by Abena Kyere and Edwin Adjei
We review here two films – If Only I Were That Warrior and Ferguson – shown at the University of Ghana that address themes that are extremely current transnationally: race and violence. For The CIHA Blog, these films bring to the forefront issues of race and racism that are frequently unacknowledged components of humanitarian action as well.
If Only I Were That Warrior is the story of one man and a monument built to honour him in Ethiopia. General Graziani purportedly used mustard gas to annihilate thousands of Ethiopians: men, women and children in 1935. His reign of terror also witnessed the mass murder and killings of people who were considered enemies of freedom fighters who opposed his rule. While this man is a hated entity in Ethiopian history, he has been honoured a hero in the small town of Affile in Italy. Although he was added to the UN list of war criminals, he was never apprehended, nor did he ever serve time in prison for his atrocities. Instead, a provocative monument was built to honour him. This caused an uproar among Ethiopians both at home and in the diaspora, with a series of calls and demonstrations for the monument to be pulled down. For these Ethiopians, both young and old, the monument is a blatant display of the insensitivity of the Italians to the carnage caused by this man, and to the Ethiopian people’s grievances. Clearly, while General Graziani is the devil’s incarnate and “a butcher” in Ethiopian history, he is considered a great general and warrior by his people.
Ferguson is a documentary on one of the shootings of African-Americans in the United States of America in recent years. While registering their grievances, the anger of the African-American community is fuelled by the seeming lack of interest in Black lives and the violent and brutal ways in which young men are attacked and killed. There is the call for authorities to rise up and take concrete steps to curb the situation before it spirals into uncontrollable proportions.
While these two documentaries are set in different times and seem to discuss different issues, there is the same connection of race and violence, either through European domination, in the case of Ethiopia, or through pervasive and indiscriminate shootings of young Black men and women, in the case of the United States.
It has become impossible to switch on one’s television, read a newspaper or visit a social media page without coming face to face with news, comments and sentiments on race and violence. The escalation of killings of Black people in the United States, both by police and citizens, and the apparent frequent failure to bring the killers to justice calls for the need to revisit the uncomfortable but necessary subject of race. While our view is that responding to violence with more violence solves nothing and can never be the appropriate response, it would be naive to be unaware that some people are gradually coming to the point where they feel that they have run out of options. Herein lies the danger. In using violence as a tool to solve violence, more violence prevails and innocent souls are lost, even the ones we claim to fight for and this is the very reason why the overwhelming majority of activists and protesters reject violence. For example, the Black Lives Matter Movement, which seeks to rebuild the Black liberation movement, uses non-violent means to spark dialogue among Black people, and to facilitate the types of connections necessary to encourage social action and engagement.
While the two documentaries do not propose an answer, they offer invaluable insights into ways of looking at the issue of violence against Black lives. The first film suggests allowing time to heal the wounds of violence perpetrated against one’s people. While this solution might not be universally acceptable to all, it is worth a try. This is by no means an easy task to undertake, but as observed by Sara, a young Ethiopian: “What is done is done, it is in the past, what we can do now is to try and look forward.” To this young woman, the violence that has been perpetrated against her people can never be taken away, and she feels the only way to heal is to look forward. But this is the voice of the younger generation, those who did not witness the carnage. The story is different for the old. How do you forget witnessing your parents and other older people lined up and gunned down?
For the older generations, however, time only festers their wounds and preserves their anger. Time is not a soothing balm; it is a constant reminder that the world easily and conveniently forgets what is done to the Black body. Slavery, colonialism, military occupation, incessant killings, sexual violence and all forms of repulsive acts which have been acted upon Blacks have barely received the apologies they deserve. Indeed, they are sometimes recorded as justified in the history books of perpetrators. They are noted as glorious conquers, as the age of exploration and in most cases the blame is pushed on our ‘fathers.’ But this does not solve the problem, especially when monuments are built for those fathers who doled out such barbaric acts and definitely not when these fathers are considered great warriors. But the other side of the argument might also be true. The hunter and the lion will forever tell different sides of the story, and it will always favour he who has the audience and the means to tell it. While a man might be a killer to his victims, he might be hailed as a conqueror by his people. But how do we determine who should be honoured as a hero?
A second suggestion is the obvious responsibility to be conscious of the repercussions on the victims of violence. Again, conscious efforts should be made to present history as it happened to those who suffer from violence. Although this is often difficult, considering that history can be told from different angles, there should not be the deliberate attempt to skew issues to favour a particular group of people. Historians especially bear the responsibility of consulting those about whom the history is written. There is also the need to employ different ways in the writing of a peoples’ story. The best stories are told by using sources such as oral pieces, archival materials, and archaeological findings but to mention a few.
Perhaps, the best way to address matters on race and violence is to have a dialogue as was exemplified in the film on Ethiopia. Dialogue, especially between victims and perpetrators and in this case between blacks and white, and between Italians and Ethiopians. Dialogues where people are willing to listen, talk, and offer lasting solutions and wooing those who are not willing to listen and talk. There is the need to open up the broader conversation of Black history, its key players and the consequences of actions. Of course inherent in this are the issues of race and violence for there seems to be a history which has over the years suggested that Black bodies are canvas for the art of most discriminatory and violent acts. The discussion should not shy away from probing and condemning history.
Another important path to walk is the recognition of systemic racism and an acknowledgement of white privilege especially by white people. This can be difficult, especially since privilege is never considered as such and seen as the way of things. As such, some practical ways of solving this thorny issue is by teaching the younger generation, especially, the dreadful consequences of not only racism but ethnocentrism and discriminations of all forms. This is of utmost importance because while we bandy the word around all the time, and while people can easily perceive, experience and be victims of racism, many people have no idea when they are the perpetrators.
The vast number of humans and the diversity in character and culture should be obvious reasons for anyone to believe that we will probably never live in a racist-free world. In the humanitarian industry, it is often assumed that racism will not show its ugly head. Unfortunately, in many humanitarian organizations, it has been proven otherwise: the majority of top officials, and in some cases all top officials are white with lower positions being occupied by indigenes, it is often easier for whites to rise through the ranks of these agencies than for an indigene, it is also assumed that the indigenes do not know what they need or the solutions to their problems so imposed solutions from the Global North are the only way out. It is, however, possible to raise consciousness in people to a level of realization where they are discerning enough to admit to racist behaviours and comments and have a healthy attitude towards curbing their actions. This consciousness-raising and discernment, we argue, also needs to happen in the humanitarian community, religious and secular, concerning all forms of aid and intervention in Africa.
Abena Kyere and Edwin Adjei are both Ph.D students at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, and are editorial assistants of The CIHA Blog and Luce Graduate Fellows at the CIHA Blog.