African and Black Orientalism

Ali Mazrui was probably the first person to use the term Black Orientalism in his critique of the PBS documentary Wonders of the African World, produced by Henry Gates, an African-American professor. According to Mazrui, Gates is a Black Orientalist because he made condescending, paternalistic, ideologically selective, superficial, and uninformed depictions of Africa. He also suggests that Gate's emphasis on black Africans' participation in the Atlantic slave trade ends up exonerating the West. Just as Western Orientalist scholarship was used to justify and promote colonialism, Gate's work is an apology for European colonization and domination of the African continent.

Mazrui's use of Orientalism is very unconventional. He does not focus on Gate's attitudes toward Arabs, Muslims, and Islam, although Gate's documentary made what could be construed as negative and problematic portrayals of Arabs in the segments on Egypt and East Africa. Moreover, it is not clear why Mazrui calls Gate's alleged Orientalism "Black" and not African-American or just American.