This article makes several key points. The first is that the imperialist attitude was hypocritical. This is explicitly stated: "That sense of moral responsibility, however, was often misplaced or, even worse, laced with hypocrisy." The second is that the historical white view of imperialism is that it was beneficial. The author uses Kipling's White Man's Burden as an example of the pro-imperialism stance. The third key point is that the black man has suffered greatly from imperialism, but valiantly lives on. The author uses the text The Black Man's Burden to illustrate his point.
The document is significant because it presents the case in favor of and against imperialism. Furthermore, while The White Man's Burden is a well-known piece, its counterpoint is less well-known, so the article lends some exposure to The Black Man's Burden. What I learned from this article was to appreciate the different perspectives on history that exist. For every view in favor of an action, there are views to the contrary. Both sides have a case to present, and it benefits us all to see both sides of the discussion so that we may make up our own mind.
Between the two documents, one common theme is that of imperialism. Both documents address the issue...
The first article discusses both the Fulani and Habe perspective on the issue. Another common theme is the juxtaposition two opposing viewpoints with regards to imperialism in Africa. The first article compares the Habe's positive view of imperialism with the Fulani, who had a negative view. The second article also presented positive and negative viewpoints, but this time from Europeans who disagreed.
A found the two documents compelling. There is a tendency to view issues, especially those in distant history, from a particular point-of-view. Yet, firsthand accounts show that there is no one correct point-of-view. The first article points out that not all Africans suffered from European imperialism, while the second article illustrates a European view that imperialism has been a negative experience. These disparate opinions are indicative of the richness of such a broad-based issue. They tell me that it is unwise to make blanket assumptions and impossible to distill any such issue down to a simplistic view. History is comprised of a wide range of histories, each colored with their own worldview. To properly understand history is to take the time to understand each individual history and each individual worldview.
