Why Are Somalis So Quick To Accept the "black" label?

[HouseofSamaale]

This whole question is a misnomer. No one, not even other Africans is 'black'.

The term is etymologically the same as '' and was used to degrade the people they kidnapped and sent to the New World. No self-respecting people identify as a colour.

African and Caribbean people should really use their nationalities, ethnicities and tribal lineages to identify themselves. What the hell does 'black' even mean honestly?

Have you guys ever seen Asians call themselves 'yellow people' and reduce themselves to a bunch of stereotypes?

We have a beautiful heritage and civilisation. Don't give it up for dumb reasons like 'we have black skin'. Yes we do. But your skin colour doesn't create an identity.

 

[government]

As a famous man once said, "I'm in no way shape or form involved in niggerdom"

 

[NA9]

Do Chinese identify as yellow?
Do Arabs/Turks identify as white?
Why am I forced to ID as “black”?
My skin isn’t even black and I don’t have kinky hair either. So what do we have in common besides geography?
I don’t understand how people can acknowledge there are different races in Asia (Mongoloid, Indian, Arab) yet all Africans fall under one race

 

[Coulombs law]

That's a bad analogy because not all Somalis even have soft (wavy or straight) hair. Even back home in Hargeisa, I would say like about between a third to half have good hair, the rest isn't exactly kinky but it's still black-ish

I have noticed that southerners and central inhabitants have very soft hair. I would say about 50% of them or more have wavy or straight hair. Seems like more so than their northern counterparts.

 

[Darawalka]

Do Chinese identify as yellow?
Do Arabs/Turks identify as white?
Why am I forced to ID as “black”?
My skin isn’t even black and I don’t have kinky hair either. So what do we have in common besides geography?
I don’t understand how people can acknowledge there are different races in Asia (Mongoloid, Indian, Arab) yet all Africans fall under one race

I'm not talking about you specifically, but you cannot say Somalis share nothing with the rest of the continent when most are 1) dark-skinned and 2) share some qualities of a hair type that only other black Africans have.

If every or at least the majority of somalis had fine hair like the rest of the world, maybe then. But we simply don't all

You don't have to identify as black, but if we were dividing up a a classroom of diverse people, we can't place us in the same bracket as caucasians.

 

[HouseofSamaale]

Why do we have to identify based on a few physical similarities?

I'm not even sure what the claimed similarities are because we do have an appearance that makes us distinct from all other people.

This is why we can be targetted so easily in countries like South Africa.

Identity is grounded on things like culture, language, religion, civilisation and lineage.

The discussion over fine hair or kinky hair is meaningless imo.

 

[Darawalka]

Why do we have to identify based on a few physical similarities?

Identity is grounded on things like culture, language, religion, civilisation and lineage.

The discussion over fine hair or kinky hair is meaningless imo.

Lol because that's how they've been dividing the peoples of the world into races. Culture can be picked up, but you appearances aren't as easily erasable.

Just look at the rapper XXXtenacion (who's of Egyptian, Indian, German, Jamaican and Italian descent) or a hapa. Their black and asian heritage is almost inescapable in their features.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we're negroes. But let's also remember nilotes don't look exactly like bantus or khosian people. They're all grouped in the Black race though because they share more in features than they don't.

Preferably, I'd say Horners are a separate stock, the Cushetic/Hamitic sub-race (as in below a larger race group).

But we can't say we're caucasian when what makes a black person different from the rest of the races is darker skin and very different hair (very curly to kinky) and a hell of a lot of us exhibit that

 

[Awoowe]

Walasha oo sheeg

wlahay waxay rumaysantahay in ay quraysh tahay

 

[Darawalka]

wlahay waxay rumaysantahay in ay quraysh tahay

allakh, wax u sheeg, iska dhaadhici inay tahay cushetic, wax kale maha

 

[Kudhufo Kadhaqaq]

Lol because that's how they've been dividing the peoples of the world into races. Culture can be picked up, but you appearances aren't as easily erasable.

Just look at the rapper XXXtenacion (who's of Egyptian, Indian, German, Jamaican and Italian descent) or a hapa. Their black and asian heritage is almost inescapable in their features.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting we're negroes. But let's also remember nilotes don't look exactly like bantus or khosian people. They're all grouped in the Black race though because they share more in features than they don't.

Preferably, I'd say Horners are a separate stock, the Cushetic/Hamitic sub-race (as in below a larger race group).

But we can't say we're caucasian when what makes a black person different from the rest of the races is darker skin and very different hair (very curly to kinky) and a hell of a lot of us exhibit that

We are not "Black" end of story.

