Importunely Afrocentrism is a big issue as about the Hellenic heritage. FYROM propaganda and some net-historians (Stefou or Stefov) adopted and contribute some points of the Afrocentric theory.
FYROM Diaspora propaganda (Chris Stefou) recently touches the Bernal Theories and the supposing connection of the ancient Hellenic Heritage and the African. When Bernal said African mean Egyptian. But when Stefou mean African mean African by skin colour. To the extent that Stefou (and his writers) has contributed to the provision of an apparently respectable underpinning for Afrocentric fantasies, he must be held culpable, even if his intentions are honourable and his motives are sincere. But not even he has dealt with the racial issue squarely.
Here some examples that post it from Chris Stefou (aka Risto Stefov) in maknews web site (Lubi Uzunovski) ……
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/digest_15.html
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov75.html
Some crucial points is the meaning of the Afrocentrist and Slavmacedonist.
Afrocentrists are extreme diffusionists who argue that black Egypt—and sometimes black Africa—was the sole intellectual catalyst for the development of most subsequent civilizations, no matter how geographically remote the latter may have been. Virtually all Afrocentrists are black, although there are a few white contributors such as Martin Bernal.
Slavmacedonists are extreme diffusionists Slavmacedonians who argue that the Slavonic people of the geographical Macedonia are the descents of the ancient Macedonians. Slavmacedonists attempt is to discredit the ancient Macedonians’ ethnicity, break the connection between present-day Greek Macedonians and the Greek Macedonians of antiquity, and establish a connection between FYROM’s Slavs with ancient Macedonia. The historically, linguistically and archaeologically incorrect challenge is that Macedonia was never part of Greece and the Macedonians were barbarians who spoke a language in comprehensible to the other Greeks.
Slavmacedonist view of "blacks" and the similar Afrocentric outlook appear with increasing frequency in current discussions of university curricula and internet forums, proposals for the revision of courses of study for elementary and secondary schools, and the popular press. I have space here to illustrate only a few of the consequences resulting from the Slavmacedonist -Afrocentrist approach to blacks in the ancient Mediterranean world. Not the least of these outcomes has been a failure of many Afrocentrists to give proper attention to Nubians and their experience in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, although Nubians were the only Africans whose physical characteristics, according to the ancient evidence, most closely resembled those of peoples described as blacks or Negroes in modern usage.
Slavmacedonists lately (as Afrocentrists long time) maintained that the history of blacks has been distorted or neglected in traditional curricula. Many historians and educators have agreed that this has often been the case, and specialists have pointed to "omissions and errors which have passed for the truth".
Many Slavmacedonists as Stefov, Uzunovski, and Boris Soposki however, continue to reject valid criticisms of their inaccuracies and denounce their critics as Eurocentric racists if they are white and as dupes of white scholarship and traitors to their race if they are black. It is neither racist nor traitorous, however, to insist upon truth, scholarly rigor, and objectivity in the treatment of the history of blacks.
The purpose of history as Arthur Schlesinger says is to promote not group self-esteem, but understanding of the world and the past, dispassionate analysis, judgment and perspective, respect for divergent cultures and traditions, and unflinching protection for those unifying ideas of tolerance, democracy, and human rights that make free historical inquiry possible.
But we the Greeks what must we do in order to protect our history and heritage from the Slavmacedonists and Afrocentrists?
One strategy is to ignore the geographer (Stefou) who teaches (Propaganda books and Internet) that the earth is flat (the Slav the continue of the Macedonia heritage) .
Of course, teaching false information about Alexander and Aristotle will not put anyone in immediate physical danger. But nonetheless these untruths do injustice, not only our Heritage ancestors (ancient Greeks) who have been falsely maligned, but and us, the modern Greeks.
Why deprive the Greeks of their heritage, particularly if the charges against the ancient Greeks can decisively be shown to be wrong? Why encourage hostility toward any ethnic group? Haven't we seen enough examples in this century of the horrific results of teaching hostile propaganda?
Probably Stefou forgot that skin colour and ethnicity are two different thinks. But what did the ancient Greeks look like? From portraits on seal-rings, paintings on vases, and sculptures in clay and stone, it is possible to get a good sense of how they saw themselves. Written texts describe a variety of hair color, ranging from brown to black, and skin color ranging from light to dark. Vase paintings, because of the limited colors available to the potters, give a more schematic impression. Women are usually portrayed with white faces. If the background of the vase is black, the men have black faces; if the background is the color of the clay from which the vase is made, men have reddish-brown faces. They distinguish themselves clearly from Egyptians and Ethiopian peoples in their art and literature. The Africans have flat noses, curly hair, and thick lips; their skin color is portrayed with black glaze or, on occasion, plain unglazed terra-cotta.
