I find the following African proverb problematic: “Until the lions have their own historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter.”
It occurs to me that the proverb is actually damaging & not uplifting, as I’d previously believed.
In depicting humans as hunters & lions, it assumes an inevitable, adversarial relationship between black & white people. It suggests that we're not even of the same species.
It's like using the saying: "A leopard can't change its spots."
Using such a metaphor shows an unwillingness to see any change – it shows a prejudice against such an occurrence. It shows a fixed and closed mind.
It's like the saying: "A bird and a fish may fall in love, but where would they build their nest?" Such a saying implies that people of two different skins colours or religions are not even of the same species - which is clearly a lie. It maginifies the differences because of a bias against 'mixed' relationships.
I've yet to find anyone to agree with me so far, but that doesn't mean I wrong.
Your comments are well taken, but I can still see value in the proverb, as I think most who hear it don't look quite so deeply (for worse or better). I first heard the proverb in a talk by Bernice Reagan, the historian and musician, at her keynote speech at a women's history conference. I liked her use of it for the promotion of women historians, black and white. I definitely see your points, but don't agree that it really assumes the relationship to be inevitably adversarial, although the fact of the adversarial aspect is indeed what it deals with. I don't think that aspect, the power imbalances and oppressive behavior among human and other groups (based on color, gender, age, species, etc.) can be denied, though I try to believe, as you do, that it's not inevitable...I hope you're right. Thanks for your insightful analysis.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Elizabeth.. A very good respectful response.
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