More On Northern Sudanese Identity Crisis

Posted on May 13, 2007
Filed Under Sudanese |

The following excerpt is related to my previous post “Sudan: Arab or African“:

The second element of the crisis of identity in Northern Sudan is concerning “ambiguity” about identity. Northerners came face to face with this symptom especially in Europe and America where people are classified into ethnic and social categories. In 1990, a group of Northern Sudanese in Birmingham in Britain convened a meeting to discuss how to fill in the Local Council’s Form, and especially the question about the social category. They felt that they did not fit in any of the categories that include, among others, “White, Afro-Caribbean, Asian, Black African, and Others”. It was clear to them to tick on “Others”, but what was not clear was whether to specify as “Sudanese, Sudanese Arab, or just Arab”. There was a heated discussion before they finally settled on “Sudanese Arab”. When the question why not to tick on the category of Black African was raised, the immediate response was that, “but we are not blacks”. When another question raised the point why not just say Sudanese, the answer was that: “Sudanese include Northerners and Southerners, and, therefore, does not give an accurate description of us”. Ambiguity about identity was also observed in the feeling of dismay Northerners usually experience when they discover, for the first time, that they are considered blacks in Europe and America. It is also observed in their attitude towards the black communities there. To be called black was a shocking experience to the average Northern individual. Southerners usually joke by saying to their Northern friends “thank God here we are all blacks” and its variant “here we are all abid“. Northerners attitude towards the black population in these countries is similar to their attitude towards the Southerners. They usually refer to them by the word “abid“, and one of my interviewees, once, referred to the Afro Caribbeans as Southerners “janubiyyin“.

The first part I highlighted in bold is just one of the things that indicate the huge challenges we face as Sudanese. The second is true and hilarious. During my holiday in America, I bumped into a Southern Sudanese in a shopping mall somewhere in Aurora, Chicago. We conversed and joked for a while. Then he said the exact same thing.

After 9/11, I believe things changed for most Northern Sudanese though. Many in America where happy to be identified as African and not Arab. They wanted nothing to do with being Arab. All of a sudden it became a burden. My brother didn’t care much. For him, nothing changed. He had always regarded himself as first Muslim, second African and third Arab, the same way I do. But hey, this is me and my bro. Bring a sizeable group of us Northern Sudanese (about 10 or 20), drop the question, “are you Arab or African” and be prepared to run after that. It might get ugly… the identity crisis continues.

Comments

9 Responses to “More On Northern Sudanese Identity Crisis”

  1. lirun on May 14th, 2007 6:43 am

    for my grandma i think it is jewish sudanese israeli - how funny is that..

  2. jonah84 on May 15th, 2007 3:08 am

    Drima, I am not sure if it is identity crisis. It looks more of case of masked inferiority complex or cultural colonization. To be honest, I have lived in Sudan and Sudanese people do have some arabic mixture but I would consider them more black or african then arabic at least on physical appearance.
    I am not sure if they consider themselves arabic because they speak the language. Does the fact that you speak arabic make you arabic?
    I have an algerian co-worker who happens to be of Berber decent… he makes a distinction between a person speaking arabic and being an arab. He considers himself Berber although he is morecomfortable speaking arabic.. (alhough from physical appearance he looks like a middle-eastern arab to me)

    I believe the Northern Sudanese need to start taking pride in their African heritage just because you might have a slight admixture of arabic doesn’t make you an arab…
    I wonder what kind of leadership a country produces when the dominant group suffers from such an inferior complex or identity crisis.

  3. Global Voices Online » Sudan: identity crisis on May 17th, 2007 8:31 am

    […] Sudanese Thinker writes about identity crisis in Sudan: “After 9/11, I believe things changed for most Northern Sudanese though. Many in America where happy to be identified as African and not Arab. They wanted nothing to do with being Arab. All of a sudden it became a burden. My brother didn’t care much. For him, nothing changed. He had always regarded himself as first Muslim, second African and third Arab, the same way I do. But hey, this is me and my bro. Bring a sizeable group of us Northern Sudanese (about 10 or 20), drop the question, “are you Arab or African” and be prepared to run after that. It might get ugly… the identity crisis continues.” Share This […]

  4. KnockYouOut on May 17th, 2007 9:43 am

    Sudanese are Sudanese plain and simple. This whole identity crisis issue creates only more confusion, we are just to complex as a people and therefore subscribing to any identity (be it Arab, Nubian, Nilotic) other than Sudanese will only add to this crisis. The world is not just black and white, there are plenty shades of grey as well. And thank God more and more Sudanese youth are starting to see this so sooner or later there will no crisis at all :) Thank God for websites like the discussion forum you took this article from and this blog because they reflect what is going on in the Sudanese youths mind… keep up the good work shamarat and Dirma!

