So yeah, this happened...

I want to back up to some pages we read for Tuesday. I really, morbidly, enjoyed the note taking that people did about what they did to the natives. I know, ethically it is wrong, but the massacring happened so why not give us some information on it. It reminds me of the meticulous note taking that the Nazi's took from concentration camps; except the Congo diaries were not shut away from the public. As a historian, I think it is great they took such grotesque notes. First of all, it provides primary sources which are heaven on pages for us. Second, it makes sure no one forgets what an atrocity is. I am going to go on a limb here and guess that many of these acts carried out by the Europeans disturbed you while reading. Even though I have a pretty deep background in slavery and colonization, the amount of lashes a person could receive was astounding! 100, sometimes 25 can kill a person. And the pouring of salt and pepper into wounds, that's sadistic to say the least. And the taking of right hands, it was pretty clear that the officials put no price on an African life. What struck me was how the Belgium's felt about Africans, if not written down through their actions. Despite the high death rate in the Caribbean and South America, slaves were considered an investment, like a car. You want to take care of the car, so it doesn't die on you before it's time is up. Slaves in the Western Hemisphere weren't starved, and things like cutting off hands or feet were detrimental to them working. I realize it is odd to think of one type of slavery being better than another, but it really puts things into perspective for me. Africa, was not a good place to be in the 1800's.

The point of King Leopold's Ghost where I exasperated out loud for Leopold to give it up was on page242 when the Confederate general, who had previously supported King Leopold in obtaining Congo, railed against the atrocities going on there. I realize this was so he could try and convince African-Americans to move there, but still, when you can't get a man who doesn't like people of African decent to agree with you, it is time to throw in the towel. It is actually nice of Senator Morgan to take the side of the Congo because one could make the argument that if he wanted to tow the Belgium party line he would try to convince everyone in America that no atrocities were going on. I know this is a stretch and a hard sell going against Mark Twain, but if I were a racist in the South that is the route I would have gone, and tried to get on the bribery money train!

It amazes, much like the author of this book, that this crisis in Africa was never ever mentioned in my education. The United States seems to only want to record atrocities when they intervene in time. There isn't a lack of sources on record about what was happening in the Congo and elsewhere in Africa, so the logical step is that is is simply overlooked. Had the United States stepped in early on and stopped what was happening you can believe that it would be trumpeted as democracy stepping in and righting a wrong. I have not seen a text book actually include the Rwanda massacre in 1994, maybe now that multiple movies have been made about it this will change, but it still took over a decade for even that to happen. We like to view ourselves as smart, so smart that we are able to go out and right wrongs that we find occurring in the world. However, we only do this if we are the first to find these wrongs and correct them so we can chalk it up to good old American knowhow.

Many of you in class were really hard on yourself about not knowing that this happened, maybe thinking yourself ignorant of large situations. I have to reassure you on this, not a large group of people do know about this. I was talking to a former history professor before class, he teaches but like all history doctors has diversified over the years. He'd heard of what went on but had not read this book yet, and he's a doctor of history. I also think back to when I was intern teaching. My mentor and I taught Global Studies (which meant whatever we wanted since there was no book) she went to college in the 80's and was appalled that she had never heard of South African Apartheid before entering college. This is what college is for, to finally spread your wings and learn things that high school teachers couldn't touch. Basically, don't beat yourself up over it, if you knew everything about the Worlds history then...well clearly you wouldn't be here and I'd be asking you to be on my future Master's team!