Whiteness is a dangerous fallacy

 Anti-racists who define the values of hard work and productivity as exclusively “white” are doing us no favours.

By Tunde Obadina

The Smithsonian National Museum for African American History and Culture in the United State created a stir after it published in March 2020 a chart depicting the features and assumptions of whiteness. The diagram displayed the museum’s rendering of the attributes of “white dominate culture, or whiteness.” It included “hard work is key to success”, “cause and effect relationships”, “self-reliance”, “heavy value on ownership of goods”, “work before play,” and “objective, rational linear thinking”.

The chart was supposed to be an anti-racism guideline for talking about race. But in declaring hard work, delayed gratification, rugged individualism, and emphasis on the scientific method as white values the museum displayed racism that is as obnoxious and damaging as anything professed by white supremacists. In July 2020, after criticism, the mainly black run and partly public-funded museum removed the chart from its website and apologised for publishing it.

The museum’s depiction of whiteness implied that black people are lacking the characteristics needed for wealth creation and material prosperity. Teaching black children that hard work, delayed gratification, self-reliance, and reason are white qualities is to seek to condemn them to failure in a capitalist society. Such sentiments may be applauded by opponents of economic development but do nothing to advance the cause of black people.

The myth of human capital shortage in Africa

 People with knowledge and skills are being wasted

By Tunde Obadina

It is a common belief that the prevalence of extreme poverty in Africa stems from shortages in skilled manpower needed to spearhead rapid economic growth. This notion has led international development institutions to advise African governments to invest more in human capital development. But are African nations impeded by lack of qualified manpower? The answer is no.

Take Nigeria as an example. University educated Nigerians are more likely to be unemployed than the average citizen in the country. According to the Nigerian government employment data, 28% of workers with university first-degree qualifications were unemployed in the second quarter of 2020, compared 15% with only secondary school education and 5% who never attended school. Nearly a fifth of master’s degree holders was jobless, while a quarter of those with a doctorate was underemployed. Overall, more than half of workers with higher education qualifications were jobless or underemployed.

This employment situation suggests Nigeria’s economic underdevelopment does not stem from a deficiency in knowledge and skills in the workforce. What we see is an over-supply of college-educated people, including doctors, engineers, and teachers.