Chika Onyeani
INTRODUCTION
The power of a word...
"According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, the word "Nigger" has now come to rank as "perhaps the most offensive and inflammatory racial slur in English.....it is otherwise a word expressive of racial hatred and bigotry."
In October 1960 Nigeria received its independence from Britain. It was a time for celebrating Africa’s coming of age, as more and more African countries received their independence either from Britain or France.
It was especially a poignant time for Africa as then British Prime Minister Harold McMillan articulated his now famous "Wind of Change" sweeping Africa. We had high hopes for Africa, for the black race, that the insidious imposition of foreign rule on us, the looting of Africa’s natural resources by our colonial masters and the disrespect and disdain that these colonial masters accorded us would be things of history. Henrik Verwoerd's response.That was many , many years ago. Unfortunately, the promise of independence has not been fulfilled. Today, Africa has become more desolate; there is more starvation, disease and non-provision of essential services than when we got our independence. There are all kinds of wars in Africa and millions of lives have been lost. There are more dictators in Africa than the rest of the world put together.
The majority of so-called African leaders want to stay in power until the day their bodies are put in the grave. Through buffoonery, utter mismanagement and downright stealing of the wealth of the masses, these leaders have so impoverished Africa that we are now nothing but a beggar continent. We beg for everything; we are more dependent on our colonial masters than when we received our independence from them. Africa owes the west more money than we and our generations to come can repay.
In the last years I have watched with horror and outright helplessness as the downward slide of the African race continues to escalate. But rather than address the problems, we resort to blaming the Caucasian’s, Asians and others for our misfortune. We are not men enough to accept responsibility for our actions.
Africans blame either the British, French or little Portuguese / Spanish for their problems. African’s in America blame the Caucasian’s for all their problems, or any other ethnic group. Africans blame the International Monetary fund, the World Bank, the Group of7, the former colonial masters for the abject poverty in our respective countries. We blame the wars ravaging several African sectors on the interference of our former colonial masters on “our internal affairs” Ha! – some kind of independence.
When we decide to buy a house in a Caucasian neighbourhood, we blame the people for refusing to sell to us because of their belief that we spend more time and money on visible luxurious and ultimately worthless items, than in maintaining our property, which to everyone but us is a major part of their investment and retirement portfolio.
The blame game has become a permanent part of our lives to the exclusion of any other solution that could be more viable in solving our problems. It has become the most productive part of our lives, because without it the African cannot really point to much that they are in charge of producing. It is better to blame others than to confront the truth of our being responsible for whatever has happened to us as an African race.
I decided to write CAPITALIST NIGGER to open a debate on the state of the African race. To tell it like it is, the truth and nothing but the truth. My observations are bound to infuriate a lot of my people. Even the title of this book is bound to make a lot of people angry. Many people will be angry, to say it mildly, when I question the intelligence of my people compared to the Asians, (Indians, Pakistanis, Malaysians, Filipinos) and others who attained independence at the same time as most African countries. Africans need help in solutions offered to help extricate themselves from being a consumer to a productive race.
If you want o have a good job PRACTICE CAPITALIST NIGGERISM
Because you want to beat the people who expect you to fail because they believe you are stupid.Being a CAPITALIST NIGGER puts you in control of every aspect of your life – you are in charge and nobody else.
Capitalist Nigger in South Africa. Chika Onyeani presents a copy of his book to South African President, Jacob Zuma, October 2008
I am recently going back to this book having read Walter Rodney and Raul Presbitch. It was easier to argue against Afro pessimism but there facts in this book especially one that says the slavery trade was run by few white men against many Negroids. This means we've simply succumed to them.
ReplyDeletewhat about the african parents selling their children for a calf or a few sheep? so easy to blame the white person for the failures of your own people
ReplyDeleteyou disgusting , you must be white and we don't need people like you in this new Africa, it clear that you don't understand African traditions, just talk rubbish that taught by your ignorant parents
DeleteIt's about time an African confronted other Africans with the truth about our own complacency and irresponsibility.
ReplyDeletePractising capitalt niggerism will be very difficult for black people!The best and the power weapon that few white masters used was the mind of black people!
ReplyDeleteFirt thing that Black people need to do(which will not happen)is to start getting rid of this Man that was given to them by White people...that Man is JESUS CHRIST!!Black people are unproductive is because they are waiting for the Man Jesus Christ to come back and things are gonna be alright as promised by their white masters!!!Indians,Jews and Chinese all refused Jesus Christ but kept on beliving in GOD!!The blame game will continue as long as we don't start seeing GOD as Black!
That's so fucken awesome.#the main thing is that black people won't get it right for the fact that Jesus is a english person.
DeleteI have just started reading this book and it touches on a very important aspect early on,of building a community......the economic doctrine he named "Spider Web Doctrine"....so very significant for any people in their economic growth
ReplyDeleteNo one wants to hear the truth if it isn't what THEY want to hear.
ReplyDeleteI read the book last week and I'm going to read it again as there are very few black people who tell the truth. I salute Chika Onyeani for being one of the truth-tellers.
i find the book funny for its defending white as if they did no harm to us,brother we are trapped in this mess because of people like you ,you think its easy to make a dollar out of 15 cent on an empty stomach.what they took from us caused us so much damage that is why we blacks can't even do better own our own cause beside of the land issue i don't have time even to think,exercise.Time is so important than you can imagine & am a very creative person trying hard to pave way up there but under this African roof you need to know some one to make it or have something little money to start generating something.The system designed it this way that we only think of what we want but not what we deserve.Hate or love it the bushfuckers Neva care about us but making Africa their generating ground & don't speak of us gaining independence ,you rather say the offer we where given by the system ,,for what i know no black man did win war but the system called out peace for the sake of protecting what they had taken from us and for them to get things started.So bush ,Fuck you too
ReplyDeleteThe historical ramifications of blacks the world over to this day still persist, now even worse they're perpetuated amongst black due to the state of oblivion eating up a holistic advancement of blacks as a people, on the part of blacks. Every industry is dominated by non-blacks in South Africa, in the capitalist set-up of the South African economy, blacks are at the bottom - inevitably, blacks are largely a consumerist group with a limited stand in terms of ownership within the economy. And that's owned to a number of reasons which include the historical doings of colonization and apartheid, from a land stand point all through to labour. One of the other reasons is the current government which is lurking in alleviating the economic ailment of the black populace not limited to business social programming - political will. But, blacks are also complicit in this in that the pandemic of letting small business turf be dominated by foreign nationals in black neighbourhoods hasn't halted, and the stereotype that suggest that blacks can't run financial matters seems to be not far from truth because blacks generally don't operate in a investment orientated modus operandi in terms of finances, rather are with poor saving compulsive spenders which supports the notion that blacks are vanity slaves. The author missed it with exposition regarding blacks on this land, financially, which would better explain the current financial status of blacks as a people and individuals
ReplyDeleteThis book is a wake up call for we Africans. The book is asking us to revort and be leading the World in the transnational and multnational enterprenuership ideals and practice.
ReplyDeletei wonder if ever Zuma read the book or rather the anc executive read the book?
ReplyDelete