nnenna.1:
If one or all of these three countries get it together and strive towards becoming world powers:

1. DRC
2. Nigeria
3. Ethiopia

These questions will not pop up so much.

Well, we know how they are faring relative to their potentials.

Well according to most Ethiopians, they are not black. So whatever success they may make in the future should mean nothing to the world's black population.

Blyss:

Well according to most Ethiopians, they are not black. So whatever success they may make in the future should mean nothing to the world's black population.

I wrote a long-winded comment before deleting it. There's so much I want to say, but I can't fit it into one comment. Let me say this: I'm heartened by the candor and critical eye with which y'all have conducted this discussion. I'm a White American man--VERY proud of my heritage!--who was born in a small Southern town that was settled by my family 100 years ago. I was born right after desegregation, and within 15 years of that, the town was a hell-hole. It's majority black (I'm guessing 75-90%), and all of the things my family did to better the town (maintain a stable city government, bring in a modern city water system, sewage system, etc.), have fallen apart. The town is small (it's actually two towns separated by just a few miles), and very rural. My family members were almost all farmers 50 years ago in that area. The Blacks who run things now don't farm. To be honest with y'all, they don't do much of anything other than murder and make babies. Unemployment is higher than 40%, and the murder rate (of a small farming town!) is higher than that of Mexico City!!! Stray dogs run in the streets. Paint chips off of unkempt houses. Trash and derelict cars are to be found. It's basically the third world in America. But when Whites were in charge and segregation was in place, it was virtually crime-free, and the poor farmers' children (White ones, anyway) excelled in school. I've spent a lifetime trying decided why my poor White ancestors, who had nothing (my grandfather was one of ten children, and he and three siblings were still children when both parents died--the four orphaned children were raised by siblings, which is how he ended up in this town with his older brothers), managed to make a prosperous town during a period of racial inequality and why the poor Blacks took it and destroyed it. I don't have the answers. I'm less interested in blame than I am in a solution, and believe me, I can't think of one that doesn't involve all of the Black people in the town moving away, which is never going to happen. More investment, better schools, more jobs, etc., will do nothing for the people in that town. None of that crap existed when my relatives got there--they MADE that stuff happen on their own without any outside help! The Black folks refuse to do agricultural work (the only wealth-producing aspect of this town), and the 40% unemployment rate is supported by government subsidy programs (food stamps, etc.) and a lifestyle that focuses on drug use, promiscuous sex, and violence. Anyway, sorry to be such a downer. I think the only hope for Black communities the world over is for folks like yourselves to have LOTS of kids (with one wife!) and get your good genes and good cultural values out there. It's too late for my hometown. The White people are almost all gone, and the few that are left, most of whom are my kin, are very old. I wish you all the best in your efforts to critique the real reasons for (what seems to me to be) near-universal Black failure in all times and places throughout history. I don't believe history is destiny, but I sure ain't moving back to my birthplace any time soon :-( (BY the way, here's a link to a Youtube video of the town where I was born:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RsCO7517Jk

manmustwac:
at some point in time all black nations were colonized by the white nations and all black people in these nations have african origins. And black people don't like progress.

we are the ones holding ourselves back. Greed is the main reason why we're not progressing

There is much truth in this! The white man (and I include the Arab slavers) have done a lot to hold back Africa (and I am an Oyinbo so I have no racist axe to grind here).

There is an element of holding yourself back though. I see folks here argue all the time against what they perceive as a 'White Idea' and end up in an untenable position instead of accepting the idea as correct and not either white OR black!

Colonialism did its damage but is in the past and cannot be used as an excuse to not progress!

But do not despair! I have been coming to Naija for 15 years now and do see a lot of progress which I try my best to help with your businesses AND by correcting the very false image of Nigeria in many other countries. This progress WILL continue - sometimes faster than others - but it will move forward. Look at the economic growth recently. (Lets just try and see the economic benefits more justly spread, eh?)

Sauron1:


The answer is simple. . . . . .This is because Black people have not been given the opportunity to excel in the major facets of life.
Showbiz and Sports are the only areas u can actually say there's a level playing field. . . .
Think of it as institutionalised RACISM.

This is essentially correct but there is another reason also.

As a group they are starting from a lower economic base and so even under ideal circumstances (and thing are actually very far from ideal) it would still take many generations for the group to reach the same general level as the rest of the population. Oh there will be individuals and small group that do very well of course but we are speaking here generally.

Sauron1:


The answer is simple. . . . . .This is because Black people have not been given the opportunity to excel in the major facets of life.
Showbiz and Sports are the only areas u can actually say there's a level playing field. . . .
Think of it as institutionalised RACISM.

This is completely false. Not been given the opportunity. That's complete BS. What someone does with their life is a choice. You choose to do something or you choose not to. People make it out of the HOOD all the time. Why? Because they chose to.

mayfrances:
It's call greed, corruption, colonization and blacks self hatred of themselves. We as blacks are our own worse enemies!!!!! When we get rid of our materialized thoughts then we as a people and black nations can progress.

