My class has been talking about various race issues within the last couple of weeks.  Recently, someone brought up Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.  This is a book I know well.  I’ve read and studied it in several classes and I legitimately cannot understand how anyone would think it’s NOT racist.  But apparently such ignorance does exist and at NYU no less.  Newsflash, if you haven’t read the book, then you have no right giving your opinion about it.  With that in mind, there is no way you can be an intelligent, informed person, read Heart of Darkness and not see that it’s dripping with racism.  Do I blame Conrad for his racism?  Of course not.  He was ignorant - and so were a lot of people at the time.  What offends and disturbs me is our CONTINUED debate over whether it is racist.  It is.  Years later we should be able to clearly see that depicting Africans - or any group of people as uncivilized or savage is not only ignorant, it’s just straight up inaccurate.  Why is civilization characterized by the American or even the European experience?  Africans functioned in their own way, it was just different.  But let us not condescend to think that any experience is “civilized.”  And for anyone who thinks that Africans are or were barbaric or savage I ask, why?  What prior knowledge/experience do you have with Africa?  I would venture to guess that this belief comes from either the American education system or the media - both of which, (as we all know) — ARE GREAT SOURCES!  

Milton Allimadi’s book, “The Hearts of Darkness: How White Writers Created a Racist Image of Africa,” depicts how trustworthy even our most respected media outlets are.  It describes how the New York Times fabricated stories and concocted ideas about pygmies and tribes all the way up until the 80s.  The New York Times, purposefully made these stories up or added elements to support popular stereotypes.  120 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was put into effect, the New York Times fought to perpetuate a hierarchy between Africa and America that has continued to be inherent in our society.  So inherent, most people still can’t realize how racist Conrad’s book is.  Both of the journalists whose names were attached to the articles, refuted writing what actually printed in the paper under Pulitzer-prize winning editor Homer Bigart.  Allimadi and other historians have repeatedly asked the New York Times to print a retraction or an apology about the fabrications.  The New York Times has not answered.  But yes, this is a great source to get information about Africa from.  

Our society is racist.  It’s just so inherent that we’re unaware of it.  

Which brings me back to Conrad.  I could really go on forever about it, but I’ll make one final point.  Just because someone depicts an individual, or even a group of people in a seemingly positive way, doesn’t mean it’s positive.  Conrad waxed poetically about an African woman’s beauty, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t being racist in his remarks.  Slaveowners had sex with their female slaves, that doesn’t mean they considered them to be their equals.  They were sexualized, exoticised, and fetishized, but they were NOT respected.  

I truly believe that everyone needs to spend time in a place where they are the minority.  Perhaps if everyone did that, these racist undertones that are so prevalent in our society would outrage and offend everyone and not just a select few.  Hey, guess what?  The more we talk about how civilized WE are in relation to others, the less civilized we become.