 

[Darawalka]

We are not "Black" end of story.

We are not negroes, but we are black. We sure as hell aren't Arab or Indian lol

Let's not forgot, we've had more contact with the Arab world and Indian and Asian world, but they have never considered us one of them or being related to them.

They didn't consider us the same with the other Africans on the continent either, but not caucasian

 

[HouseofSamaale]

Obviously as a people, we might be said to look most similar to others in the 'black' race. This is true. My point was that this shouldn't become a means of determining identity, just an observation.
The problem with using this European devised groupings is they can people confused over identities.

In short, my issue is when people say 'I'm black'- they are taking this on as an identity and not just as an observation of how Allah created them.

My ancestors identified as Somali and I refuse to describe myself as anything other than what they professed to be.

 

[Kudhufo Kadhaqaq]

We are not negroes, but we are black. We sure as hell aren't Arab or Indian lol

Let's not forgot, we've had more contact with the Arab world and Indian and Asian world, but they have never considered us one of them or being related to them.

They didn't consider us the same with the other Africans on the continent either, but not caucasian

Where in my post did I say we are Arabs or Indian?

Look at your skin tone sxb. Do u see a "Black" color or du u see Brown color?

Or better yet take 23andme test and see if the results say that u are "Black" or if it says "East African"

 

[Awoowe]

allakh, wax u sheeg, iska dhaadhici inay tahay cushetic, wax kale maha

cushetic micnheeda mtaqaan... madow baa tahay markaan dhahana she makes this expression >>>

 

[Darawalka]

Obviously as a people, we might be said to look most similar to others in the 'black' race. This is true. My point was that this shouldn't become a means of determining identity, just an observation.
The problem with using this European devised groupings is they can people confused over identities.

In short, my issue is when people say 'I'm black'- they are taking this on as an identity and not just as an observation of how Allah created them.

My ancestors identified as Somali and I refuse to describe myself as anything other than what they professed to be.

I fully agree with you. In fact the Europeans grouped us with them just like they did with some of the Desis and Arabs. Mainly because of facial features, but also body proportions, build, and ratios matched much more with Caucasians.

I always identify myself as muslim and a somali first.

I'm just saying saying we're not black when looking at it from a race aspect is a bit deceiving. We're just a different sort of black like how the Khoisan are. Again not negro, but still black.

But not Black first tho

 

[HouseofSamaale]

I don't understand why we even need the label. What benefit do we get from it?

I have no problem with 'African' by the way. This is a far more useful and accurate label. It ties us to our homeland and home continent and to the related peoples who live on it.

 

[Darawalka]

I don't understand why we even need the label. What benefit do we get from it?

I have no problem with 'African' by the way. This is a far more useful and accurate label. It ties us to our homeland and home continent and to the related peoples who live on it.

That's a very interesting perspective I must say. You okay with calling yourself an African, but not a Black person when people back are the opposite.

Back home, they just use madow to mean dark-skinned, but don't use African because they don't group themselves with the other blacks (much like the northern africans)

 

[HouseofSamaale]

There is one more point I think is worth mentioning.

People love distinguishing Somalis from 'Arabs' so much. However, the ancient Arabs were very closely related to us.
They were not the same as the pale people who are nowadays called Arab. They looked like we do and their culture was similar to our own. This is the context in which old and consistent Somali historical accounts of ties with the people on the other side of the Red Sea should be taken.

I'd also add for people who are aware we belong to the Cushitic group that Cush was apparently the son of Sam not Ham. The attribution of Cush to Ham isn't seen in the works of Islamic scholars.

 

[Darawalka]

cushetic micnheeda mtaqaan... madow baa tahay markaan dhahana she makes this expression >>>

Miraayad bal horta isku eeg ku dheh Waxaad ku tiraahda ma carab baad is moodaysa, ilaahi ka baqo, been ha isku sheegin

 

[Darawalka]

There is one more point I think is worth mentioning.

People love distinguishing Somalis from 'Arabs' so much. However, the ancient Arabs were very closely related to us.
They were not the same as the pale people who are nowadays called Arab. They looked like we do and their culture was similar to our own. This is the context in which old and consistent Somali historical accounts of ties with the people on the other side of the Red Sea should be taken.

No no, let's not go that far and saw Arabs looked like us. The ancient Arabs just had a much tanner/darker look as from accounts and poems were they describe themselves as different from the whiter Persians.

But what that means is they looked more like modern Yemenis from Hadramout for example, the supposed birth place of the original Arabs. They didn't have textured hair or pitch-black skin.That's why the Greeks never grouped them with the Ancient Ethiopians