“Ivan Van Sertima – They came before Columbus.” YouTube, uploaded by fajeetas, 2012. Therefore, the history presents a complex intersection of culture and different perceptions, and it will be difficult to achieve full objectivity in history. Van Sertima’s theories were claimed as Afrocentric in the scientific society, even though they correctly pointed to the ack of objectivism in ancient history. The lecture draws attention to the problem of subjectivism and cultural biases in history. Thus, Van Sertima’s lecture points to the inability of scientific society to go against conventional theory in the complex subject of history. Ivan Van Sertima is a Guyanese historian, linguist and anthropologist whose impeccable research clearly demonstrates that great African mariners visited the Americas and had major influences - with reciprococity - in Native American cultures. For example, they even pointed to the statues’ child-like features while ignoring the hair texture and other details people pictured in the statues ( They Came Before Columbus). My question was shot down then, but I found the answers years later in They Came Before Columbus. Van Sertima emphasizes that instead of objectively acknowledging African features of statues, the scientists made steep guesses. The author draws an example of Olmec’s colossal heads discovered in Tres Zapotes to illustrate how the presence of African people in America left traces in art objects. The presenter’s main argument is that other evidence can serve as a basis for knowledge besides written evidence, such as biological traces and creative objects.
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