KB,

I agree with you entirely. Conteh is my Big Brother, but his interpretations
sometimes scare me. A "tribe-less society" is an ideal that we have to work
VERY, VERY hard to achieve. But, in present day Gambia, it's Quixotic to
pretend that different tribes have no peculiar sensibilities. It's more
apparent among the illiterate and semi-literate who form the majority back
home, but it's in all of us one way or the other. Those sentiments shouldn't
be exploitable by opportunists, but they ought to be recognized and
channeled in the right directions. Criminalizing tribalism will be nothing
but an exercise in futility. Why? Because, much as it is a noble idea, no
law can legislate people's deformed inner feelings, or mentality. Why are we
still grappling with racism in America a generation after the Civil Rights
Act was passed into law?

What needs to happen is for us to start discussing these issues openly, and
frankly. "Put all cards on the table" is what I say. That way, there's no
room for anyone to go around surreptitiously spreading garbage about this or
that group -as obtains now! As it is, what we have presently is general
hypocrisy about tribal issues, in that all of us educated types have learnt
what to say in public in order NOT TO SEEN AS tribalist! In fact, many have
the warped idea that jumping up in public and condemning tribalism is what
makes someone a non-tribalist. Not a chance! How one interracts with others
from a different creed, the friendship criteria used, marriage, etc is a
better indicator. In short, it's one's ACTIONS, not Words that matter. But
if we're going to be honest with ourselves, how many times have you been
among your "inner circles" when someone says something derogatory about
another tribe? And what has been YOUR response? Did you just laugh, or point
out the danger? How often do you do that? My view on this is simple: we can
summon the courage to be honest about these issues, or we can keep
pretending that we're a monolithic society. If we are, why is it so easy for
the Yaya Jammehs to set us at each other's throats? Thanks for the
interjection.

Saul.

Pa Ali, great analysis. I also thank Manneh for taking the time to clarify
his position to Jassey-Conteh again.

I would also take this opportunity to respond to some of Conteh's postings
regarding this debacle. First of all I think it is grossly unfair for Conteh
to accuse Manneh of tribalism simply because the man tabulated the ethnic
make-up of Niani in order to back up his analysis. That make-up is the
truth. Whether Manneh says it or not, it is there. It is important that we
recognize it and formulate a strategy to take advantage of that self-evident
truth. Taking advantage here does NOT mean going to the majority Wollof and
pitting them against the minority (like APRC is doing). Taking advantage
here means recognizing people's idiosyncrasies and appropriately addressing
their unique issues/plight. For instance, with this information in hand,
Darboe will not go to a Wollof village and start addressing people in
Mandinka or Fulla. What is wrong in using Manneh's information in that way?

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