Dear Bashasha,
Thanks again for your comments…
In my original post, I intentionally spoke about Two Notions of
Identity: the first is that of the Individual, and the second is that of the commonly known as National Identity. They’re somehow connected yet, in my view, they do not need to be synonymous. My emphasis is intentionally focused on the Individual, for I believe that it is the separate, individual notions of
Our Selves as Human beings that will, ultimately, make up
our more Humane Collective Notion of Identity whether we call this product a nation or something else! (of course, I clearly stated that I prefer to look for the
something else)!
Now, we seem to agree that there is a (
dominant description of the National Identity of Sudan of today, which we both question and describe as false and oppressive. (however, I will remind you that even within the forces that created this Image of the Sudanese Collective Self, there is continuous shifting and alterations at work; the troubled School of Forest & Desert is a good example! Another example is rather new and laughable: Hassan Al-Torabi has just stated two days ago that “we are Sood-a-nese, i.e. Blacks! And that we ought to go back to our roots…” a belated discovery he makes, after causing the deaths of tens of thousands of individual human beings through his racial and religious war.)
Since we agree on the falsehood of Arabism as a national identity (with all its variations) there are choices here that one can make.
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As I am familiar with your ideas as an African/Sudacentric advocator, I can describe your choice as a one that aims to replace this oppressive, false Arabism with
a True African Identity, which you believe is the accurate description of Who We Really Are. (
Correct me if am wrong in this.) I quote you from above
Quote:
I thought this is what we got in Sudan as of now, where our identity is not synonymous with our nationality!
we are (supposedly) Sudanese nationality wise, but falsely claim Arabism as identity!
Let us accept who we are first! |
Here within this frame of thought, lies our difference! I am oppose to the idea that there is a true Identity that need discovering… But before that, and to make my point (and choice) clearly stated I start with your views above, with which I disagree: I first do not agree on your all encompassing conclusion that:
| Quote: Race, gender, nationalism and patriotism are all derivatives of the materialistic western civilization/culture/system |
Of which comes your subsequent claim that
Quote: Racism is unconscious self defense mechanism of the "melanin deficient" whites!
Any mix with the more dominant black (Sudanese) genes, will literally annihilate the endangered (minority)whites! |
If I agree with you in this, how can we understand Arab Racism (and other kinds of racism for that matter), since they Arabs are neither Whites nor facing annihilation or extinction? And when you further say:
| Quote: Gender rivalry, is a product of their Patrilineal social and family structure. |
where do we place the well-documented history of discrimination against women in many cultures and civilisations
before the dominance of Western civilisation/systems, etc.? I will say the same about your comment on the origin of nationalism!
As for your equally encompassing claim that:
Quote:
Contrast this with the idealistic/spiritual-namely Sophist foundation of our African culture. Where racism, nationalism, patriotism… etc are alien concepts! |
I obviously disagree, and refer you to the many studies that argue like myself that
the idealistic spiritual Sophist foundation of African culture
is no less a myth than the other
Idealistic Eastern Spiritual Foundation that was also
discovered (that word, again!) by Western Orientalists!!
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Now the choice I make, after coming to the same conclusion about the falsehood and oppressive-ness of Arabic Identity in Sudan, differs. I head stright into attacking the very notion of Identity and consider it false from the start; hence my saying above:
| Quote: I think we can question all these illusions and come up with a newer and more creative description (or event a re-invented one) of Who We Want to Be (rather than who we think we are!). |
By thus shifting the emphasis of my choice I am effectively questioning not only the dominant description of our National Self as it stands now, but also
any claim of
a true description that hold in its hand the truth of Who We Really Are!
This is because, as I mentioned above, I am questioning the very notion of Identity, which is rather, in my opinion,
a constructed notion ; it is not a given reality that we can somehow
deduce or extract from somewhat
historical substance and then point to it cheerfully:
Hail… Here It Is… Here Is Who We Are! National Identity is not created through natural selection nor does it grow through forces of nature.
In other words,
We Make Our Identity… We Do Not Discover It We do that through our individual
and collective
consciousness, through our creative thinking and visions, and indeed through the struggle between our many choices and (I will not forget) through the struggle between social, cultural and political forces! (Sadly, with its innate oppressive nature, each of these forces always come up with the oppressive conclusion
that it, alone, had discovered/found our One-and-Only True Identity.)
Freeing myself from these illusions of nationhood and True Identity, I stand here, in this land of the possible, where I can then dream of Who I Want to Be… where I can also invite my fellow Sudanese to take destiny in their hands (in regard to our Collective Identity) by creating their own dreams…
With all due respect.
Farda
(I will come back to this page as soon as I return to my usual base)
*
farda
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست