[Xmca-l] Genetics, internalization, biology, and Vygotsky

[Dr. Paul C. Mocombe]

I have an important question for vygotsky scholars...According to the haitian sociologist, Daniel Supplice, as people of African descent, whose societies and governments have been based on theocracy prior to their contacts with Europeans, democracy is not for haitians.  He argues that as haitians and people of african descent, we have to reconsider how we constitute our societies, and stop adopting the ideologies and practices of whites, which are aligned with their biology and experiences of the world.

This debate is not new.  There is an argument in afrocentric circles, which highlight the impact that melanin has in making people of color religious and determining their worldview.  So that in the internalization of social processes by blacks melanin is a determing factor in constituting their worldview.  Is this the sought of biological/genetic factor that Vygotsky scholars are taking into account when they speak of the internalization process?

I am aware of the fact that alcohol and certain high blood pressure medications adversely affect people of african descent because of melanin.  Should we look at the internalization of social processes along the same lines as the ingestion of medicine and alcohol?  Is this Vygotskyian or more in line with Kantian form of understanding and sensibilities as it applies to people of african descent?

Dr. Paul C. Mocombe
President
The Mocombeian Foundation, Inc.
www.mocombeian.com 
www.readingroomcurriculum.com 
www.paulcmocombe.info