By: Bikbaye Inejnema
Why is the obvious so hard for us to see? Simple: the lenses through which we are looking at the world are dirty and need to be cleansed. The images we see are distorted, including the one we see in the mirror. It then becomes challenging to judge the distance from or to an object(ive). It becomes a challenge to see in darkness. We may sometimes even see things that are not really there. The effort we put forth to see puts a strain on our eyes, so we close them in order to feel some relief. But while we are relaxing with our eyes closed, the world around us keeps moving and takes us wherever it wants to go. We then open our eyes only to find that it’s now even harder to see. Our lenses are dirtier than before we closed our eyes. It then becomes difficult to go from one place to the other without the aid of someone else, whom we are now forced to depend on to guide us in the direction we want to go. We feel forced to put our lives in the hands of others.
This analogy represents the negative and positive aspects of human development and survival for all of us born into the colonial system. Amazingly, even the phrase “colonial system” does not register in our minds as something hurtful that we should run from, although people of colour have been subjected to its wrath for the last 2,000 years. Instead, in our minds, it registers as something to embrace. And we blindly make a sincere effort to do so. This behaviour is often difficult to fathom. But once our eyes have been opened to the reality, the reasons become more obvious.
Continue reading When We Ignore the Obvious
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