The initial post of this thread asked the question, "What do you know and understand about Black Indians?" Fast forward 21 pages later, it appears that we know and understand very little about people who classify themselves as Black Indians. To those people, every opinion in the book is leveled at them and the emotions elicited by a question about Black Indians can range from general apathy to downright disdain.
So when the occasional question comes up or infrequent topic about Black Indians, some here question why discuss this on a Black forum. It is highly relevant to the Black experience. Many of those who seek to acknowledge their ancestry that is non-African are not trying to find a separation piece from others and in my belief, are not trying to deny the fact that they are essentially an African people. It is to bring awareness that Black people in America come in many shapes, sizes and backgrounds.
Bottom line is Black people are not monolithic whatsoever. We have Black Christians, Black Muslims, Black Buddhists, Black atheists, Black traditionalists, etc.... Even within these groups, we have divisions. From Christians, we have African Methodists, Christian (Colored) Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostals (Sanctified), etc. Black Muslims identify as NOI, Orthodox, Sunni, Shia... Even Black traditionalists can vary from Yoruba, Akan, Kongo, Ewe-Fon, Igbo...
Some will look at these divisions, shake their head and poignantly proclaim that this is why we can't unify as a people. However, it is not the divisions that created the barrier for unification; it is the mindset of those within the various divisions that harbor negative opinions and attitudes of others who seek to not identify like them or view others with suspicion that have created the barriers that have consistently hindered our people to this day.
When our ancestors stepped foot on the shores of this land, they came as Wolof, Bambara, Malinke, Susu, Balante, Mende, Kpelle, Akyem, Fanti, Dagomba, Ewe, Aja, Popo, Yoruba, Bini, Igbo, Fang, Kongo, Vili, Msundi, Mbundu, Chokwe, Lunda, Ovimbundu and multitude of other ethnic groups in between. They were not one people; however, shared circumstances and physical characteristics worked to dissolve these divisions and they all eventually combined to create the core ethnicity of who we are today. Likewise, the shared circumstances and similar social position allowed for those who made up our core ethnicity to intermingle with the enslaved, displaced and scattered original inhabitants of this country. Out of many, we as a people arose as one yet we still have our distinctions be it regional, religious or family-specific. Essentially, the question we face now is do we allow those distinctions to control us and prohibit us from functioning as one and for what is in the best interest for us as a whole.
