A theoretical basis for good governance
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| Seth Oppong Department of Psychology University of Ghana, Legon seth@gmail.com Before even the British came into relations with our people, we were a developed people, having our own institutions, having our own ideas of government. J. E. Casely-Hayford, 1922 Ghanaian (Gold Coast) Nationalist ABSTRACT Generally, negative stereotypes have been shown to have negative impact on the performance of members of the social group that is the target of the stereotype. It is against the background of this evidence that this paper argues that the negative stereotypes of perceived lower intelligence held against Africans has a similar impact on the general development of the continent. This paper seeks to challenge this stereotype by tracing the source of this negative stereotype to David Hume and Immanuel Kant and by showing the initial errors they committed which have influenced social science knowledge about race relations. Hume and Kant argue that Africans are naturally inferior to Whites or are less intelligent and support their thesis with their contrived evidence that there has never been any civilised nations other than those developed by White 50 Oppong Racial stereotyping of Homo Sapiens Africanus people or any African scholars of eminence. Drawing on Anton Wilhelm Amos negligence-ignorance thesis, this paper shows the Hume-Kantian argument and its supporting evidence to be fallacious. Download 0.82 Mb. Share with your friends:
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