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? _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------