Do you have a predominantly Afro-centric conception of black people's historical placing in the world?

I am not African, or descendants of folks from Africa (that I know of), and was raised with a primarily Caucasian and Native American (Ojibwe and Mi’kmaq) -centric view of the world, so no, I wouldn’t say I have an Afro-centric conception of black people’s history in Africa and abroad. I would say that no one does unless they are African, African descendants or raised in a primarily Afro-centric community.

That being said, I took a few classes in what was termed as “Black Studies” at the university I attended and I think it gave me a broader view of things. In college I studied US History with several of my classes concerning the American Civil War and an effort was made to show things from their eyes at the time which also helped.

If you’re saying what I think that you’re saying (and I’m not sure of what I think that you’re saying), then no, I don’t?

Mayhaps you can clarify your question.

Anthropologically speaking, I have an Afrocentric perception of humanity’s origin in the world. ;-)

I guess my conception of black people’s historical placing in the world is mostly Amerocentric.

I’d say that about 99% of the stories involving black people covered by the US media are about American blacks, such as Obama, MLK Jr., Michael Jackson, etc.

I occasionally heard about Nelson Mandela, Idi Amin, and Kofi Annan.

Given the above, I’d say my conception is primarily Amerocentric and secondarily Afrocentric.

BTW, thanks for the wonderful story linked to your question!
Even though my focus on the story isn’t ethnic but environmental instead, you’ve
geographically expanded my perception.
I haven’t seen any coverage of this by the mainstream US media or any of the environmental groups that I correspond with.

Say what?!
Do you think black people only lived in Africa?

New Guinea is a Pacific Rim country, not African.

@PandoraBoxx You mean black people live outside of Africa (historically speaking of course)?

I’m not understanding your question and it’s frustrating because I think you might have a good one.

People in southern India are dark too.

Yes – this video is typical of white exploration. They go to countries, determine that the people are less than them, take advantage of their strange whiteness to the people and set them selves up as rulers, redraw borders and say “this is mine, and this is yours”, and completely drain the country of it’s resources.

This happened in Hong Kong, Japan, all of Africa, Madagascar, many islands in the south Pacific, Australia, New Zealand… the count is endless. Rethink your impression of oppression.

And yes, white people did not always live in Australia. They took it.

For those asking for clarity (You do have a point) :-

Do you tend to automatically think of black people (Brown – very dark brown skin/curly black hair) in terms of their being of African origin/descent? Either not knowing of or forgetting about other black peoples around the world, such as the ones linked to in my original question.

Now, yes – I know that all kinds of people now live all over the world, and that we are all of us alleged to have originated in Africa, but I am talking here in terms of a long established, basic, historical sense. You know – in the same basic way that we tend to think of white people (Light reddish brown – light brown skin/variously coloured, usually straight hair) as having lived, historically, in Europe.

Do you occasionally have your preconceptions challenged by the realisation that black people are not necessarily African or of African descent?

@lloydbird: Yes. I’ve noticed their facial features vary, as well.

I was raised with an apathetic, net-centric view of the world, so I don’t really shift toward any one culture or race. The only reason I have access to more western colonial history is because I’m American complete with the textbook crappy propagandist public education.

In response to the clarification: Not really, and that’s part of the reason why I don’t think much of “African-American.”
Most of the blacks in and around St. Louis are of African ancestry, but the demographic data indicates that something like 2% of the region’s total population are Pacific Islanders.