  5. Drima on May 17th, 2007 3:25 pm

    Thanks! May I know how you found this blog? :)

  6. KnockYouOut on May 18th, 2007 1:17 am

    Through a friend on shamarat been addict to both for sometime now :)

  7. Rihab on May 18th, 2007 7:43 pm

    LOL! I remember the first time I had to fill one of those in England I sat for a while staring at the form, then ticked “Other” and wrote African Arab.

    Jonah84

    I don’t think it’s as easy as to simply identify ourselves as African just because many (and not all) of us have black skin, there are a large proportion of black Gulf Arabs, the former crown prince of Kuwait was black… are they supposed to call themselves African just because of the colour of their skin?

    Yes, of course part of our culture is African but there is a significant part of it that is Arab, and yes language has caused us to identify stronger with the Arab part of it, if we spoke Swahili I’m sure we would have identified stronger with the African part. Sudanese culture is a blend of African and Arab cultures to deny the influence of either culture would be ridiculous as well as an inaccurate reflection of who we are.

    As for “looking Middle Eastern”, remember that the Arabs of the Levant aren’t any more ethnically Arab than the Arabs of Algeria, and the pure ethnic Arabs are those of the Gulf, hence why an Arab from say Oman doesn’t look like an Arab from Syria.

    In this day and age, people cannot culturally identify with whatever they “look” like. I sincerely doubt that an African Senegalese will feel they have a lot in common with an African American simply because they “look” alike.

  8. jonah84 on May 19th, 2007 8:49 am

    Rihab. I am all for people recognizing or acknowledging their ethnic or racial makeup or whatever label might apply. In terms of your example about “black gulf arabs”, I suspect those people came to that part of world from africa? of course they have lived in i.e. kuwait or whatever the country might be.. for some time. It would not make sense for them to call themselves just african… I would expect them to maybe to call themselves maybe afro-kuwait?

    I was in Cuba this past march and the country is heavily mixed. Of course, the cuban call themselves cuban. However, one thing about some of the cubans with some african ancestry was they call themselves afro-cuban and from limited time I was there, those cubans I interacted with took pride in their african heritage… Of course this just from my two week experience there and not a scientific social research.

    I realize in the western countries some of classification categories are limited but reading Drima’s post on this subject, for example for northerner sudanese be called “black was a shocking experience” and perception by northerners of afro-caribbean people as abid or “slave”. I got the impression that northerners were more shocked at prospect of been labeled “black” or “african” than part of their arab heritage been not recognized.

    I am not a big fan of labels like “white” or “black” or “red”… but the african or asian or european are ok… in ideal world it would be nice to have label that match every person’s ethnic or cultural or racial make up..

    In terms of native sengalese and some african-american person, you are right they might look “similiar” due some common ancestry but culturally and language-wise they will not have much in common. But I would expect them to recognize their common african origin or heritage…

  9. Rihab on May 19th, 2007 6:34 pm

    Of course we recognise our African origin and heritage, there’s a reason why so many Northern Sudanese have a great appreciation for Ethiopian music because they feel it is close to their own, however, that being said we also have a great appreciation for Arab music too. Sudanese do recognise their African heritage but it would be unrealistic to ask us to disassociate from and ignore the very strong Arab influence there is in Sudanese culture - there is a reason why the mother tongue of Northern Sudanese is Arabic, and that is as a result of the degree of influence Arabs have had on our culture. I don’t understand why people hammer Sudanese and accuse them of disassociating from their African culture but at the same time ask them to disassociate from their Arab culture?? Northern Sudanese are a unique blend of both and therefore we should celebrate and be proud of both.

    As for Afro-Kuwaitis… to be honest the black Gulf Arabs I have come across are fully secure in their Arabness, and with the exception of the colour of their skin there is nothing African about their culture. They have been in the area for centuries and they know no other culture but the Arab culture and have no association with Africa. I don’t understand why if you don’t attach the word Afro or Black to yourself then it automatically means you are ashamed of your race?? I was talking to a Kenyan of Indian origin, who complained of how people never understand the fact that he considers himself 100% Kenyan, simply because of his Indian ancestry, and said that as far as he was concerned he has nothing to do with India, since some 3 or 4 generations of his family have always lived in Kenya, he speaks Swahili, he doesn’t know any of the Indian languages and has never been to India. In the same respect, why does some Kuwaiti who knows nothing about Africa have to celebrate and recognise some common African heritage with a Nigerian when, as far as he’s concerned, nothing connects him to it apart from the colour of his skin??

    We are whatever we culturally identify ourselves to be, as a Sudanese it is both African and Arab, I don’t believe I should be made to ignore or forget about one simply because people think it “should” be a certain way, because 90% of the country is black. I enjoy listening to Lebanese songs and I enjoy listening to Ethiopian songs, but I find it easier to talk to an Egyptian over a Kenyan because we speak the same language and have similar cultural rules. That’s simply the way I feel as a Sudanese and I don’t think feeling that way means I don’t take pride in my African heritage nor does it mean I regard it to be inferior - simply put, I just connect better with Arabs.

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