On internalized racism

I did not see myself as an African in those books. I took sides with the white men against the savages. In other words, I went through my first level of schooling thinking I was of the party of the white man in his hair-raising adventures and narrow escapes. The white man was good and reasonable and smart and courageous. The savages arrayed against him were sinister and stupid, never anything higher than cunning. I hated their guts.

From Dwight Garner’s article Chinua Achebe’s Encounters With Many Hearts of Darkness in the New York Times. Garner’s piece is a review of Achebe’s new collection of essays The Education of a British-Protected Child: Essays. That quote is part of a longer passage in the book.

If you are in the gift buying mood, I am not opposed to receiving this.