Are we forgetting that the former president of The Gambia Dawda Kairaba Jawara was himself from a "karanke" or cobbler background. Yet, I would dare say that no Gambian family would have refused him to marry one of theirs. The families out of which he married never flashed the cobbler card in his face for obvious reasons. Another example is Youssou Ndure. How many women from the so-called noble families would say no if he wanted to marry them just because he is a "gewel"? It is therefore evident that the demarcations that tend to classify some African societies could easily crumble under the pressure of wealth, affluence and political power. I don't want to say that these divisions are feudal in origin, but they may, to a great extent, be a reflection of the former economic and political structures of African societies. The question is why are some societies such as the Jola casteless? We cannot however sweep the racism that is often tied to the precursors of Islam and Christianity under the carpet of religious zealotry. That would mean insulting the conscience of our people who died under the sword in Segou, in Kansala, in Mombasa, and most recently in the Zongo-Kataf region of Nigeria. _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------