Lingering Idea

The question that I felt we discussed the most and that still interests me is the one that says:

 Hochschild talks about an African chief, Nzansu, who fought for years against the whites in the Congo in a large rebellion. The whites were determined to defeat and kill him, yet there is no mention of his fate. Why would this be?

I think it's interesting to think of how Nzansu was one of the whites' greatest opposers, yet there was no mention of his death. The motives behind that interest me. It was one of the quotes that stuck with me most after I first did the reading. We had a good discussion hypothesizing motives for this, some of which were that Leopold didn't want the world to know there was opposition in his supposedly philanthropic colony to no one bothered to record it. I think it's fascinating how so many people must have either been there or known about the event, yet we have no idea what happened today.

"King Leopold's Ghost" pgs 33-60 response

Leopold:
"Leopold would not always be cautions; at times he would overreach himself or reveal too much about what prey he was after. But there was something fox-like about the manner in which this constitutional monarch of a small, increasingly democratic country became the totalitarian ruler of a vast empire on another continent. Stealth and dissembling would be his trusted devices, just as the fox relies on those qualities to survive in a world of hunters and larger beasts" (Hochschild 35).

Stanley:
"Always anxious about his reception in the upper reaches of society, Stanley never forgot that courtiers of the King of the Belgians - a baron and general, no less - had sought him out on his return to Europe" (59).


Affirm:
"If he was to seize anything in Africa, he could do so only if he convinced everyone that his interest was purely altruistic" (46).
I agree with this. There was no public support for colonizing Africa simply to gain more land, so Leopold had to convince the Belgians that it was for a purely selfless reason, that it was only to help civilize those savages unfortunate enough to need help. He couldn't let his real motives be seen because that would just work to his disadvantage. He had to be seen as truly selfless.

"King Leopold's Ghost" pgs 1-32 response

I found the most interesting part of this reading was when Hochschild was talking about the reaction of the African's to the whites' arrival. I thought it was very interesting how the Africans thought that the Europeans were people coming from the land of the dead. What stood out to me was how they thought the Europeans were cannibals so most of the slaves being transported on the ships refused to eat because they believed they were eating their fellow Africans. I was also drawn into the part where the British were being self-righteous and ignoring their history of slavery and condemning not Portugal, Spain, or Brazil but the Arab slave-traders for their allowance and promotion of slavery. The hypocrisy was what kept my attention. I felt least interested when Hochschild was describing the life of Henry Morton Stanley. Some of it was interesting, but that was where I found myself zoning out.

discussion questions:
1.Why was Henry Stanley so prone to exaggerations in his reports, and why were they accepted?
2. How much effect did Affonso have on decreasing the slave trade in Africa? How would our views of this time change if we didn't have his voice and his view of this period in history?

Current Events Class Activity

Article: "Murdered bodies found in Mexico 'were migrants'"

 1. 72 people were found murdered at a ranch in Mexico. They were migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, and Brazil, among other Central and Southern American countries. A survivor told officials that they had been kidnapped by an armed gang that are suspected to be drug traffickers and were then killed when they refused to work for the gang. Mexico's government condemned the killings. Marines, who had been summoned by the survivor, had discovered the bodies piled on each other in a room. This highlights Mexico's two largest problems: drug trafficking and illegal migration.

2. This happened recently, on Tuesday, August 24th. It is breaking news that hasn't been discussed much.

3. Questions I have: If these things are happening so often, what is the government doing to try and stop them? If this is a known site about fierce fighting between cartels, why does this keep happening? It might help to learn more about the specifics of the other instances where mass graves have been found.

Newsworthy Events

These are the 3 events that I remember:
9/11. I was in third grade in Mrs. Doak's class, doing a writing exercise, when another teacher came in and turned on the TV. We only watched for a few minutes, though, but then my teacher turned it off. Everyone was shocked, and I went home that day and my parents were extremely shocked.

Obama becoming President. I remember watching the inauguration in school and talking about it in Ms. Vogt's class. I remember talking about it with my family and seeing the headlines everywhere. I remember the mock election we had and how that was what the whole school was talking about.

Hurricane Katrina. I remember I was in 7th grade. I remember the school having a drive to help them and many organizations popping up to help them. I don't remember many details, I just remember what a big deal it was.

These are the 3 events that my parents remember:
9/11. My mom was at home with my little sister who was watching PBS kids, so my mom didn't hear what happened until a neighbor called. She went into her room because she didn't want my sister to be scared and then heard all about it.

Watergate Scandal. My mom was camping with her sister and her sister's husband. She remembers it being on the radio a lot and that being all that the adults would talk about.

Legalization of Abortion in 1973 (Roe v. Wade). My mom was in 7th grade in a Catholic school, so it was a huge deal. They all had pro-life bracelets that were being handed out. Everyone was extremely angry about it. 

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