What What Whaaaat?

This is that moment where I realize I’m becoming a pretty good history major, but I’m not sure that I’m feeling okay with that right now.

This blog entry is supposed to reflect on something that I found particularly appalling or, at the very least, rather uncomfortable to deal with.  It took me awhile, but I did find one thing that made me at least a little uncomfortable, but it was not wholly satisfying in the kind of way that I really felt it was worth railing against. 

I tend to focus on the articles about Africa, partially because I’ve been to South Africa and Swaziland, and partially because I recognize the authors of the articles.  I was skimming through the last letter about Africa on the last page of missionary updates and feeling rather discontent with not finding what I wanted.  Then it hit me: the whole first paragraph of this article was completely and utterly racist.  Six months ago, I would have been shocked by the crazy view this missionary so plainly wrote about, but I had contextualized the letter so automatically that it didn’t strike me as wrong at all.  Something about that makes me pretty sad for myself.  

But anyway, moving past that rude awakening, it will probably be helpful for the reader to have a taste of this racism that is so uncomprehendable:

"To the native mind, the white man is a conundrum which he may try in vain to fathom.  However, he does not lose much sleep trying to fathom that which is too deep for him; and if the white man will leave him alone he is quite satisfied to leave the white man to himself.  … [When they are converted to Christianity] what a change takes place in their lives! They quit their fighting and quarreling, their lying and stealing, their cursing and drinking, their witchcraft and sorcery.  How strange! Was ever such a thing known about before? And it all came about through listening to the teaching of these missionaries.  Is it a new form of sorcery that has cast a spell over them? And will it soon pass away?"

Ummmm… What?

Where do I even begin?  Maybe a list of why this whole letter is ridiculous is the best way to go about this:

1. White men are a conundrum to me, too.  They say they’ll call you and then they never do and you just end up waiting around for them to get off work and… oh wait.  But in more seriousness, shouldn’t this missionary just be thanking his lucky stars that the African peoples are not trying to make him go away?  Why is he insulting them for letting him do his work?
2. The blatant statement that Africans are unable to comprehend the white man because they are less intelligent
3. The idea that Christianity magically makes people stop stealing, lying, cheating, drinking, and believing in sorcery
4. The implication that the Christian Africans do not know why all of a sudden they have magically stopped stealing, lying, cheating, drinking, and believing in sorcery
5. The devaluation of missionary work in thinking that the converts are not able to understand the saving grace of Jesus and the idea that they think it’s sorcery that might vanish

I mean, really, he spent all this time trying to convert people, trying to help them understand why they should be Christian, but even once they are converted and living a holy life they are unable to comprehend that they are Christian?  That makes no sense!!

Alright, so this blog entry went pretty far over the suggested 300-400 words, but I guess if you’re going to let me complain, then I’m going to do it right.  It is fascinating to me that missionaries used to be able to do work with people they believed were so far below them in every way.  It makes me so depressed that this is where we’ve been.  And I don’t even have a nice poem to cheer me up this time.