Class Participation 11/21

"no halo" by brockhampton

Above is a chart that one of the groups made that’s meant to map out the actions and motivations for the people in The Conquest of America using two dichotomies that Todorov presented: peace vs. violence and understanding vs. ignorance. I found this chart striking for three reasons.

1. The first reaction that I had to this chart was that because you can go anywhere from any point on this chart, what is the use of it? We already know that human actions are volatile and hard to explain, so why create a chart if it doesn’t offer some form of clarification if a chart is, by nature, supposed to be a form of displaying data in a clear and easy-to-understand way?

2. Then, I realized that it’s precisely because of the fact that you can go to both violence or peace through understanding or ignorance that makes this diagram so important. It’s not supposed to be a chart that explains human actions and intentions, but a diagram of human actions and intentions. Up until this class I’ve always thought that understanding was the step to love and that love requires understanding. However, as this diagram shows, that’s not the case.

For the past few classes I’ve been remembering this character from Black Panther that just gives off somewhat similar vibes as Columbus and Cortes. So, Killmonger, according to Agent Ross is a super capable agent that joined a unit that “would drop off the grid so they could commit assassinations and take down governments.” In doing so, Killmonger “knows how colonizers think. So we're gonna use their own strategy against 'em.” Bro. That’s literally what Cortes did!! Of course the conditions are different in that Killmonger actually has a substantially better reason (so there can be arguments made to justify Killmonger's actions while there should not be arguments for Crotes' actions) for doing this than Cortes, but it’s still a cool comparison to paint! The point of all of this is part of my recognition that I’ve heard this type of thinking before, and it scares me deeply.

3. Well, now knowing what I know above, what am I supposed to do? I’ve grown up thoroughly believing in the saying “strangers are friends that you have just not met yet” but apparently that’s not a thing anymore. I want to continue to believe that all love requires is understanding. AHHH. I have to reconfigure my ideologies about life now, and that’s such a pain to do.