Race and Tribe

Towards the end of the 1800s, many African thinkers began defining "African identity." Before this mini-revolution, there were virtually no people on the continent who regarded themselves as Africans. People were often defined by their language, kinship, and their land of origin. One other way to define Africans was to contrast them with European cultures. The word "tribe" started appearing more and more.

As Europeans continued to overtake Africa, the Africans did the best they could to continue there traditions and keep their spirits alive. The British found that the Africans were easier to control if they separated them into different clans. This wasn't easy, though because the Africans usually just wanted to be able to live how they wanted, and not be split into certain sections of society. They would rather be one big community than a divided nation. However, they did not have much of a choice when the colonial government required people to identify what tribe they were a part of on things like applications for jobs and ID cards. Although they initially did not seem in favor of the whole idea of tribes, the Africans began to take a liking to the new system and found the labels useful, especially in areas were urbanization was happening very rapidly.

It was much easier to organize people when they were part of a tribe. In colonial colonies, people that were new to the city found themselves new "tribes" of people who spoke the same language, came from the same place, or worked in the same field. Another step in society came when people started to include themselves in more than one tribe. A man could be in a clan of factory workers at the same time he was in a group of people who all spoke the same language and lived on the same block.