Originally posted by MAXIMUS POWERS:
The reason why many Somalis don’t consider themselves black is due to cultural and religious difference. Most attempts to classify Somali fails to take in account their distinct position as the interface of different cultures. The closest monitoring category – Black African, is too broad, when subsumed within this category, Somalis do not share any culture, language or religious practices with their fellow Black Africans. As Muslims, Somalis worship along side their co-religionist from Asian and Arab countries, but just as they diverge from Black Africans, Somalis do not share other aspects of culture, language or dress with their co-religionist. Somalis are thus a unique demographic community (UDC). They are niether african or Arab.
I am African and very proud, however when I see fellow African people showing clear contempt for Somali people, it makes me think twice about Africans and their xenophobic attitude towards their own kind (I say this with caution, by African, I mean Geographically).Even in South Africa, Somalis businesses are attacked and destroyed since the black South Africans don’t consider Somalis to be African.
The terms 'African' and 'Black' should not be used interchangeable, since they have different meanings.
That made no sense whatsoever.
1st I've never met a 'Somali' that does not consider themselves 'Black', the other alternative is 'white'.
2nd There are more 'Muslim' countries in Africa then there are in Arabia.
3rd our language is related to East African spoken languages.
Our culture has been Arabized in the 19th century due to the religious shift from Sufism to more Arab/Saudi Arabia influenced Shafi' methodology.
Before that we had a culture very similar to most East African countries.
We might share a religion with Asian but we are far from sharing an identity with them.
I've never understood why people like to complicate things, its hard enough finding a place in the word.
Its simple: Somali, Black, African.