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ABSTRACT
In this paper, we will investigate whether or not the name ‘Africa’ can be seen as a slur. Since the name was given by European exploiters, slavers and colonists, it raises the question of whether such a name should continue to be accepted or abandoned. It may seem that just as the slavers renamed their victims and the colonists renamed the territories they conquered, the name Africa/ns similarly was an imposition on the continent and its peoples. It can also be argued that the naming of the continent by an external aggressor is a form of epistemic subordination that vitiates the dignity of the inhabitants. That is to say that European slavers took it upon themselves to give the inhabitants an identity that highlights climate and possibly skin colour because it was something they could not do for themselves. This presents the inhabitants as inferior to their namers and whose millennia-old civilisational achievements can comfortably be overlooked. We argue that the two preceding arguments constitute compelling reasons to abandon the name Africa as a compromised identity and offer an idea for the renaming of the continent.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all those who supplied useful critical comments on the first draft of this essay and to the reviewers of this journal for making very useful suggestions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. An examination of Tsri’s arguments has been provided in Chimakonam (Citation2018, Citation2019).
2. In fact, there are various etymological origins of the name Africa. Besides the Greek and Roman, there is the Phonecian, etc., origins, most of which refer to the harsh climate. We cannot discuss all these sources in detail. We identify the Greek and the Roman as the most convincing, and as a result, will dwell more on those.
3. See Blake (Citation1977, pp. 113–115). See also the timeline at https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191737589.timeline.0001
10. This endeavour is not an easy one, especially as no continent has ever been renamed before now. So, there is a problem on how to go about it and which language(s) to use. But one can argue that the fact that it has not been done does not mean it cannot be done, especially where there is a strong motivation that the name Africa could be interpreted as a racial slur. We are putting out our proposal as a suggestion that can set the discussion on and not as a final opinion.
11. See Gumkowski et al. (Citation1961).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Jonathan O. Chimakonam
Dr Jonathan O Chimakonam is a senior lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, University of Pretoria, South Africa. His teaching and research interests include African Philosophy, Logic, Environmental Ethics and Decolonial thinking. He aims to break new grounds in African philosophy by formulating a system that unveils new concepts and opens new vistas for thought (Conversational philosophy); a method that can drive theories in African philosophy and beyond (Conversational method); and a system of logic that grounds both (Ezumezu). His articles have appeared in several refereed and accredited international journals. He has authored and edited several books in African philosophy.
Uti O. Egbai
Dr Uti O Egbai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Calabar, Nigeria. He specialises in Philosophy of Science, African philosophy and conversational philosophy. His articles have appeared in many international journals. He has published a few books and presented lectures at various conferences. He has contributed articles to the growing literature in conversational thinking.