 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|||||
|
||||||
|
I was immensely surprised to read an article by Mohamud S. Togane about Canada as a binary to the homeland Somalia, in essence demonizing Somalia while applauding Canada. I was particularly shocked to read about his idea of Somalia as the anachronistic and cannibalistic space that people have ran from into this progressive and welcoming Canada that has so much opportunity for Somalis. I want to state that from the onset my intention is not to disrespect Mr. Togane but to bring awareness around the usage of racist terminology that should never be internalized by Somalis because of its very nature of validating Eurocentric discourses that have brought such inequity to the world today.
Let me begin by defining Anachronistic and Cannibalistic theories. Anachronistic is loosely defined as being caught in a time warp or being backward whilst Cannibalistic refers to “species consuming members of its own type or kind”. These are theories used by Europeans to dominate and exploit the “other”. By defining Africa and most of third world countries as Cannibalistic and Anachronistic, the Europeans wanted to perpetuate the discourse that these countries are backward, uncivilized and quite frankly inhuman thus justifying their colonization and exploitation. These very notions were internalized by the “other” as we can very well see from Mr. Togane who obviously believes that Somalia is backward etc. To add insult to injury, Mr. Togane tried to portray Canada as this benevolent and welcoming country that has given “equal” opportunity to Somalis alluding to the fact that if one isn’t “successful” (and success is a relative term) one is to blame. These notions are very dominant and extremely racist to say the least and I was completely taken aback by the casual manner Mr. Togane was spewing out this misleading and largely Eurocentric notions that have no place in the Somali situation in Canada. Canada is a country that has welcomed Somalis alright but it’s also a country that has committed and still continues to commit atrocities against its Indigenous population. Its important to note that Canada’s reputation is not as pristine as we would like to think and casting Somalia as a devil and Canada as an angel is short changing history and the victims (Indigenous peoples of Canada) who are largely still marginalized, exploited and completely subordinated by a system which still believes in white supremacy. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate yet again the importance of refraining from validating racist discourses that continue to place people of color at the bottom of the ladder. By Naima Adan ________________________________________________________________ We welcome the submission of all articles for possible publication on WardheerNews.com
|
