Rachel Persinger
Dr. Davis
HIST 102
4 June 2017
Comparative Analysis of Necessary Colonial Relationship with Africans In past history, there was a certain relationship among white Europeans and black Africans during periods of colonization for many centuries. This was that the Europeans, in most cases, held control over the Africans and their native land. Bernhard Dernburg, who was a former German Colonial Director, referred to this type of relationship in his speech, England Traitor to White Race given in 1916. In this speech, told to people of Austria, he emphasized the importance of European colonizers to establish and maintain a specific relationship with Africans in order to hold white rule over the colonies. He believed that it was …show more content…
Yet, in Wole Soyinka’s play, Death and the King’s Horseman, the British failed to uphold this relationship with the Africans of Nigeria in 1940 in order to sustain white rule. The first major development of Soyinka’s play that demonstrated a failed relationship among the British and Africans was their interference with and condemnation of the Yoruba’s ritual suicide. Dernberg described in his speech that in order to successfully and peacefully colonize regions in Africa, they must not make an “unnecessary attack…on the peculiar character, organization, and usages of law” that characterized the African colonies as this could result in “jeopardizing the objects of colonization and the relationship of motherland and colony." In the play, Simon Pilkings and his wife, Jane, insulted the …show more content…
One example is when Olunde and Jane were having a heated argument over England’s war and the Yoruba’s ritual suicide. Olunde stated that the British were guilty of “calling things by names which don’t remotely describe them” in response to the British news that described the war’s mass killings as “strategic victories.” The disagreement came to an end when Jane stated that she could now understand Olunde’s point of view and further agreed that he did not see the British “at our best.” This outcome showed that Jane realized that the British were not as superior or prestigious as their culture made it seem. This defeated Dernburg’s proclamation that in order for the Europeans to maintain colonial rule, they must “succeed in maintaining the prestige of the white race morally and culturally.” By agreeing with Olunde’s statements, Jane lowered the status and powerful reputation of the British that was important to maintain throughout
Dr. Davis
HIST 102
4 June 2017
Comparative Analysis of Necessary Colonial Relationship with Africans In past history, there was a certain relationship among white Europeans and black Africans during periods of colonization for many centuries. This was that the Europeans, in most cases, held control over the Africans and their native land. Bernhard Dernburg, who was a former German Colonial Director, referred to this type of relationship in his speech, England Traitor to White Race given in 1916. In this speech, told to people of Austria, he emphasized the importance of European colonizers to establish and maintain a specific relationship with Africans in order to hold white rule over the colonies. He believed that it was …show more content…
Yet, in Wole Soyinka’s play, Death and the King’s Horseman, the British failed to uphold this relationship with the Africans of Nigeria in 1940 in order to sustain white rule. The first major development of Soyinka’s play that demonstrated a failed relationship among the British and Africans was their interference with and condemnation of the Yoruba’s ritual suicide. Dernberg described in his speech that in order to successfully and peacefully colonize regions in Africa, they must not make an “unnecessary attack…on the peculiar character, organization, and usages of law” that characterized the African colonies as this could result in “jeopardizing the objects of colonization and the relationship of motherland and colony." In the play, Simon Pilkings and his wife, Jane, insulted the …show more content…
One example is when Olunde and Jane were having a heated argument over England’s war and the Yoruba’s ritual suicide. Olunde stated that the British were guilty of “calling things by names which don’t remotely describe them” in response to the British news that described the war’s mass killings as “strategic victories.” The disagreement came to an end when Jane stated that she could now understand Olunde’s point of view and further agreed that he did not see the British “at our best.” This outcome showed that Jane realized that the British were not as superior or prestigious as their culture made it seem. This defeated Dernburg’s proclamation that in order for the Europeans to maintain colonial rule, they must “succeed in maintaining the prestige of the white race morally and culturally.” By agreeing with Olunde’s statements, Jane lowered the status and powerful reputation of the British that was important to maintain throughout