Sudanese Internal Racism & Identity Crisis

7 Responses to “Sudanese Internal Racism & Identity Crisis”

1. nominally challenged on February 27th, 2007 3:10 pm

   Drima - I have a question for you.
   You posted previously about whether Sudanese are Arabs or Africans (or both), and you defined the Arab Sudanese identity as essentially relating to the Arabic language that is spoken in Sudan.
   My question is - when was the Arabic language introduced into Sudan. Clearly, it is not native to Sudan, so who brought it there, and when?

   Thanks

2. Drima on February 27th, 2007 4:56 pm

   I believe that was mentioned in the post you’re talking about… the Arabs brought the Arabic language and Arab culture.

   The earliest historical records of Arabs arriving in Sudan indicate they did so a short while prior to the coming of Islam. So that would be more than 1400/1500 years ago. Keep in mind that in those days the Arabs came in small numbers. It was only a few hundred years later after the coming of Islam that Arabs started arriving in very large numbers.

   “and you defined the Arab Sudanese identity as essentially relating to the Arabic language that is spoken in Sudan.”

   And cultural elements such as food, dressing, etc. too. Other things don’t fall under Arab culture but Islamic culture. There are areas where the 2 overlap obviously.

   Sorry for not elaborating. I’ve gotta run now but before I do, I’d like to bring your attention to something. The post I did on whether Sudan is Arab or Africa (or both) gives a simple picture. You have to keep in mind that I didn’t even mention other minorities (Armanians, Indians, Greeks, Turks, Berbers, Copts, Kurds, ehm ehm Jews? etc.) that make up the diverse Sudanese ethnic pool.

   Most of the time I refer to myself as Afro-Arab. However I do have sprinkles of Turkish and Indian blood (at least that’s what my mom told me). I also have super fair, whitey, snow flake Sudanese friends who are ethnically mainly Turkish, Armanian (some fled the Armanian genocide and came to Sudan), Greek etc… My brother’s good friend back home is 100% ethnically of Pakistani/Indian bloody but he’s 100% culturally Sudanese and so are his family and relatives. I can go on and on but you get the idea… Anyways gotta run man.

   Laterz

3. Drima on February 27th, 2007 5:01 pm

   Correction:

   “It was only a few hundred years later after the coming of Islam that Arabs started arriving in very large numbers.”

   Actually that should be Arabs and non-Arabs. Basically Muslims.

   NC, your first comment made me giggle. Why do I sense something interesting coming in your next one? Ehm…

4. Howie on February 27th, 2007 5:16 pm

   Being human…we can’t help but be a bit racist…but what people think and how they behave are very different things.

   Funny…was talking to a good friend of mine who is Jamican…black…black… dreds and the whole 9 yards.

   He told me that when he came to the USA, the people that most grossly mistreated him were African Americans…and I have heard this from several African friends.

   So go figure…Jews are mostly white and look what white people have done to us…

   It is upside-down and screwy…our best hope is to keep pressing and exposing it…including our own tendencies.

5. nominally challenged on February 27th, 2007 5:33 pm

   Hehehe Drima … why do you question my motives? :) My next question actually relates to something else you posted today, by pure chance. So I’ll ask it there rather than dragging this post onto a tangent …

6. Yaz on February 28th, 2007 6:20 pm

   I have a question, and your honest opinion would be appreciated:

   Given that you anonymously apply the muslim/arab label to every Sudanese, say, in the northern part of the country, what would you say about somone that fits that label who has, with a clear concience, decided that it is not the way he or she wants to live his or her life? In other words, given that you WONT apply barbaric islamic laws to those who abandon religion (like chop their heads of or something), would you denounce those individuals in the society?

7. Rihab on March 2nd, 2007 12:20 pm

   Yaz,

   As someone who considers herself Agnostic in her beliefs, I’ll reply and tell you that no people who choose to abandon the faith they were born with, in my case Islam, will not be readily accepted in Sudan. Although saying that, from my parents’ generation (60s/70s) there were quite a lot of Atheists around given the popularity of left-wing ideologies at the time, so “denounced by society” wouldn’t describe it properly. I think people who choose to abandon their faith nowadays are less accepted than they were by previous generations and that’s generally because the youth in Sudan, and in Islamic countries generally, are more religious than previous generations were.

   Anyway, I said faith because to be fair if a Christian Northern Sudanese decided to, say, convert to Islam it wouldn’t be regarded as acceptable in their community. I’m not sure how change of faith is received in the South of Sudan because monotheistic faiths were introduced much later into the South.

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