Ok, so, I went to Peru this summer and it was unbelievable. While we (I went with a group of people) did a two day trek into the mountains and while we were hiking everyone was just trading stories. It was so interesting because our Peruvian guides told us that many (white) powerful people thought they would help the natives by giving them hiking shoes to wear. And these people were used to wearing sandals so of course they would think the hiking boots would be uncomfortable. But they had to wear them (if they were trekking) until the checkpoint where people would make sure they had the boots on, then once they were out of sight, they would take them off!
This kind of "helping has been demonstrated over and over and over again in history. Right now this is especially demonstrated by America by the way we went into Iraq and various other places in the Middle East (but there are many other examples throughout history). America didn't ask if they needed help, they just "said" you need help; and then tried to develop them in America's image instead of their own society. Would you want someone to barge into your room and say "I'm gonna help you do your homework (or something like that) even if you were doing fine? I know I wouldn't. I don't think it's up to any one group to dictate what another needs or doesn't need.
Is the white man a hero? Personally, I don't really think so. But there are so many different connections with this question in history that everyone has a different perspective on it. So tell me yours.
That makes a lot of sense. People got a long great without the Westernized white man "helping out". Just because we feel very strongly one way, doesn't mean that everyone else is wrong. We (collective white community) look down on those who are different than us and practice different things than us, even if they have been around way before we became a country. When the Spaniards colonized the Americas, they pretty much told the native peoples that their religion was just plain wrong and that Christianity was the only right religion, even though their polytheistic religion predated Christ's birth.
ReplyDeleteAnd I didn't know you went to Peru! Was it amazing?! I would like to hear someone else's view on Peru besides Rebecca's because she just tells me about the no indoor plumbing at her uncle's house lol
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ReplyDeleteI think you make a really interesting point, Olivia, and for the most part, I do agree with you. I think that more often than not, the white man's intentions do not align with an outcome. In the example you talked about, in Peru, I believe whoever donated the hiking boots had good intentions for the Peruvians. However, those intentions just did not carry through into the proper actions.
ReplyDeleteI do think that though the white man may not be a hero, he may still be good. What may make the white man a hero though, is a connection with those people he is helping, which would greatly improve whatever help the white man is offering.