Even though Jim and all other niggers of the period did not think of themselves as superior than their masters at all, Twain persuaded the readers to believe that these African slaves were all obedient, honest, and willing to sacrifice for the others – which was not found in the whites in the adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Even though this book was not generally accepted by people at that period, it was a remarkable piece of literature for nowadays readers, because it shows them how different the world in the past is to the present world. This ‘new’ thought of Mark Twain, of equal representation between the whites and blacks, was only accepting by the public till a
They made the claims that because they were uncivilized, this was a perfect justification for conquest. Europeans were looking for excuses to make Africa look like it needed European help; this made all African customs seem savage and not normal in the eyes of the Europeans. All of this encompassed the myth of the Dark
Document 4 says that not only were they unable to keep up the utilities, they didn’t have skilled administrators to govern their new independent nations. This shows, in a way, that colonialism actually benefited the Africans by giving them security and stability, and by making use of their resources which otherwise would have been undetected and undeveloped. But, it would be wrong to suggest that imperialism was very positive for Africans. Many African men were killed and overworked, as described in Document 6. This left Africa with a reduced supply of capable workers and leaders when they became independent.
This quote shows that black people are treated unfairly in the society. More than that, white people treat black people as some kind of slaves. They do not care that black people will live or die. They only know that they have more power in their hands than black community. Therefore, discrimination against based on skin-color seems to be tearing down many black people’s lives in that period of
In fact, Joseph Conrad provides a more realistic image of Africa in his 1899 novella Heart of Darkness – a story about a young man’s journey to Congo. Unlike the positive atmosphere that “The Lion King” settles, Heart of Darkness describes the other side of Africans and reveals that white conquerors use brute and unnecessary force to surmount the aborigines, who unfortunately display no resistance. They allow the captors to treat them as those of a lower class, and the captors cease the opportunity to exploit poor Africans for their personal service. The Africans also accept humiliation that comes with the white conquerors – which predominantly formed because of African looks – and this accepting leads to their further negligence. However, not all of the Africans are defenceless.
He believed African Americans were inferior to white’s people and thought the two races could not co-exist peacefully in freedom. Moreover, Shipler emphasizes in his essay, “Jefferson Is America and America Is Jefferson,” what Jefferson believe about black people. He thought that they had a bad smell, were more tolerant to the heat, but not the cold, and also were unable to reasoning or think logically and critically and that black people skin not show emotions. Jefferson was not in favor of slavery. He thought
Dubois's philosophy not only shows nihilism in the black race during this era but it also shows the same lack of progression in the black community in 2011. It reminds us of the lack of harmonious solidarity as well as the lack of intellect, high morals and spiritual insight affecting the Black masses today. His piece brings up an array of valid points on why the black community is its own worst enemy when it comes to building a new infrastructure of educational, historical and financial knowledge of self like the Jewish, Asian and Indian cultures. Dubois says “It is the problem of developing the best of this race that they may guide the mass away from the contamination and death of the worst, in their own and other races. Now the training of men is a difficult and intricate task.”(Dubois 1) I personally think that the contamination of most blacks today is from out dated teachings, some churches, politicians and most importantly, the entertainment business.
In “Modernization, ethnic competition, and the rationality of politics in contemporary Africa”, Bates argues that modernization efforts by Western nations in Africa in particular have fueled ethnic rivalries and conflicts. Modernization has brought about many benefits such as new resources, work and labor, and marketable goods that are available to the population. The only problem with modernization is that the goods that come with this revolution are very limited, meaning that they’re not accessible to everyone (Bates,
Africa’s Current Barriers There are many reasons why Africa is considered an impoverished continent, but there are three that stand out against the others. Africa is not fully developed because of past history, disease, and agricultural issues. Africa lacks many things such as organization, power, and rule which also contribute to these three main issues. One reason that Africa is poor and wrecked is because of colonialism. Some of the first civilizations started in Africa, and forever after other civilizations wanted to conquer Africa as a means of showing their global superiority.
One type of culture, which has traditionally been labeled as uncivilized, are those found in Africa. Other more civilized cultures tend to look down on those who belong to African cultures, labeling their customs and ways of life as abnormal. Randall Bass, an Associate Professor of English at Georgetown University, made an interesting argument in his book, Border texts: Cultural Readings for Contemporary Writer. Bass describes a passage from a local newspaper out of Louisville, Kentucky. The newspaper coined the phrase, "national geographic nudity" in describing a movie.