Currently there are many misconceptions about the African Centered Paradigm. Most of its critics have not read the literature. It is primarily an orientation on how one views data, involving location, place and perspective (Asante, 1993). On a more personal level it provides the African American a window to view the world by becoming a transforming agent affording new attitudes, behaviors, beliefs and values. This transforming agent is the only reality for African people (Asante, 1989). African Centeredness is nothing more than what is congruent to the interpretive life of an African person. It is his richly "textured standing place" (Asante, 1993).
"Afrocentric, Africentric, or Afirican Centered" are interchangeable terms representing the concept which categorizes a quality of thought and practice which is rooted in the cultural image and interest of African people and whicb represents and reflects the life experiences, history and traditions of African people as the center of analyses. It is therein, the intellectual and philosophical foundation which African people should create their own scientific criterion for authenticating human reality."
Dr. Wade W. Nobles
Center of Applied Cultural Studies and Educational Achieventent
African Centered study is not a matter of color. It looks at any information involving African people and raises questions that allows Africans to be subjects of historical experiences rather than objects onthe fringes of another's experience. For example, an Afrocentric view of African conditions during enslavement would view the people not as "slaves" but as "Africans." This view assures a different mental orientation providing a new perspective and attitude closer to the reality of the people (Asante, 1993).
When we center each ethnic group in their own historical and cultural experiences, we expand our knowledge of and appreciation of the human experience. Afrocentric education and its advancement enrich and humanize our world. It is not about cultural separation or racial chauvinism. The African Centered scholar recognizes that an Afrocentric view is not the only view. This perspective seeks no advantage, no self-aggrandizement, no hegemony in its relation to others (Asante, 1993), thus it humanizes our world by fostering mutual dignity and respect.