A Study Of American Afrocentrism Thought In The Late 20th Century

In the 1950 s,the African-Senegalese scholar Cheikh Anta Diop opposed the Eurocentrism’s idea that Africa had no history and civilization,and theoretically had a theoretical view on African history represented by Hegel.It systematically refuted it and formed the thought of Afrocentrism.In the late 20 th century,Afrocentrism thought gradually emerged in the United States,and a group of American scholars,mainly African Americans,inherited and supplemented Diop’s views,forming an academic group with Afrocentrism thought.These African-American scholars advocate understanding and interpreting issues related to Africa from the standpoint of Africa and from the perspective of Africa;They emphasize the centrality of African history in world history,refute the desert theory of African history by rewriting ancient African history,and refute African civilization by demonstrating the black African nature of Egyptian civilization;Proposed that European and even American civilizations originated in Africa,shaping the image of Africa as the mother of world civilization;Emphasize that black people have the intellectual conditions to build civilization,and promote the superiority of the black race.The thought of afrocentrism has caused a lot of controversy after its emergence.A few supporters think it is the most powerful challenge to Eurocentrism,while more opponents from different backgrounds regard it as “black-faced Eurocentrism”,“fantasy myth” or “a serious threat to try to divide the country”.In the late 20 th century,the Afrocentrism thought became a mainstream consciousness in the struggle of African Americans,providing crucial ideological support for shaping the image of African civilization and strengthening African American identity,but also revealing inherent flaws such as misinterpretation and fabrication of history,rigid dogmatism in some ideological perspectives,and overemphasis on racial identity and the importance of ancient Africa in world civilization.In view of this,this paper will examine how African-American scholars have used the Afrocentrism thought to conduct African and African-American-related studies,to shape the image of Africa and black people,to contribute to the construction of African-American cultural identity,and to strengthen African-American cultural identity.