologist-linguist Ivan Van Sertima has set ablaze a mini-controversy with his thesis that Africans. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. It provides further evidence that all great civilizations and races are heavily indebted to one another and that no race has a monopoly on enterprise and inventive genius. Van Sertima repeated this claim again when he testified in front of the House of Representatives: Now, I am not the first to suggest that there were Africans in America before Columbus, Columbus was the first to suggest it. If I didnt look for it myself I was probably wasnt going to learn much more. When the metallurgists in Spain assayed these spears, they found they were identical, not similar, but were identical in their ratio of gold, silver and copper alloys as spears then being forged in African Guinea. The book is a special May selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club and Tandom House is about to publish a second printing. Many historians have worked at debunking the "They Came Before Columbus" and "Africans Were Already In America" myth. Incrediblewhich means that they deserve incredible evidence in order to verify them I didnt look for it myself was! The book deals mostly with his thesis published by Random House and did not go a. Have reached the Americas article criticised in detail many elements of they Before., often with black people they came before columbus debunked I am of what color they find,! 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