One of the aspects of my life was having been brought up in a colonial port city, Cape Town, in a colonized country. There was a lot of odd mythology about, including the notion of the hilariously stupid “White Man’s Burden.” The “burden” being of bringing “civilization” to native populations, so that they would know more about European notions of justice, Christianity and the general goodness of the colonial powers. Just as wildly odd was the notion that the presence of whites would help the natives “evolve.” That is the basis of what provoked this image EVOLUTION.
The “colonial” mask is empty of humanity. It is just a false front, an attractive artifact There are no eyes, no brain, and therefore so soul. The woman who emerges from the mask is, in fact, highly evolved, and it has no connection with her epidermal pigment cells. It is deeply connected to the essence of who she is.
I don’t want to be unfair to “Western Civilization.” Much is extraordinary and a gift to the entire world. Reading Harold Bloom’s brilliant book “The Western Canon” is a journey into the profound. But the tributary of colonization is, in fact, a perversion created by great power competition. When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what he thought of “Western Civilization” he remarked that it would be good idea! Civilization is something in which anyone can participate. It will be a good thing when it penetrates Conservatism.
