The Democracy of Darkness
I came across one of those much tossed about phrases that positively rile my spirit today. Stashed into one corner of an otherwise thoughtful, thought-provoking article by a Christian on the internet was the offensive:
“darkest part of Africa.”
This isn't the first time I've seen or heard it used by clueless Christians, of course. I've more than once heard a televangelist use it when recounting his missionary adventures on the African continent complete with dramatic intonation, gesture and accompanying hyperbole that implies a place horrible beyond imagination.
I wonder:
What does “darkest part of Africa” mean, anyway? That there’s no electricity? That the people are unenlightened? That they speak a different language, hold different values and subscribe to a different set of beliefs? That they don't know what a television is or know how to eat with a fork and knife? What exactly is darkness? And where precisely is it?
On the offchance that I might in fact be making a mugomo tree out of a blade of grass, I conducted a democratic google search for the phrase "Darkest part of..." as applied to various continents with the following (quite easily verifiable) results:
“Darkest Part of Asia” – 1 result.
“Darkest Part of America” - 7 results, most of which are followed by the word past as in ‘the darkest part of America’s past..’ and are in reference to the era of slavery.
“Darkest Part of Europe” - 8 results, 1 used sarcastically in reference to Norway by a disgruntled American and the rest in reference to lack of sun.
“Darkest Part of Africa” -679 results, a whopping, record breaking result!
So there you have it: Africa wins the Darkness poll by a landslide.
...who'd have thought, eh?
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2 Other Thoughts:
Good point. Yours is gonna be an interesting blog to follow.
I tried out your search phrases and found that the term "darkest Africa" yields an even higher result count: 103,000+ Yep, people who publish content online associate the terms dark, darkest, and black with the continent of Africa. That could be a disturbing trend unless one understands and believes the phrase: Black is Beautiful. Darkness (evil, greed, murder, etc.) has descended upon Africans and Africa for centuries mainly from abroad AND to a lesser extent originated from greedy and corrupt Africans who have abused their power over and responsiblities to their own people. A minority point of view I'm sure.
Thanks for the tip on the "Darkest part of America". It lead to a very interesting website from the U.S. National Park Service about the American Civil War and an essay on the 1st 200 years of slavery there by famed author and professor Ira Berlin.
The darkest hour in the U.S.A.'s history was the founding of the country itself through the mass murder (genocide)of the various Indian tribes, the enslavement of black Africans and Indian peoples to work the land and serve the newcomers, the wheeling dealing and stealing of land and natural resources by hordes of greedy "settlers" from Europe, all with the blessings of various religious and political leaders back in Old Europe.
Fortunately, we have made some significant progress since the mid-1800's. I wish the same were true for our neighbors in Central and South America, but I'm afraid it is not. It's still kind of "dark" down there.
I have this niggly feeling that it has something to do with the color of our skins. Now don't go crucifying me yet because for most people esp. American Christians, africa has ONLY very black, Black people. Repetition intended.
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