ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

African History 5: The Rise of Pan-Africanism 15 Views


Share It!


Description:

Today we're learning about how people all started using beautiful African-made pans for all of their cooking needs and—oh wait...yeah this was about a unified African identity. Sorry folks. You can still buy some sweet African-made pans if you like, though. We're sure they're top-notch.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:04

European colonizers basically invented the idea that there was a race called “African.” [European Colonizer on stage]

00:11

If you asked a medieval Igbo citizen or an Ethiopian feudal lord what race they belonged

00:16

to, they would probably say…

00:18

Uh…human.

00:19

And then say a prayer for your confused soul.

00:22

Medieval Africans instead identified with their religions, language groups, social classes, [Examples of how Medieval Africans identified themselves]

00:28

political organization…

00:30

You know…the things by which other people in the world define themselves.

00:33

However, slave traders and colonizers weren't really interested in the nuance and complexity

00:38

of Africa.

00:39

It’s way easier to oppress and abuse people if you dehumanize them. [Man's head turns into polar bear face]

00:43

So they just lumped everybody from the African continent into one category.

00:47

And that category was… less-than.

00:50

European scholars even tried to back-up this racism with all sorts of pseudoscience. [Man graduating]

00:55

The most popular idea was that people from Africa had similar physical characteristics,

01:00

like skin tone, which nobody else in the world had. [Guys point to Africans sitting on a bench]

01:03

Unfortunately, that was…completely untrue.

01:05

Boy, being a pseudoscientist must’ve been sweet.

01:07

You could just… make stuff up. [Scientist sleeping]

01:09

If we actually tried to divide up the whole human race by skin tone, it would be impossible

01:14

to have all Africans on one side and everybody else on the other.

01:18

The line between white and black is arbitrary. [Michael Jackson standing with fans]

01:20

There are plenty of individuals from other continents with darker skin than certain individuals

01:24

from Africa.

01:25

In the 1900s, a new movement gained steam that flipped these racist ideas on their heads.

01:30

Unfortunately, racists have…very hard heads.

01:33

Though it was true that lumping all African peoples together was bad because it denied [Africans on one side of a venn diagram]

01:37

them their humanity…

01:38

…it also seemed true that a united Africa would have more power in this war of ideas.

01:43

And so a new unity movement came along called Pan-Africanism.

01:47

Yeah, people from Africa were incredibly diverse, but they all had one thing in common. [African man being interviewed]

01:52

Years of relentless oppression.

01:54

Wonderful.

01:55

Maybe they could start a Meetup group.

01:58

Pan-Africanists wanted to re-assert Africans' humanity in the face of years of misinformation [Pan-Africanist throwing things onto road]

02:02

from Europeans.

02:03

To prove that they weren’t sub-humans incapable of running a country, Pan-Africanists pointed

02:09

to Ethiopia.

02:10

The Ethiopian Empire had grown and modernized over the years, and was proof positive that [Ethiopia transforms into modern city]

02:15

Africans could get along just fine without brutal occupation.

02:20

Imagine that.

02:22

Ethiopia became the poster-child of Pan-Africanism.

02:24

The two colors of the Ethiopian flag even became the official colors of the movement:

02:29

green and red.

02:31

The similarity to Christmas colors is, uh…completely coincidental. [Kids playing with toys and Santa appears]

02:35

Pan-Africanism had fans not only from inside Africa, but also from people of African descent

02:40

in Europe and the Americas.

02:42

It gained strength over the years and had a big effect on the formation of African states

02:46

and civil rights movements everywhere. [People marching in civil rights movement]

02:49

Racism meant that people of African descent faced huge challenges.

02:52

They were all in a… crappy boat. [Africans in a boat together]

02:55

But at least they were all in that same crappy boat together…

Up Next

Related Videos

African History 1: Intro
225 Views

Home to the biggest river, the biggest desert, and some of the biggest land animals in the world, Africa is so much more than what most media would...

Modern World History 2.11 French Revolution: Phase Two (and Three)
176 Views

Didn't get enough of the French Revolution the first time around? We've gotcha covered. Check out our second French Revolution video, preferably wi...

Modern World History 1.4 Government Produced Famine in Africa
70 Views

Famine is one of the biggest problems in Africa. Find out why it's such a complex problem, and what's being done to combat it.