The learned are out of their home: The intellectual courage of our most learned South Sudanese has fallen short to match the critical demands of our time
By Thiik Mou Giir, Melbourne, Australia
Wednesday, July 14, 2021 (PW) – Today, if you type Jieng or Naath on a computer, you will see that both names are underlined red. That means, they are wrong, or they are unrecognized. The people who have made Dinka and Nuer names usage valid are the Whites, Arabs, and the learned South Sudanese. The question is: how on earth can both names be wrong and unrecognized when they have been in existence long before the White people got their skin colour from the snow, the Arabs got theirs from the sand, and the learned South Sudanese got their education from schools?
What a trap! It works, not for us, the South Sudanese, but for those who invented those names and gave them to us. If the inventors’ purpose was to humiliate and to rob us of our dignity as human beings, then they have succeeded and they have the evidence of their success. The evidence is the fact that the learned South Sudanese themselves have kept those names alive. The learned have accepted the names that mean nothing, and they are using them.
If one was to ask a learned South Sudanese person questions such as, ‘Why are you calling Jeing people Dinka?’ and ‘The Jieng name, Deng, means rain, what does Dinka mean?’ One would likely get the answer for both questions, ‘I don’t know’.
‘I don’t know.’
It is not that the learned do not know the reason why they are using these names. Rather, it is because they are ashamed and do not want to admit that they are following blindly the White man who uttered these names for the first time. The circumstances during which time our people were colonized and given those names are different from the circumstances of today.
The first learned South Sudanese had no power to reject whatever names given to them by the colonizers. The learned South Sudanese of today are in the position to reject names such as Dinka, Nuer, etc. Yet, they have not collectively done that. The reason for keeping these degrading names alive is because the learned are suffering from inferiority complex. They do not have the will to change anything that has been instilled in their minds for so long by people whom they think are superior.
The sense of inferiority has not only affected us, but it has also affected our younger generation. At my workplace, school college in Australia, there are about one thousand students and staff. Out of that number, there are about thirty South Sudanese students. I am the only staff member. A few years ago, when I was in a classroom, I called one of the students by her name. She protested. So, we had a discussion regarding her name.
‘You’re not pronouncing my name correctly,’ she said. ‘If there is only one person who knows how to pronounce your name correctly in this whole school, it must be me.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Your name, Alek (not her real name to protect her privacy), was exactly the same name of my grandmother. My grandmother was called, Alek.’ ‘What! Are you a Dinka?’ I was surprised. ‘What do you think I’m?’ ‘I thought you are a member of some other tribe, not a Dinka.’
We had been at the same place for two or three years, yet she did not know that I am a Jieng. The fact that I am just as tall as President Salva Kiir did not make it easier for her to figure out that I was a Jieng; the fact that I have gaps in my teeth similar to that of VP Dr Riek Machar would not have made it easier for her to figure out that I was a Naath either. I lack those unhidden features that a typically Jieng who had never been schooled always have.
I have my lower teeth: they were not being pulled off according to Jieng tradition. I do not have marks on my forehead required by Jieng tradition. Because I lack these, I could had been a Shilluk, a Bari, a Naath, a Mundari, or anyone else. I am not a typical Jieng because I was born in a Southern Sudanese town in Equatoria, and I started my primary education in a Northern Sudanese town.
I am a learned Jieng person, fortunately and unfortunately, at once! ‘No; I’m not a Dinka. I am a South Sudanese’. ‘What are you, then, by tribe?’ She insisted. ‘I’m a Jieng.’ She did not bother to ask, ‘Is there a difference between Dinka and Jieng?’ She went on and asked, instead: ‘Do you know my father?’ ‘I know your father and I also know your mother.’ If ever I needed witnesses, I let her know that I have two witnesses in her own home who would confirm that I am a Jieng.
The replacement of our African personal names by other people has been on-going in some other ways. For example, it has been going on through big institutions teachings, the Church, and the Mosque. Today you may come across names such as Peter Richard John, Abdelwahid Gismala Ibrahim, or even David Omar Lino. ‘David Omer Lino?’ Yes, that is how ridiculous our naming has become. There is nothing in those names that show our African naming tradition.
If there would not be anything done to change this trend, our African names will disappear, and they will fade away from our memory. One can predict that our African names will completely be replaced by Arabic and European names by the end of the next century. If this will come to pass, the Arab racists will simply call us, Abeed (slaves), and the White racists will call us, Niggers! The learned South Sudanese, including myself, would then have to wear the badge of shame. Shame on us. Otherwise, we have to work together to put an end to this.
It is not an easy task to unlearn some things that we have been learning for so long. It is only by unlearning and by turning back to our own best self that we will be able to evolve according to the terms we come up with and we can be sure to reach our potential heights. If one need a vision to inspire, I suggest that we adopt, CONSTRUCT OUR NEW IDENTITY (CONI) as our collective vision.
The Arabs and the White people who are not racists will understand and they will respect us because we have decided to do this not just for our sake, but also for the sake of keeping one of the oldest cultures and traditions of human race.
As far as I am concerned, I do not use ‘Dinka’ as much. I have written the whole book, entitled, ‘War and Peace Legend of Apuk Giir’ without any mentioning of Dinka at all. Dinka and Nuer and all other un-African names, formally imposed on our people, have to be rejected, else, we are betraying our ancestors who knew better.
Ten Years of Our home country’s independence is something great to celebrate, yet we still have a long way to go in order for us to be truly free from the chains that have been placed in our minds. Will you join a good cause?
This is the last article of the series of writings under the title, ‘The Learned are out of their Home’.
Thiik Mou Giir, Bachelor Degree in Education from the University of Alexandria, Egypt; Post Graduate Diploma, from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He can be reached via his email contact: thiik_giir@hotmail.com
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