Effects Of Hypocrisy On African American Imperialism
Hypocrisy also had a profound impact on native Africans as their land and people were exploited. To start with, Africa was sliced up into pieces to be reigned over by the European powers. These European powers imposed their ideals as a veneer in order of gaining the chance of “weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways” (Conrad 12). In other words, colonists wanted to have their fair share of wealth from Africa by obtaining their raw resources. They wanted to take the resources from Africa and ship them back to their own country to use in the production of goods to sell them off again. Gold, copper and rubber were some of the raw resources sough after but in Conrad’s novella, ivory trade stands out the most. Throughout the story,
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The obsession to possess ivory was also followed by the “rubber boom, when it became customary to hold families hostage while the men were sent into the bush to gather wild latex, and failures to meet quotas were punished with amputations and mutilations” (Moore 9). This was one of the ways Africans had to pay the price for European colonists’ hypocritical actions. They were forcefully subjected to human labour because during this period “in colonial Africa, authority was manifested very simply. White gave orders, black obeyed” (Desai 19). As a matter of fact, slavery existed during pre-colonial Africa and gained attention from the Western world in the nineteenth century. There were news of the terrors of slave raids, people snatched from the comfort of their homes, making thousands of Africans to become victims. During this time “the public was led to believe that colonial rule would end this scourge-[since] this was one of the moral justifications for the conquest of Africa” (Miers and Klein 1). However, even after the colonial rulers had grasped power, they had little interest in bringing slavery to an end. In fact, they labelled Africans as being “prehistoric” and inflicted unjust treatment upon them. Marlow even looks down upon an African, 1exclaiming that this African was “bellow me… [and] to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his
The obsession to possess ivory was also followed by the “rubber boom, when it became customary to hold families hostage while the men were sent into the bush to gather wild latex, and failures to meet quotas were punished with amputations and mutilations” (Moore 9). This was one of the ways Africans had to pay the price for European colonists’ hypocritical actions. They were forcefully subjected to human labour because during this period “in colonial Africa, authority was manifested very simply. White gave orders, black obeyed” (Desai 19). As a matter of fact, slavery existed during pre-colonial Africa and gained attention from the Western world in the nineteenth century. There were news of the terrors of slave raids, people snatched from the comfort of their homes, making thousands of Africans to become victims. During this time “the public was led to believe that colonial rule would end this scourge-[since] this was one of the moral justifications for the conquest of Africa” (Miers and Klein 1). However, even after the colonial rulers had grasped power, they had little interest in bringing slavery to an end. In fact, they labelled Africans as being “prehistoric” and inflicted unjust treatment upon them. Marlow even looks down upon an African, 1exclaiming that this African was “bellow me… [and] to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his