Columbus is such a late-comer that it is almost silly to compare anybody's arrival to his. This doesnt seem to be an official recording. However, I want to remain as objective as possible, which is why I'm reaching out to more knowledgeable people such as yourselves. Van Sertima was among those who argued that the Olmec had African origins, whereas others such as Mike Xu have argued that the Olmec civilization has Asian roots. Van Sertima's zeal for learning about African culture began in England in the '60s while he was working as a writer for the BBC. 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. This view, of course, is seen as highly fringe in the field of anthropology. Back in December of 2015, I published an article refuting the notion that the Olmecsand other pre-Colombian civilizationswere started by Negroid peoples. Yeah, they forget about the actual red dark Indians in India. "'Roots' does not do that. 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. The journal required that reprints must include the entire article and would have had to include the original authors' response (written but not published) to his response. If I didnt look for it myself I was probably wasnt going to learn much more. Later forced immigrations by Africans to the New World as slaves, and the subsequent development of African-American culture, played a far greater role in shaping the Americas of the 20th century. [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. Van Sertima married Maria Nagy in 1964; they adopted two sons, Larry and Michael. 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. He posited that higher learning, in Africa as elsewhere, was the preserve of elites in the centres of civilisations, rendering them vulnerable in the event of the destruction of those centres and the loss of such knowledge. Van Sertima uses written, archaeological, and cultural evidence to support his thesis. If anything, the only thing Van Sertimas book is good for is a good laugh into the delusions of someone with the conclusion in mind, working backward to prove it (meaning, hes using the type of reverse engineering that EPists use). Intertribal slavery amongst the Indians was universal and transitioned easily with European interest. In They Came Before Columbus, we see clearly the unmistakable face and handprint of black Africans in pre-Columbian America, and their overwhelming impact on the civilizations they encountered. These Black Indians, now mistaken as African Americans, were shipped back to America and classified as African Slaves. This part of our history is what the school systems fail to mention in history programs. Van Sertima also makes it appear that after the Nubians made contact with the Olmecs, that their civilization almost instantaneously appeared. I may hear about anything from the cultural revolution, to ancient Chinese dynasties, to Genghis Kan. The two likely were not even alive at the same time period. 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. Despite this, some individuals would argue: A mass colony of Africans were not shipped from Africa to America. "[20][n 2], In 1981 Dean R. Snow, a professor of anthropology, wrote that Van Sertima "uses the now familiar technique of stringing together bits of carefully selected evidence, each surgically removed from the context that would give it a rational explanation". De Las Casas gave this description in his account of Columbus voyage: Wednesday, July 4, he ordered sail made from that island in which he says that since he arrived there he never saw the sun or the stars, but that the heavens were covered with such a thick mist that it seemed they could cut it with a knife and the heat was so very intense that they were tormented, and he ordered the course laid to the way of the south-west, which is the route leading from these islands to the south, in the name, he says, of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, because then he would be on a parallel with the land of the sierra of Loa and cape of Sancta Ana in Guinea, which is below the equinoctial line, where he says that below that line of the world are found more gold and things of value; and that after, he would navigate, the Lord pleasing, to the west, and from there would go to this Espaola, in which route he would prove the theory of the King John aforesaid; and that he thought to investigate the report of the Indians of this Espaola who said that there had come to Espaola from the south and south-east, a black people who have the tops of their spears made of a metal which they call guanin, of which he had sent samples to the Sovereigns to have them assayed, when it was found that of 32 parts, 18 were of gold, 6 of silver and 8 of copper. The books showed an African and Arabic influence on medeival Mexican and South languages prior to European contact. So total is the Euro-Americans onslaught on black people that . They then raised their discovery to the community at large, but it was quickly disregarded as being impossible under the logic that no Europeans had visited the Americas before Columbus. In Koning's telling and in Zinn's, Columbus set out to enslave a uniformly gentle people for the sole purpose of enriching himself with gold. Polynesians/Melanesians went to the Americas before Columbus. 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. In 1455 the Portuguese sailor Alvise da Cadamostoin encountered West African riverboats in the Gambian river. And he started work, using his own money. Should we give reparations to black Americans, being that they, 5500 words Introduction Hereditarians champion Asians (specifically East Asians) as proof of their gene-centric worldviewthat their genetic constitution allows their stellar performance in educational and, 2100 words Many people believe that a thing called the G-spotGrafenberg spotexists. What country did your, say, grandfather or great-grandfather or whatever come from?. So what does Sabres GM Kevyn Adams do this week? How Large of a Role Did Jews Play in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade? He never returned, though some (including Van Sertima) argued that he arrived in the Americas. This technique, as well as the ambiguity of the evidence Van Sertima used, have led to the rejection of his work as pseudoscience or pseudoarchaeology. A certain kind of shadow lifts. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [15] He said, "You cannot really conceive of how insulting it is to Native Americans to be told they were 'discovered'."