I agree with some of that. But maybe everyone else is doing wrong. Maybe the world isn't supposed to be like this. There so much greed and corruption. You would think life would be about staying away from that.

The answer to your question lies in our political history. Why were progressive African leaders murdered(Patrice lumumba, Tom mboya, kwame nkrumah etc)?.....why was Libya destroyed?....why was mali rubbished and her scrolls of ancient knowledge stolen/destroyed?...why was the Benin empire destroyed?.....why are CIA puppets forced on us as leaders?.....why is there always crisis in resource rich African nations?...who supplies the arms of war?...why was/is democracy violently pushed on us when we had functional governments(kingdoms and chiefdoms)....why were inventions by Biafrans(during the civil war) lost/destroyed?....why is war declared on any country that rejects the US dollar..eg Saddam Hussein(Iraq), Muammar Gaddafi(Libya)...find answers to these questions and you'll understand why Africa is "poor/backward".

JustBeReal:



This is completely false. Not been given the opportunity. That's complete BS. What someone does with their life is a choice. You choose to do something or you choose not to. People make it out of the HOOD all the time. Why? Because they chose to.

Hmmm......That's interesting that you think that the statement is completely false.....
I noticed in the mainstream U.S. news last week, that controversial rapper Kanye West, stated that "slavery sounded like a choice." I was curious to just exactly what he said...from his own mouth cause people tend to misconstrue meanings...
He said something along the lines of "Four hundred years of slavery?" "That sounded like a choice".

Then later, he back-tracked (because of the backlash) and said something about he was speaking about "mental slavery".
Honestly, I can see both sides of the coin...
I tell people all of the time how I'm so grateful to God that I wasn't born during the colonial/slave eras...because I highly doubt that I would make it.
It's like the old Negro spiritual that says,
And before I be a slave
I'll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord
AND BE FREE....[b][/b]
I wasn't built to be a slave...not having any opportunity to "think" and make my own choice about things.
I doubt that I would've made it over on the boat from Africa to the U.S.....probably would've been thrown overboard (like the fate of many African slaves) OR I would've jumped overboard and died.....

I'm so glad I wasn't alive during the 1960's....(the height of the Civil Rights Era in the U.S.)...
Again thanks be to God...cause I tell you...I wouldn't have made it.

But I just don't think that people that were stolen from their land...had much of a choice to better themselves. Opportunities to truly learn how to be a productive and intelligent human being were basically denied.
Yes, there were a few brave soldiers...who dared to be different.
But I don't know if I would blame those who perhaps died as "slaves" to have been less important.

I said all of that to fast-forward to the 21st century....and can see what Kanye meant (if that's what he truly meant).
People now have a "slave-mentality" that they can't do something...because for so long they've been taught to believe so.
But you do have a point...folks have to be determined.
I've always wondered why there seems not to be any successful black nations as well.
I would love to see how a successful one functions...cause so many people of color are brilliant.

I believe that Africa, its nations, its people, its descendants, and those nations in which the black race is predominate, now exist within a transformative age. The idea of the African nation is a recent concept. Africa has been ruled by kings, emperors, tribal leaders. caliphates. and provincial colonial governors; but rarely by its people. Even today, many African nations are ruled by military strongman or those that have come to power through the use of violence. This makes it difficult for advances to be made because it is much easier for the existing world systems to negotiate and deal with those individuals whose power cannot be questioned or checked by the people through their representatives. Those African nations that have developed representative governments must go through growing pains is as far as settling on what leadership will best serve its people. As African nations decide upon the national language, economic structure, urban development, divisions of trades and labors, social stratification, customs and laws, prioritization of intellectual and scientific development, and institutional balance between religion, government, and educational institutions, they will reach a point from which they cannot turn back. As a consequence, they will move from seeing themselves as third world and know that they can compete with all other nations. It takes time however. Rome wasn't built in a day, and Africa most certainly deserves all the time it needs to grow.

Ibime:
Rome wasn't built in a day. It took 2000 years to carve the British nation we see today. The different tribes were united in 1066 but they did not become successful until Queen Victoria's era.

Just yesterday,we received our Independence. Different tribes were thrown together such as Ibo, Hausa, Yoruba, Efik etc. We still have a few hundred years to go yet to be successful.

Our underdevelopment has nothing to do with our black nature, rather it is just the stage of development we are in - so don't even trip with all that negative stuff. It is natural for societies to evolve slowly. There have been several strong black nations in North Africa back in time past. Blacks from Sudan conquered Egypt and ruled there for over a century.

Excuse

I remember that famous Answer when asked to name one place ruled by a Black that is successful.

Answer: The U.S.A!

Western Region was also successful apart from our old West and Southern Empires.