Gates Honored By Benin President

Afro-American Studies Department Chair Henry L. “Skip” Gates, Jr., DuBois professor of humanities, received an honorary degree this month from an African university and the added bonus of an honorary citizenship from the president of Benin.

While Gates had been in the country to accept the honorary degree from the University of Benin, the honorary citizenship was totally unexpected, according to the professor.

Gates met with Benin President Mathieu Kerekou during his visit to the country and explained the story of W.E.B. DuBois emigrating to Ghana, where Ghana’s president offered him an honorary citizenship.

Upon hearing DuBois’ story, Kerekou said that he wanted to do the same for Gates—and offered him an honorary citizenship to the West African nation.

Several hours later, Gates was presented with a “beautiful” dress and hat to wear for the afternoon citizenship ceremony during which Kerekou named Gates a “Commander in the National Order of Benin,” a title signifying the nation’s highest honors.

Despite having received numerous prestigious honors and awards, including 36 honorary degrees, Gates said that receiving an honorary citizenship and an honorary degree from an African university were his “two secret fantasies.”

He is currently waiting for his diplomatic passport from Benin to arrive after he submitted ten photographs for documentation.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that while dual citizenship is common, the government does not have records on honorary citizenships.

While Benin and the United States may appear to have few connections, Gates said he was struck by how similar the people of Benin look to many blacks in the U.S.

He said he identified with the audience at the honorary degree ceremony since he could recognize “facial types,” and was “quite overwhelm[ed]” by the symbolism of the similarity in facial features between Africans and African Americans.

“The faces of African Americans are worn on the faces of the citizens of Benin. You wouldn’t need to know that 18 percent of slaves were shipped from Benin” to make that connection, he said.

Gates praised Kerekou’s “personal reconciliation movement” which calls for African nations to apologize to African Americans for their role in the American slave trade.

He called Kerekou “a real pioneer” for trying to establish the truth about African involvement in the slave trade.