I don't dispute some of that, but he has decided send my private messages (an attempt at conciliation) to the mods and therefore he has no right to claim the moral high ground.
I say i don't dispute some of that, but i do dispute he's not racist for the simple reason that racism and tribalism are imho inextricably linked. Football Hooliganism is a modern manifestation of the Hill Fort mentality. Forget racism as being a dispute between man made borders - that is racism in it's most simplistic form. Racism is a primeval instinct and before people could be racist towards the Welsh, the Scots, the French, Blacks, they were racist towards their closest threat - their rival hill fort - their rival tribe. The parrallels between this and the tribalness of football hooliganism are indisputeable.
Compare this theory with recent acts in Somalia:
TRIBALISM - RACISM
BY: Ahmed Dowlo
The world has gathered, thousands of angry militants, from Saharawis of Western Sahara campaigning an independent state from Morocco, Palestinians who label Israel as an apartheid state, Dalits of India demanding the Indian Caste system be eradicated, black Americans calling for reparations from USA, non-Arab Mauritanians who say they are victims of slavery, Burmese, European Gypsies, Romanians, Tamils of Sri Lanka, Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda and Burundi respectively, Jewish Zionists, orthodox Jewish rabbis who claim Israel does not represent them, Tibetans, Zimbabwean whites, Landless people of Zimbabwe, black Brazilians, black Sudanese, Caribbean Africans, Australian Aborigines, the San people of Southern Africa, the Red Indians of North America, Kurdish people, the Kosovars, the Albanians, Bosnians, the Chechens, the Muslim Philippines, Mongolians, the Minorities of Europe, Kashmirs, the Coptic of Egypt, among others have converged on the 3rd UN sponsored World Conference Against Racism/Xenophobia And Related Intolerances (WCAR) in Durban South Africa.
The participants of the conference have common grounds. They are all victims of different forms of injustices, i.e. slave trade, slavery, ethnic cleansing, genocide, landlessness, colonialism, anti-Semitism, foreign occupation, apartheid, racial discrimination, religious intolerance and xenophobia.
Each of these groups is complaining about rights violated by an attitude and/or a member state of the UN assembly and its hands are dripping of their blood.
The host president Mr Thabo Mbeki, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the heads of states who gave speeches at the gathering emphasized that racism of all forms are primarily obstacle to the well-being of the global citizens, and pledges to exorcise racism worldwide.
What I, personally, find difficult to understand is; why Somalis in Kenya and Somalis in Ogaden who both suffer significantly institutionalised racism were not present in Durban to send their voices of protest against Ethiopia and Kenya (amongst the last outposts of colonialism?) And why similarly, the Somalis in Somalia do not come to the conference to denounce tribalism and convince the world that tribalism is like racism and must be put on the agenda?
There is inextricable link between the racism that the world is discussing in Durban and tribalism, so the question arises here is: why tribalism that ruined Somalia completely was not equated as racism? I would like to set before you a criterion in which my present exposition may be judged:
If racism kills, maims, rapes and loots, so does tribalism
Racism has resulted in substantial and lasting economic, political and cultural damages to its victims, so does tribalism to Somalia .
Racism is oldest and perhaps the most pernicious and prevalent forms of discriminations among societies, so does tribalism to Somalis against Somalis.
Racism is the contemporary form of structural injustice that maintain barriers to the full and equal participation in all spheres of public life, so does tribalism to Somalia
Racism subjugates and denies the integrity of the people, so does tribalism
Racism calls for exploitation of the weak, defenceless, and other races of not one's own, so does tribalism.
Racism dispossess people's property, so does tribalism (just see what happened in Somalia )
Racism encourages stereotypes against others, it labels some as intellectuals and others fools, it describes some decent and others deceitful, so does tribalism
Racism judges people according to their colour, sex, religion or language, so does tribalism judges people in parental and clan lines not on their merits
Racism gives a lion's share of power and privileges to a particular sector in a society, so does tribalism
Racism sidelines and marginalizes some people, while empowering others, so does tribalism
Racism promotes violence publicly to safeguard the interest of particular groups, so does the tribalism
Racism perpetually damages the trust amongst communities, so does tribalism
Racism is based on unfounded myths of generalizations, so does tribalism
Racism has the notion of superiority complex and inferiority complex, so does tribalism.
Quran, (the Islam's scripture which Somalis believe in almost 100%) from the outset, renounces the tribalism/racism altogether. Allah, setting the records straight says in the holy book: “O you who believe! Indeed We have created you from a single male and female and We have made you into nations and tribes so that you know each other” (Chapter 49:13) of course, not to kill one another. And the prophet of Islam strongly urges to his followers to relinquish from tribalism because “it stinks”. None of these powerful testimonies of their sacred books helped Somalis to transform their lives. To them, it is merely music to their ears.
Somalia is often said is one of the most homogenous societies in the world, yet, the practical tribalism classifies them into two categories: Tin-Jileec and Tin-Adayg, and it classifies Tin Jileec into Sab and Soomaali. It goes even furthest level of clan affiliation, that it sometimes turns two brothers against each other in maternal lines (Bah-bah). The Somali tribalism incites revengeful attacks against an entire clan indiscriminately and does not necessarily single out the criminal. It collectively punishes people for only being born to a certain tribe. It measures you to whom do you know, not what do you know! Tribalism mutates, re-invests and continues to manifest among Somalis, causing severe psychological scars and perpetuating untold atrocities and deep inequalities.
Tribalism made Somalia a brutal, savage and dogmatic society to its people and very easy prey for the enemies. Tribalism has vowed to beguile Somalis through the ruse of self-adulation and pride. Somalis have been engrossed in the pursuit of tribalism's egotistical prejudices, in an attempt to sustain its smug sense of superiority.
Any one of us, whether at home or in the Diaspora is directly or indirectly effected by this contagious disease. The Marxists regime of Somalia in 1969-1991 has proclaimed that they had abolished the legacy of tribalism once and for all, and the sad truth is; it was tribalism that saw its downfall.
“What Reer Hebel can tell me?” Mentality is the trait of the devil of which we are all victims. It leads to debasement, conflict and discord. It fosters the virus of bigotry that eventually sows seeds of animosity. It is the mentality made Somalis displaced both internally or externally. Tribalism is sometimes worst than racism; it discriminates against people whom we share almost every thing with.
Hence to acknowledge your personal prejudices are winner's attribute whilst to shift blame is a loser's character, aren't all Somali clans are both victims and aggressors? As Somalis, we need to pioneer change beginning with our own conduct and attitude. In doing so we need to tread the path of moral rectitude, to build a cohesive, strong and compassionate brotherhood/sisterhood. The door to rectitude can only be opened with the key of confession. Isn't tribalism equating racism? Yes. Why we did not discuss it WCAR in Durban ?
