The origin of the word is in latin - tribus.

From that root you get words like tributary, tribulation, tribute, tribe, etc.

It is a concept used to distinguish the nature and/or obligations of a hierarchy. Latin was brought into the wider world by the roman empire. When they used the word 'tribe' in reference to themselves, it was a historical term. It referred to thier social organisation in the days before they inaugurated thier empire. From the moment rome became an empire, you never saw an instance where a citizen of rome was referred to as a tribesman. They had 'evolved'.

From then on, the word 'tribe' applied to the peoples outside the borders of rome. They spoke of german 'tribes', belgae 'tribes'. Primitive social organizations.

So, when the inheritors of the roman empire came into our world, in order that they may justify thier intervention in our affairs, they referred to themselves as being civilizing entities, citizens of great nations who were bringing us out of 'tribalism' into 'nationhood'. We would be thier apprentices.

This is why belgium with a population of 3 millions was called a nation while Africans in homogenous groups that numbered in the tens of millions remain 'tribes'. It is a way of saying we do not have a NATIONAL identity. That our social organizations are primitive.

Don't get me wrong, a 'white' man can say what he likes, thier opinions mean nothing to me. But, when I see someone who claims to be from my species refer to us with a reductive word, then I have to pull that person up. I have to ask if this is ignorance or something worse. I have to wonder if this person actually sees himself as a member of an inferior species.

Again though, that is a person's prerogative. I have walked down a road and heard dogs barking at me. This did not hurt my feelings or cause me to examine my being. Dogs will bark and a self-hater will hate. Everything acts according to it's nature.

However, I will not eat from the same plate as a dog.

Wisdom and Strength