Case for African civilisation in our school curriculum

THE EDITOR: George GM James has reminded us in “Stolen Legacy” that the first lesson in humanities is to make people aware of their civilisation. The second lesson is to teach them of other civilisations. Up to the point when I obtained a Master’s degree some 20 years ago I had been taught much about civilisations of Greece, Rome, Persia, China, England and others but virtually nothing about that of Africa. The wealth of knowledge I have since gained came about as a result of what I learnt from years of self-study and research of the Bible in general, the Old Testament, in particular, from Greek historians such as Herodotus and a host of other historians and scientists. Herodotus himself has extolled the contribution made by Ethiopia and Egypt — the world oldest civilisations. Contrary to popular belief “The Greeks were not the authors of Greek philosophy but the people of North Africa commonly called the Egyptians.” In the words of CH Vail, “The Greek philosophers did not formulate new doctrines of their own. Their philosophies had been handed down by the great Egyptian Hierophants through the mysteries.”

The Egyptian Mystery System was a secret order and membership was gained by initiation and a pledge to secrecy. After the Persian invasion, Greeks were permitted to enter Egypt for the purpose of education. On being certified as initiates, schools were established by Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, Socrates, Pythagoras and other scholars. It is recorded that founders of the Ionian Temple at Didyma, the lodge of Euclid at Megara, the lodge or Pythagoras at Crotona, the Orphic temple at Delphi and the schools of Aristotle and Plato were all initiates of the Egyptian Mystery System, which operated from its main campus, the Osiriac-the Grand Lodge of Egypt. The Egyptian Mysteries along with the philosophical branches which had been established by the Grecian initiates were closed by the edict of Theodosius, the Roman emperor in the 4th century AD and once again by the Emperor Justinian in 529 AD. It is noted that the Associated branch schools of the Egyptian Mysteries were all located outside of Greece. In fact the Greek philosophers were not welcome in their own country, as they were accused of attempting to introduce strange doctrines. These charges led to the execution of Socrates. Plato was sold into slavery, Aristotle was indicted and exiled while Pythagoras was exiled.

Lack of knowledge of Africa’s contribution to humanity has led to the erroneous world opinion that the African continent made no contribution to civilisation and that her people are naturally backward. “This misrepresentation has become the basis of race prejudice which has affected all people of colour. Knowledge of the truth should free people from those prejudices, which have been corrupting human relations over the past centuries. On the other hand, people of African origin might be emancipated from their serfdom of inferiority complex and enter upon a new era of freedom in which they would feel like free men and women with universal rights and privileges.” This serfdom of inferiority complex has been the source of much of the antisocial, deviant and lawless behaviour among our Black youths. The need for attention, the need to stand out, the craving for recognition have engulfed our youths in the mire of violence, drug abuse, corruption and other depravities. Dr Myles Munroe was right on target when he stated that “in essence this deep desire and drive for a sense of importance, significance and relevance is the cause and motivation of all human behaviour and conflict.” (Dr Myles Munroe preface to “In pursuit of purpose).

This deep craving for such relevance and sense of significance, he continued “makes one race or ethnic group elevate itself above another.” This held true during the period of slavery when Africans were dehumanised and regarded as beasts of burden by their masters. It was true during the period of colonialism in which concepts of superiority and inferiority were fully imbedded. It is still true in the post colonial era when our educational system has thus far failed to tackle the question of race relations. Our History and Social Studies syllabuses perpetuate the superiority-inferiority syndrome by emphasising the post slavery period and neglecting the era when our Egyptian and Ethiopian forebears laid the foundation of modern civilisation on which the Persians, Greeks, Romans and others were able to build. Affirmative action is urgently required to fill this gap in our educational system. The inclusion of African civilisation in our primary and secondary school curriculum should give both relevance and purpose to the majority of our students and correct the misrepresentation that people of African descent are naturally backward.

CLYDE  F  PHILLIP

Dr Clyde Phillip has been an educator for the past 55 years and an author of two books — Africa’s contribution to World Civilisation and Africa’s Role in the Development of Major Western Religions.