[14]. [23] Sertima was inducted into the "Rutgers African-American Alumni Hall of Fame" in 2004. What did we believe in? [15] This is one of many examples of Van Sertima's theories that Mesoamerican mythologies are based on Pre-Columbian African contact theories. Van Sertima believed that Mali seafarers sailed across the Atlantic and landed in Mesoamerica. It was with the coming of Columbus that the twilight of the red and black races began. - Ivan Van Sertima In this book, the author presents evidence and arguments for the existence of black Africans in America before the arrival of Columbus and the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade in 1492. Though these features may be common among black people of African Ancestry, one cannot exclude that these features also exist to some degree in Native Americans. How about that. In response to Daniel's review Clarence Weiant, who had worked as an assistant archaeologist specialising in ceramics at Tres Zapotes and later pursued a career as a chiropractor, wrote a letter to the New York Times supporting Van Sertima's work. [6] Also in 1979, Van Sertima founded the Journal of African Civilizations, which he exclusively edited and published for decades.[6][12]. Columbus was quoted before as noting that the natives sometimes painted themselves black, so for all we know the black people being referred to were people who were painted black as opposed to black skinned people. (LogOut/ 1. 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. ". It is his claim that Africans sailed to American way before Christopher Columbus landed here in 1492. However, archaeological work has indicated that the foundations of Olmec cultureand indeed all of Mesoamerican culturehad its beginnings in Mesoamerica long before the Olmec appeared on the scence. The Eurocentric view of history is being debunked by anthropologic research. Most average 5-year olds with decent critical thinking ability can spot the cracks in the theory. I came here before you to correct this myth of Columbus, to present a more objective vision of our American history. Apparently she had read the the book They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America (Journal of African Civilizations) by Ivan Van Sertima and was buying what he was selling. Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 74: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin returns for a new season of the GHOGH podcast to discuss Bitcoin, bubbles, and Biden. Long time lurker, first time poster. They would claim them as west African too if they could. From 1957 to 1959, Van Sertima worked as a Press and Broadcasting Officer in the Guyana Information Services. The African presence in America before Columbus is of importance not only to African and American history but to the history of world civilizations. It was also concluded that it was not likely that these seeds were carried by birds. He researched the book at the British Museum, and in libraries at Princeton, London University and Douglas College, and the corresponded with scholars all over the world. In They Came Before Columbus, Van Sertima argues that Egyptian journey to the Americas happened during the rule of the 25th dynasty, which was the Kushite dynasty that ruled Egypt. When I thought about it more, I realized that in high school and probably prior I had learned about American History, Western European History, the dynasties of China and Egypt, but what about where my people were likely from? Open Document. [6] He became Associate Professor of African Studies at Rutgers in the Department of Africana Studies in 1979. I can only assume that Van Sertima is largely responsible for this line of thinking which was largely debunked then and is especially debunked today . I am not suggesting that no African people were in the Americas before Columbus. Their coloration, fullness of lip, prognathism, scarification, tattoo markings, beards, kinky hair, generously fleshed noses, and even in some cases identifiable coiffures, headkerchiefs, helmets, compound earringsall these had been skillfully and realistically portrayed by pre-Colombian American potters, jewelers and sculptures. "They couldn't be slave blacks," he said. 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. Wow, so you (your black ancestors) got there before the Indians and the Europeans? 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. Theres not a shred of evidence to prove this. 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. In fact, Columbus writes that they were not black. Many historians have worked at debunking the "They Came Before Columbus" and "Africans Were Already In America" myth. Columbus actually said in the journal of his second voyage Other stone heads have been uncovered in Mexico. No, since they are only telling just-so stories. So again, thanks. Barbour, the first African-American to earn a doctorate in archaeology, is an expert on Mesoamerican culture and associate scientific director of the African Burial Ground Project in Lower Manhattan. 'Roots' goes back to the time when the damage was beginning. 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, Van Sertima toldThe Washington Post. "Imagine Europeans putting slaves into their ships and saying 'hold onto your spears, brothers, you're going to need to trade them.' Van Sertimas case in They Came Before Columbus is the best known, certainly not the only one. If there were an African presence in the Americas, he asked, "why do we not find more African stylistic artifacts?". Human Biodiversity, IQ, Evolutionary Psychology, Epigenetics and Evolution, Home Refuting Afrocentrism They Did Not Come Before Columbus. Phil Valentine is even more confused. Sidenote: I enjoyed the story of Mali in Chapter 3. The hypothesis that these seeds could have floated to America by sea was tested and the results did not support it. "People have different definitions of realism," he added, pointing out stylistic conventions and showing slides that depicted convincingly similar but totally unrelated rattlesnake scale designs from the early American city of Teotihuacan and decorations on a Louis XVI commode. She also planned to publish a book of his poetry.[25]. The mapmaker, Martin Waldseemller, named the New World "America," after the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who had explored the coastline of South America and was the first to realize that it was a . Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. I want to make a point of clarification here. Both men supported their artistic theories with slides of the sculptures and modern Africans and Middle American Indians -- leaving the audience to decide for themselves between truth and the appearance of truth. In 1977, Van Sertima wrote "They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America," a controversial book now in its 21st printing. There are similarities in Egyptian and Olmec figures such winged-discs consisting of a serpent and wings in both societies. [22], In 1981, They Came Before Columbus received the "Clarence L. Holte Literary Prize". ..and he [Columbus] wanted to find out what the Indians of Hispanola had told him, that there had come to it from the south and southeast Negro people, who brought those spear points made of a metal which they call guanin Raccolta, Parte 1, Vol. The story of Hannibal of Carthage always stuck with me since high school, though his story was told probably because of its relation to European history. 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