ABSTRACT
The domain of knowledge is a site of long-standing epistemic struggles. Epistemic struggles were and are inextricably intertwined with struggles over ontological issues. Racism spoiled ontology, epistemology and scholarship simultaneously. Racist dehumanization delineated not only the borders of being and power but also those of knowledge. In the process, epistemic racism deprived humanity of the chance to benefit from rich knowledge cascading from diverse geo-political sites of thought. This was possible because during the unfolding of imperialism and colonialism, colonial invaders did not only target the land and human resources, they also invaded the mental universe of those people they colonized. The mental universe of the colonized experienced the depth of epistemological violence. One of the long-term consequences of this invasion of the mental universe of the colonized world was the inscription of the debilitating Hegelian master-servant dialectic of Europe as the abode of knowers (teachers/civilizers of the world) and Africa as a dwelling of ignorant and primitive sub-human species; Europe as the originator of things and Africa as the imitator; as well as Europe as source of science and rationality and Africa as ‘Dark Continent’ engrossed in magic and superstition.
