so we killed a cow two nights ago. It was pretty gory and also kind of cool since when it was done there was an enormous dismembered bull head and horns sitting in our courtyard area for hours. They started late at night so that by the end the old man charged with directing the operation was crouched under a flickering spotlight using his machete to chop the last parts into manageable pieces. It is a distinct image in my mind still and its too bad that I couldn't photo it to share with you-- or maybe that would be worse, since then the image in my mind would clash with the reality. Anyway-- the gentleman, Aliou Gueye is a wiry, thin man with bits of white in a scraggly beard and even at night under the spotlight he wore his sunglasses, a second-hand pair of gold-rimmed aviators. the sheath for his machete pushed aside and the dulled blade covered in blood, his crouch brought him close to the middle of the animal skin spread in the packed sand of our kitchen courtyard. Each leg of the animal retained its distinct shape, even skinned down to the bone, they stacked one on another behind Gueye while he worked down to the end, finally hacking the hooves and tail loose from the skin and dropping them into the pit of water and refuse my brothers had dug into the ground before the slaughter.
anyone who is as familiar with large mammal anatomy as I now am knows a cow is a hell of a lot of meat. and considering the practice here of eating everything that is edible, I was sure we'd have a lot of food ahead of us. And we ate the whole thing (I think) yesterday. It was the Bifall Gamou in Tivaouane. Which I know doesn't mean anything-- but what is important is that it is a religious pilgrimage to a town called tivaouane, made by members of the Bifall sect (a sub-sect of a Senegalese Muslim brotherhood called Mouride). I think that most people would agree that Bifalls tend to be somewhat more radical (in a religious sense, not a crazy militant sense) of the senegalese sects. they have their own marabouts (or religious leaders) just like the rest of the sects, but they worship them with a fanaticism that is not as fanatic in some of the other groups. In any case, I certainly felt that when I was in Tivaouane.
Which brings me to broach a topic that I would rather just avoid, but I think it is kind of necessary-- and that is racism and intolerance. I can't even pretend to know what it feels like to experience it every day for one's entire life, but I also never thought I would experience it to the extent that I have here. even at this religious event, for Islam, which invokes peace and tolerance in every aspect, I experienced it even more deeply than I do on a normal day in my life in Louga. Of course, it isn't everyone, it is not even a majority, but there is no denying that it exists here and that it is a very strong sentiment. it would seem unthinkable, unimaginable that racism like this still exists, particularly considering the fact that I live with Wolofs, speak their language, and have come here to help-- but to be honest, i can hardly blame them. For many reasons, the first being that many have never met a white person who doesn't treat them with disrespect and anger, or one that bothered to learn their language. Second is the harboring of this jealousy of the wealth that white people have and does not reach this country or its people. Third is the fact that popular belief leads many to blame the west for the "continuing evils" of slavery. No matter what the real story is, the over-arching image of slavery has endured and doesn't leave a pleasant trail behind. Fourth is that the white person embodies a western culture that many do not want to see pollute their traditions-- and sometimes tradition is everything. I was recently speaking with an American family living nearby, and as reluctant as we were to acknowledge it, we were all feeling frustrated with the same trend-- most things that are different here are immediately seen as "bad" okay, we all know this old paradigm, but imagine how this affects a culture when it isn't just people being afraid of change, but it is in ev-ery-thing... there is no innovation, no individualism, excrutiatingly slow social change, virtually no leadership and certainly no one who is willing to stand up and disagree--- such disaccord simply does not exist. When people want to say no, they won't even say that-- it is too harsh. Instead they will find a roundabout way of averting your eyes or changing the subject so that you might get the message without having to hazard a confrontation. I better stop myself there, but you get the idea?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
meryl, i'm sorry to say, but it sounds to me like you are simply having difficulty with the paradigm. not an unusual thing for those of us in the west when going to places where the basis for belief, thought and action are different from our own. our usual assumption is that if the original premise for the analysis of a situation is not the same as our s then it is wrong. also, racism is not the same as predjudice which is actually what you seem to be referring to - see neeley fuller's and dr. francis cress welsing's discussions of racism. also, why would it seem so unusual that the victims of racist slavery and colonial oppression would still have some difficulty in accepting, trusting, respecting or even for some liking the perpetrators of the crime. that would be to say that if your sister were raped by someone she should forgive and forget and move on. they should become friends.... i am a very cross culturally social person, but what is important to remember when met with the kinds of situations like you describe is that they were not created in a vacuum and that they have good reasons, rational human reasons for existing.... also, if you want to understand islamic thought read up on islam as written by the muslims, make a real study of it with an open mind and open heart that even if you don't accept it as your own you will as an intellectual being understand the thought processes and beliefs involved. don't try to filter them through a western, european, christian, or jewish paradigm, while reading try to see it from within its own filter. you sound like someone with good intentions, but your writing comes across a little judgemental, condescending and biased. i don't think that you were trying to be, so this is a constructive response to your statements. peace.
Post a Comment