When everything is looked at
through tribal or political lenses
Dear editor,
I know a country where to some mindless simpletons masquerading as educated ones, everything is looked at through a so-called tribal lens, and if they can’t see much, they borrow a political lens to make a conclusion about others and their viewpoints! Here’s the way these “educated” ones operate:
The first thing they look at is the name of the individual author. In their lazy logic, last names always determine what tribe an individual belongs to. And if the last name is not familiar to them, they quickly conclude that the author is a “newcomer” to The Gambia and so therefore does not have the same citizenship rights as them. Talk about autochthony run amok. If they can fit the last name into the indolent tribal box they created for the author, all they see is tribalism even where none exists! And they’re quickest to cry “this is tribalism.” Typical of the self-fulfilling prophecy, if they see the author say anything about anyone in public service whom they feel belongs to their tribe, they convince themselves that they were right that the author is in fact a tribalist. At that point, nothing the author says matters to them anymore because they’ve managed to box them neatly in a tribal box. Their mission then becomes to defend their “own” against “the other” no matter how ridiculous the arguments they proffer!
Further, if they somehow manage to get past the author’s name, then their benighted radar of politics starts scanning. Allah help the author if he mentions anything they deem contrary to what their political leader says or thinks. Accursed with the disease of groupthink and unable to think for themselves, they will dial tired and worn out cliches trying to cloak their hubris in the raiment of objectivity and patriotism. To them, the only patriots are those who subscribe to their political line of thinking. Everyone else must have an agenda. Unable to challenge the author’s points, they usually resort to lies and innuendoes or making unnecessary remarks that have zilch to do with the author’s points. They consider statements such as “the sky is blue” or “the world has three days” (yesterday, today and tomorrow) as genius thought!
If they can align the author’s last name to a political party, it’s game over! For them politics should only be about tribe, region and herd mentality. And these are the folks that are quick to call others ignorant. If the author’s last name matches the tribal box they assigned to a particular political party, they smile in satisfaction claiming “I knew it all along.” They consider that sophisticated thinking! The unfortunate thing is that these are the folks in this country who consider themselves politically aware! Please Ya Allah help deliver us from groupthink and mindlessness. Please Sunj Borom, help us see our people first and put our people first for our people have suffered enough. Ya Allah, help us realize that not everyone is obsessed with belonging to a political party and no one should be assigned to a box they have never identified themselves with. That some of us love our people and we don’t see things the same way others do and that does not mean we are right, but it does not also mean we love our country any less than those who think politics is the only way to go. Daarmanso, please protect us from the evil of our family and friends and guard us against those who see everything as “us against them.” Ameen!
