In my observations as both a researcher of native Blacks during the time periods of exploration and colonization as well as being a Black individual, I’ve happened to find a similar variation in terms of personality of “leaders” and “followers” when it comes to conformity amongst Blacks.
First, I will start with my thesis supported by my personal anecdotes, compare that with the anecdotes from my research on the pattern within a native environment, then state my concluding thoughts in the qualities of a “Leader” vs a “ Follower” in Black population.
Referring back to a previous article of my where I commented “I didn’t think I was Black,” I meant that I didn’t conform to Black groups or say common Black interest in way of social trends. With that said, while I haven’t meant too many Blacks like me, I did notice considerable variation in personalities. Also, in addition, I will describe them in terms of phenotypes to guesstimate their ancestry ratios due to White ancestry possibly being a co-hypothesis in my thesis. Now, some will mention in the case of the Tutsis, that skin color alone isn’t very accurate in terms of determining ancestry., I agree, for my studies have shown that adding the variable of facial features or phenotype will reflect better results.
Number One would be a junior who I’ve met this year in my AP Calculus class named Cole. Cole, in terms of phenotypes, seemed more or less as admixed as I am. His eyes were seemed to have a similar distance from each other, though his lips weren’t as big as mine. His skin hue was overall browner (his being around “Earth 1,” and mine being closer to “Clay 2-3”) than mine, and our jaws were somewhat equally medium prognathous. Based on his head, he didn’t seem to have a receding forehead like other Blacks, which will be shown in other subjects.
In terms of personality and classwork, he was more industrious, calmer, and attentive. Overall, despite not really showing intellectual introvert characteristics like me, he was a better student than I was, thus is why he is still in the class, and I decided to leave. It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand the material, but for me I worked better with word problems because there was more to analyze, and there was a scenario for me to apply. Simple “solve” problems were too boring, and sadly, I became idle in my work.
Number Two will be a 2nd semester Medical Terminology classmate named Tyquan. He was overall darker and more prognathous than or Cole or I are and darker in hue (Earth 3), As far as his personality goes, he is, like Cole, calmer than me and overall a nice guy. His intellectual faculties didn’t come off as very strong, though he did seem like the type who would be obedient towards extra effort.
Number Three will be a first semester AP English student who I sadly didn’t catch the name of. Overall, he seemed as pure as a Black person gets in this country. He resembled a villager in many respects in terms of facial features, muscularity, and skin tone (about Earth 4) and was somewhat shorter than me. He, however, was not only calm like the others but particularly sweet in his manner and speech.
Number Four will be a General Biology classmate named Nehemiah. He had a similar Black phenotype to Tyquan or Number Three, third, yet his head and face were overall taller than theirs. Concerning hue, he was about an Earth 4 or 5. He was an extrovert, and thus was more disruptive and less calm than I am, though if were to compare us on aggressiveness, he was still aggressive than I am.
Number Five will be a boy named Marcus. In appearance he was similar to the previous subjects, particularly Tyquan, although he was notably overweight, and his skin seemed to be an Earth 6. In terms of personality, he projected more extroversion than Nehemiah, though he differed in lacked inhibition, being loud and less obedient. But he had the same humorous character as like Nehemiah.
Now we will move to a phenomenon taking place with West African Natives.
Here are details of personalities of various slaves, in particular some of whom were noted to have a decent temper.
As far as these types reacting to conformity, here’s what I found.
In the scope of cannibalism, being described s a major vice in the Calabar at the time, one man described his servant as of Eboe (being the slang for Calabar at the time, where true Ibo country was more to the west) origin, and describing the servant’s shame when he admitted to eating flesh during a cannibalistic ceremony.
Another one of similar origin wasn’t as embarrassed in doing this, for he explained that his tribe only did it to war enemies, and when asked, he said he wouldn’t eat his “Massa,” but he would eat his Master’s enemies. John Baker’s Race even shows near-individualist behavior in the Azande of Central Africa, a cannibal group of much fame at the time, where he mentions another man who refused to take part in the practice.
As far as I could tell, these types would meet either of two fates, being successful through conformity, or falling victim of beatings or even slavery due to their gentle nature.
The overall contrast between the Leaders and the Followers in these works seemed to be that the Followers were overall more gentle, sharing similar vices as the other Blacks but on a lesser scale. I don’t think I need to explain who the “Leaders” were. They were the main source of any mayhem or trouble. The Followers, though not all true individualists, were more likely to follow gruesome or horrific customs in lockstep fashion rather than actually embody the nature of them as the Leaders did.
This observation may tie into Robert’s posts about where line between the where the Ghetto Black begins and the “Good Blacks” ends and vice versa, but once we get to a subject like Marcus or perhaps Nehemiah, things get Fuzzy.