They regularly speak of the Egyptians' dark skin, and sometimes of their curly hair. Herodotus supposed that the Colchians (a people who lived on the eastern coast of the Black Sea were Egyptian because they were dark-skinned and curly-haired. He identifies a pair of doves as Egyptian in origin because they are "dark".
Slavmacedonists of course avoid cruising with Afrocentrists claims when the latter speaks for "black" Cleopatra theory and the stolen legacy of Aristotle .
In summary, despite abundant textual and iconographic evidence to the contrary, many Slavmacedonists have used "black," "Egyptian," and "African" interchangeably as the equivalents of blacks/Negroes in modern usage. According to this misinterpretation, ancient Greeks were blacks, and their civilization, an important part of the world heritage has been "covered up" by white racists.
Focusing on "black" Egypt, Slavmacedonists as also and the Afrocentrists have given insufficient attention to the Nubians, the black southern neighbours of Egypt, and their experience in various parts of the Mediterranean world.
It is unfortunate that Slavmacedonists fail to realize the serious consequences of their distortions, inaccuracies, and omissions, and the extent to which the phil-Afrocentrist approach to ancient Egypt has motivated many blacks to stir up anti-white hostility.
Substituting fiction for fact is a disservice to blacks. 20th century has already seen sufficient proof of the dangers of inventing history. What will be the effect on future generations, black and white alike, if the present "mythologizing" Slavmacedonist-Afrocentrist trend continues, and if the historical record is not rectified?
The time has come for scholars and educators to insist upon truth, scholarly rigor, and accuracy in the reconstruction of the history of blacks and whites in the ancient Mediterranean world.
What will be the effect on future generations, black and white alike, Slavs ,Greeks, Albanians, Turks e.t.c. if the present "mythologizing" Slavmacedonists trend continues, and if the historical record is not rectified?
The time has come for scholars , educators , common people like us to insist upon truth, scholarly rigor, and accuracy in the reconstruction of the history of Slavmacedonists like Stefou(Risto Stefov) and Afrocentrists like Bernal, in the ancient Mediterranean world and not only.
Greeks had demonstrated their own originality and creativity in the several sciences, philosophy, and mathematics, and that they had not stolen it all from some chimera of an Egyptian Mystery System, which has existed more in the fevered imaginations of Afrocentrists and Slavmacedonists than it has in physical and intellectual reality.
references
FYROM Diaspora propaganda (Chris Stefou) recently touches the Bernal Theories and the supposing connection of the ancient Hellenic Heritage and the African. When Bernal said African mean Egyptian. But when Stefou mean African mean African by skin colour. To the extent that Stefou (and his writers) has contributed to the provision of an apparently respectable underpinning for Afrocentric fantasies, he must be held culpable, even if his intentions are honourable and his motives are sincere. But not even he has dealt with the racial issue squarely.
Here some examples that post it from Chris Stefou (aka Risto Stefov) in maknews web site (Lubi Uzunovski) ……
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/digest_15.html
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov75.html
Some crucial points is the meaning of the Afrocentrist and Slavmacedonist.
Afrocentrists are extreme diffusionists who argue that black Egypt—and sometimes black Africa—was the sole intellectual catalyst for the development of most subsequent civilizations, no matter how geographically remote the latter may have been. Virtually all Afrocentrists are black, although there are a few white contributors such as Martin Bernal.
Slavmacedonists are extreme diffusionists Slavmacedonians who argue that the Slavonic people of the geographical Macedonia are the descents of the ancient Macedonians. Slavmacedonists attempt is to discredit the ancient Macedonians’ ethnicity, break the connection between present-day Greek Macedonians and the Greek Macedonians of antiquity, and establish a connection between FYROM’s Slavs with ancient Macedonia. The historically, linguistically and archaeologically incorrect challenge is that Macedonia was never part of Greece and the Macedonians were barbarians who spoke a language in comprehensible to the other Greeks.
Slavmacedonist view of "blacks" and the similar Afrocentric outlook appear with increasing frequency in current discussions of university curricula and internet forums, proposals for the revision of courses of study for elementary and secondary schools, and the popular press. I have space here to illustrate only a few of the consequences resulting from the Slavmacedonist -Afrocentrist approach to blacks in the ancient Mediterranean world. Not the least of these outcomes has been a failure of many Afrocentrists to give proper attention to Nubians and their experience in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, although Nubians were the only Africans whose physical characteristics, according to the ancient evidence, most closely resembled those of peoples described as blacks or Negroes in modern usage.
