Journal 2
The summer before my senior year, I was able to take a trip down to Nicaragua as a part of a youth mission trip with my church. During the eight days that I spent in the country we learned about its history, lived in small, dirt-floored cottages, and helped the Natives perform their stereotypical chores. One day, we helped them clear some land for farming. The plot was covered with weeds, overgrown with tangled grasses, and dotted with small trees. Our leader, a Nicaraguan native, brought out a wagon full of machetes and then proceeded to demonstrate how to squat low to the ground, sweep the machete, and properly excavate the plot from the weeds and grasses. We all clamored to grab one, excited to help in whatever way that we could. I gripped the handle of my own machete, trying to mimic the same motion that I had just seen. The machete flew through the air and collided with the ground, leaving a huge divot, not the perfect fresh line that the leader had. I looked around and all the fellow students had seemed to have had the same amount of success and I had. I heard a “whoosh” behind me and realized that some of the native women of the village had joined our work. They tore through the land, perfectly manipulating the machetes, and working at a pace at least ten times that of our group.
Although, at the time, despite my incompetence, I truly believed that I was helping the natives, I have come to realize that maybe I was just helping myself. Reflecting on my experience now, the idea of the “White Man’s burden,” the theory of European imperialism where the “white man” felt as though their conquering of native lands and the introduction of new forms of government and technology was truly helping the native people, came to mind. I came to realize that this sort of need for those of high privilege to try and help and affect the lives of native people or those of lower privilege still permeates today. I was brought to Nicaragua to “help” the natives, when in truth, they do not and did not really need my help.
When I began to read A Connecticut Yankee in King’s Authur’s Court, I began to wonder whether Hank Morgan imposes his own rules, regulations, and introduces the citizens to new technology not only out of his own arrogance but comes from his own sort of “White man’s burden.” Hank Morgan truly believes that his system is helping the people, believes that his superior intelligence will makes their day to day lives better. His superior intelligence gives him privilege that he may yield.