The Fur people had never before seen an Arab and doubted his humanity

Evidence

When they saw me they gathered around me, much struck by the redness of my color. They came upon me in droves, because they had never before seen an Arab. They wanted to kill me out of mischief—and at that time I did not know one word of the Furi language. They frightened me except for when I saw my companions unsheath their weapons and thrust them in the faces of the crowd. They put themselves between me and the crowd. I asked them why this was happening and they replied, They wish to murder you. Then I asked why? And the guards replied, Their minds are so small that they are saying that someone like you could not be born from the womb of his mother. Others are saying, If I brought down the tip of my spear [or sword, dhubäba] on him, blood would come out. Another said, Be patient, and I’ll stab him with my spear and we’ll see what, if any, blood comes out of him. When we heard that we were afraid for you and surrounded you. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 166

Categorization

• SHARE: A vivid, specific encounter — worth sending to someone interested in pre-colonial Sudanese ethnography or the history of color-consciousness.
• CANDY: The crowd doubting whether an Arab-born-man bleeds is a striking and memorable anecdote.