Interview with Chika Onyeani author of Capitalist Nigger
I do not know if Credo Mutwa knows about this particular book because his health has been deteriorating since 2005 when Capitalist Nigger was first published. Whether he agrees with the views expressed in the book Capitalist Nigger I publish this interview so that you can make up your own mind. As a concerned South African I believe this book holds a wake up call for all those who are open to it, and will annoy the rest who are conformist or politically correct.
Here’s an interview originally published in Mail & Guardian newspaper from October 2005 when Dr Chika Onyeani visited South Africa:
M&G - What is the difference between what you are preaching and what other Africans on the continent and in the diaspora have said about the need for economic self-reliance?
Chika - My message is different in that they were always blaming colonialists or slavery for the black persons problems. I am not saying we should not recognise the impact of colonialism. But we should say that it has been 45 years since Africa was decolonised. It is time we said that what happens in Africa today, we are responsible for it. We cannot continue to blame the colonialist. Who said to [Nigerian military strongman Sani] Abacha and [Congo dictator] Mobutu [Sese Seko] take the money and go and put it in a bank in Europe.
M&G - So what do you see as a solution?
Chika - We need to learn to take care of ourselves. Indians wear saris made in India, they drive cars made in India, and [the] Chinese are not afraid to use products made in their country. We must do the same.
M&G - What is stopping blacks from doing what they need to do?
Chika - Inferiority complex. I met a man who says he is from a village somewhere here. He told me that the people in his village have lost all their stores to the Pakistanis. Why is that? It is because we are not willing to put in the same amount of time. It is because the Pakistanis are willing to work hard; they are prepared to work 25 hours a day and eight days a week. Blacks are not willing to work hard. They think that once you have a shop, you have arrived.
M&G - What about the possibility that the Pakistani, like the Chinese, have access to cheaper raw materials and commodities because of the lower cost of doing business in their countries?
Chika - People in Africa should not demand such high wages. The Indians dont mind working for peanuts, as long as it is for the good of their communities.
M&G - But there are wealth-gap issues in both India and China.
Chika - Why must we concentrate on the negative? In India, the larger part of the population is still poor. So what? India is leading in a lot of ways. If you make a call to credit card company, chances are it would be answered in India. Just because of the way they have been able to do the things. The reason we have so many people going to Europe looking for work is because we have not been able to provide jobs for our people.
What would you say to comments that you are playing into the hands of racists by depicting black people as lazy and inefficient?
Chika - I dont care about what white people are thinking. It is what we think about ourselves. If we talk about it, perhaps we will stop doing it.
Purchase Capitalist Nigger by Chika Onyeani from Amazon.com.
If you liked this interview I also recommend you watch the video of distinguished economist George Ayittey at TEDGlobal conference in Tanzania in 2007.
I think his views are mostly racist but there is an element of truth in that we as African we have inferiority complex, we do not believe in ourselves, maybe our history has played in a part in how we view ourselves.
It’s always funny when a black man is called racist. And now you are calling another black man racist. This is a paradigm we learnt from our Colonialists. Wow! They still have power after all these years over Africa.
Stop using the word nigger… it is derogatory and foolish, it is what the people up the top want you to do to subconsciously imprison you. Repetition is the most basic form of mind control. _
PS: Love and Peace. ^_^
Just finished reading Chika Onyeani’s book Capitalist Nigger this evening. Much as it is difficult to ’swallow’ a bitter pill, I feel he ‘tells it as it is’, it is about time we (blacks) took control and responsibilty for our life and shape our destiny rather than dwell on labelling.
Go, spread the word , this book must b on every black amilies living room and all our librarys , be a school reader in schools … this is a very powerfull book …
Spread the word
If you are scared of thruth, you’ll hate this book. If you wan’t to be freed from negativity and self doubt…carry on reading this book.Africans need to know that the world will not bow to them willingly,they(Africans) need to force it to bow. I’m black and proud…Good book.
This is a wonderful peace and every member of my immediate family intends reading it. The spider web approach is the only good one and it is the missing link for africans. we don’t like raising people up we like pulling them down the problem is what mechanism can be put in place to reverse this situation? My wife is a writer and she just did something on migration this time using africa as the final destination and expressing the advantages of migrating to africa. Can ONYEANYI(DR.) create time to help us through with this
book and give us possibilities of its publication as an example of helping us raise each other and networking and we settle his bills upon negotiations?
It is a wake up call period!! A call that all of us must heed to get up and do something for ourselves.