I find the discussion on tribal/ethnic/language groups very
stimulating. Over the past several days, the discussion has evolved
from the use of the word "tribe" as an ethical/historical issue to
even more complex issues of linguistics.
However, I have a burning question: as teachers, as well as
researchers, how does one approach this issue in the classroom; say,
in an introductory course for freshman and sophomores who know
nothing about Africa, except the "tribal" images that they get from
the media and from longstanding stereotypes about Africans?
I am a doctoral student who just finished as an Associate Inst.
(discussion leader) for a course whose main focus is to tackle the
myths and stereotypes of Africa and Africans by investigating a
series of historical issues, and the important scholarly debates
involved. The Professor assigned, in the beginning of the course, "A
Tradition of Myths and Stereotypes" by Joseph E. Harris in the book
*Africans and Their History*.
Overall, students found Harris' attack of the word "tribe" both
interesting and acceptable--Harris provided sufficient evidence to
get them to at least "think" about the connotations of a word that
they formerly had no idea could be problamatic. But there were other
students who were, to my surprise, blatantly HOSTILE to not using the
term "tribe." One student confronted me after class and said that
they "were" tribes, and he was not going to jettison the term from
his discussion of Africans.
This is a frustrating issue when you take it to a university
classroom where students cannot separate (I am not sure if they are
actually so separate) debates about the word "tribe" and emotional
contemporary issues having to do with race and race relations in the
US which they are also confronted with on a daily basis.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? How does one introduce
this issue in the classroom without setting off fires?