Ethiopian-Israelis Rejecting Mandatory Military Service In Protest of institutional racism

[Karb]

lol, my bad about writing these damn chapter books breh.

It's cool breh, I enjoy learning other people's perspective. One thing I admire about Ethiopians is their ethnic/national pride

The process of forming a new identity is quite fascinating tbh. What the Eritreans are doing is no different from what all other ppl have done in the past. Most ethnic/national identities are based on a mixture of myths and some historical facts.

I mean, just look at the bullshyt that white people came up with since the 16th century. The invention of "whiteness", trying to attach themselves to ancient civilizations, inventing race theories that position them at the top of the food chain, etc..

*Edit*

What did you mean by "they're racist as fukk"? Are you referring to one group in particular? I know Amharas have a superiority complex, but I think most ethic groups in Ethiopia (or the Horn in general) have varying degrees of xenophobia. That place is a giant pressure cooker breh, they all distrust each other lol. It's a mixture of a very bloody history + the legacy of the slave trade that creates this mentality.

@2Quik4UHoes

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

You ever watched that movie about the Christian kid from Ethiopia who pretends to be Beta Israel in order to be sent to Israel?

Nah, my mom would always tell me about that shyt because of my fascination with the Beta Israel. She met the actor before at a screening, told me he's very gracious.

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

It's cool breh, I enjoy learning other people's perspective. One thing I admire about Ethiopians is their ethnic/national pride

The process of forming a new identity is quite fascinating tbh. What the Eritreans are doing is no different from what all other ppl have done in the past. Most ethnic/national identities are based on a mixture of myths and some historical facts.

I mean, just look at the bullshyt that white people came up with since the 16th century. The invention of "whiteness", trying to attach themselves to ancient civilizations, inventing race theories that position them at the top of the food chain, etc..

*Edit*

What did you mean by "they're racist as fukk"? Are you referring to one group in particular? I know Amharas have a superiority complex, but I think most ethic groups in Ethiopia (or the Horn in general) have varying degrees of xenophobia. That place is a giant pressure cooker breh, they all distrust each other lol.

@2Quik4UHoes

Yeah, for me the pride is a source of strength but for some it can be a weakness or even totally disregarded.

The evolution of Eritrean identity is fascinating if nothing else. But what's going on there is no different than any other development of nationalism/identity as you said.

As for the racist thing, I can't speak for Tigrays but Amharas can be very racist. Being an Amhara was like being white in America in the sense that there were certain privileges involved. Land rights, good standing in the community, etc etc. Muslims were marginalized, Jews were marginalized, and the southern Ethiopians being sold into slavery were all but called ******s. Amharas carried an inflated sense of pride that made them see themselves as being above both white and black people, it was as if they carved out Amhara as it's on racist distinct from any other. So the culture of slavery/slave trading, their origin story of Solomon/Sheba, the rugged terrain that they conquered and mastered, and many other factors created a sort of racist streak in which Amharas would be concerned with blood purity, being the only true Ethiopians, just a slew of things that'd take me too long to name. It's converted more into tribal competition but the idea of pureblood is still there.

Not all Amharas feel this way of course, but some were adversely affected by the extreme pride that comes with being Ethiopian. I'd say I got the contempt for white people side of that bigotry.

 

[Karb]

Yeah, for me the pride is a source of strength but for some it can be a weakness or even totally disregarded.

The evolution of Eritrean identity is fascinating if nothing else. But what's going on there is no different than any other development of nationalism/identity as you said.

As for the racist thing, I can't speak for Tigrays but Amharas can be very racist. Being an Amhara was like being white in America in the sense that there were certain privileges involved. Land rights, good standing in the community, etc etc. Muslims were marginalized, Jews were marginalized, and the southern Ethiopians being sold into slavery were all but called ******s. Amharas carried an inflated sense of pride that made them see themselves as being above both white and black people, it was as if they carved out Amhara as it's on racist distinct from any other. So the culture of slavery/slave trading, their origin story of Solomon/Sheba, the rugged terrain that they conquered and mastered, and many other factors created a sort of racist streak in which Amharas would be concerned with blood purity, being the only true Ethiopians, just a slew of things that'd take me too long to name. It's converted more into tribal competition but the idea of pureblood is still there.

Not all Amharas feel this way of course, but some were adversely affected by the extreme pride that comes with being Ethiopian. I'd say I got the contempt for white people side of that bigotry.

Lol that's funny though, Amharas are one of the most mixed ethnic groups in the Horn along with the Oromo. They assimilated a bunch of other ethnic group upon conquering them which is why they are so huge in number compared to more homogeneous groups like the Afar or Tigray. Same goes for Oromo.

Yet both Amhara and Oromo peddle some BS rhetoric about "ethnic purity".

This ties in well with my previous point about the importance of myths in forming ethnic identities.

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

Lol that's funny though, Amharas are one of the most mixed ethnic groups in the Horn along with the Oromo. They assimilated a bunch of other ethnic group upon conquering them which is why they are so huge in number compared to more homogeneous groups like the Afar or Tigray. Same goes for Oromo.

Yet both Amhara and Oromo peddle some BS rhetoric about "ethnic purity".

This ties in well with my previous point about the importance of myths in forming ethnic identities.

It's pretty ironic. Amhara to begin with was never an ethnicity, it was Orthodox Christian that spoke Amharic and was eligible to own land. Amhara simply meant "free person" and marked their adherence to the Church. That's why the opposite end "Falasha" was given to Jews to mean "foreigner, or 'without land'". So religion and land rights created certain ethnic groups. Oromos were called Gallas for a long time which is now an epithet because it referred to their status of enslavement, Shamballa described the Ethiopians of the deep south who were slaves in the society.

This all developed into a deep chauvinism for some that today shows itself in positive and negative lights. The relationship everyone in the region has with one another can be explained through history.

 

[Karb]

It's pretty ironic. Amhara to begin with was never an ethnicity, it was Orthodox Christian that spoke Amharic and was eligible to own land. Amhara simply meant "free person" and marked their adherence to the Church. That's why the opposite end "Falasha" was given to Jews to mean "foreigner, or 'without land'". So religion and land rights created certain ethnic groups. Oromos were called Gallas for a long time which is now an epithet because it referred to their status of enslavement, Shamballa described the Ethiopians of the deep south who were slaves in the society.

This all developed into a deep chauvinism for some that today shows itself in positive and negative lights. The relationship everyone in the region has with one another can be explained through history.

Shamballa, is that the same as Shanqella?

The Oromos made their own conquests though. They forcibly assimilated many other groups, including habeshas. They were never a permanent slave class unlike the nilotic people in the southern regions.

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

Shamballa, is that the same as Shanqella?

The Oromos made their own conquests though. They forcibly assimilated many other groups, including habeshas. They were never a permanent slave class unlike the nilotic people in the southern regions.

Lmfao, that's what I meant I always fukk the name up.

Oromos definitely made conquests but a lot of them were also enslaved. In Islam's Black Slaves there was a part I read describing how Arabs favored Oromo slaves out of all others so at times when Oromos took military losses they were willingly sold by Amharas to Arab traders. The unique nature of Oromo culture like the Gadaa system as opposed to feudal society, Christianity vs traditional beliefs of the Oromo, and their migration from the south into the highlands breeding competition for resources made them in the Amharas eyes worthy of enslavement and they dehumanized them quite a bit. But as you said they were great warriors and in time were respected a great deal albeit begrudgingly by some.

Since Ethiopia was formed out of many different smaller kingdoms, there was caste and racism in many other segments of society including the south ironically enough.