Slavmacedonists lately (as Afrocentrists long time) maintained that the history of blacks has been distorted or neglected in traditional curricula. Many historians and educators have agreed that this has often been the case, and specialists have pointed to "omissions and errors which have passed for the truth".
Many Slavmacedonists as Stefov, Uzunovski, and Boris Soposki however, continue to reject valid criticisms of their inaccuracies and denounce their critics as Eurocentric racists if they are white and as dupes of white scholarship and traitors to their race if they are black. It is neither racist nor traitorous, however, to insist upon truth, scholarly rigor, and objectivity in the treatment of the history of blacks.
The purpose of history as Arthur Schlesinger says is to promote not group self-esteem, but understanding of the world and the past, dispassionate analysis, judgment and perspective, respect for divergent cultures and traditions, and unflinching protection for those unifying ideas of tolerance, democracy, and human rights that make free historical inquiry possible.
But we the Greeks what must we do in order to protect our history and heritage from the Slavmacedonists and Afrocentrists?
One strategy is to ignore the geographer (Stefou) who teaches (Propaganda books and Internet) that the earth is flat (the Slav the continue of the Macedonia heritage) .
Of course, teaching false information about Alexander and Aristotle will not put anyone in immediate physical danger. But nonetheless these untruths do injustice, not only our Heritage ancestors (ancient Greeks) who have been falsely maligned, but and us, the modern Greeks.
Why deprive the Greeks of their heritage, particularly if the charges against the ancient Greeks can decisively be shown to be wrong? Why encourage hostility toward any ethnic group? Haven't we seen enough examples in this century of the horrific results of teaching hostile propaganda?
Probably Stefou forgot that skin colour and ethnicity are two different thinks. But what did the ancient Greeks look like? From portraits on seal-rings, paintings on vases, and sculptures in clay and stone, it is possible to get a good sense of how they saw themselves. Written texts describe a variety of hair color, ranging from brown to black, and skin color ranging from light to dark. Vase paintings, because of the limited colors available to the potters, give a more schematic impression. Women are usually portrayed with white faces. If the background of the vase is black, the men have black faces; if the background is the color of the clay from which the vase is made, men have reddish-brown faces. They distinguish themselves clearly from Egyptians and Ethiopian peoples in their art and literature. The Africans have flat noses, curly hair, and thick lips; their skin color is portrayed with black glaze or, on occasion, plain unglazed terra-cotta.
They regularly speak of the Egyptians' dark skin, and sometimes of their curly hair. Herodotus supposed that the Colchians (a people who lived on the eastern coast of the Black Sea were Egyptian because they were dark-skinned and curly-haired. He identifies a pair of doves as Egyptian in origin because they are "dark".
Slavmacedonists of course avoid cruising with Afrocentrists claims when the latter speaks for "black" Cleopatra theory and the stolen legacy of Aristotle .
In summary, despite abundant textual and iconographic evidence to the contrary, many Slavmacedonists have used "black," "Egyptian," and "African" interchangeably as the equivalents of blacks/Negroes in modern usage. According to this misinterpretation, ancient Greeks were blacks, and their civilization, an important part of the world heritage has been "covered up" by white racists.
Focusing on "black" Egypt, Slavmacedonists as also and the Afrocentrists have given insufficient attention to the Nubians, the black southern neighbours of Egypt, and their experience in various parts of the Mediterranean world.
It is unfortunate that Slavmacedonists fail to realize the serious consequences of their distortions, inaccuracies, and omissions, and the extent to which the phil-Afrocentrist approach to ancient Egypt has motivated many blacks to stir up anti-white hostility.
Substituting fiction for fact is a disservice to blacks. 20th century has already seen sufficient proof of the dangers of inventing history. What will be the effect on future generations, black and white alike, if the present "mythologizing" Slavmacedonist-Afrocentrist trend continues, and if the historical record is not rectified?
The time has come for scholars and educators to insist upon truth, scholarly rigor, and accuracy in the reconstruction of the history of blacks and whites in the ancient Mediterranean world.
What will be the effect on future generations, black and white alike, Slavs ,Greeks, Albanians, Turks e.t.c. if the present "mythologizing" Slavmacedonists trend continues, and if the historical record is not rectified?
The time has come for scholars , educators , common people like us to insist upon truth, scholarly rigor, and accuracy in the reconstruction of the history of Slavmacedonists like Stefou(Risto Stefov) and Afrocentrists like Bernal, in the ancient Mediterranean world and not only.
Greeks had demonstrated their own originality and creativity in the several sciences, philosophy, and mathematics, and that they had not stolen it all from some chimera of an Egyptian Mystery System, which has existed more in the fevered imaginations of Afrocentrists and Slavmacedonists than it has in physical and intellectual reality.
references
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