To many people’s surprise, the way racism was handled in America changed tremendously over a span of less than hundred years. This shift of mind can be demonstrated through the texts, “An Image of Africa” and Heart of Darkness. Heart of Darkness was a novel written in 1899 by Joseph Conrad, who was one of the greatest novelist to write in the English language. In this story, Conrad writes about a voyage on the Congo River, which is the heart of Africa. Heart of Darkness has been considered by many an extraordinary piece of art. However, Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, argues against this claim through his short story, “An Image of Africa,” written in 1975. Achebe denies Heart of Darkness of this honorable title because he believes that no piece of work can be considered art when it is so dehumanizing to a group of people. The extreme juxtaposition of the way African Americans are viewed in “An Image of Africa” and Heart of Darkness, clearly illustrate how attitudes of a time periods affect how a story is written. 

In 1890s in America, racial violence was still heavily prevalent. For example, on November 10th, 1898, in Wilmington, North Carolina, the “Wilmington Riot,” took place. White conservative Democrats forcibly removed power from black Republican officeholders in the city, resulting in the loss of eight African American lives (Taylor, “African American History Timeline: 1801-1900” 34). Although, slavery had ended in 1865, the majority of Americans, at this point, still did not see African Americans as their equals. On the other hand, during this time period, black education was improving. W.E.B. Du Bios, civil rights leader and political activist, became the first African American to receive a PH. D. from Harvard University (Taylor, “African American History Timeline: 1801-1900” 32). These progressive mind-sets showed a step towards equality. However, the novel, Racial Attitudes in America:Trends and Interpretations, indicate that during this period of time, whites having negative feelings toward black people was becoming unacceptable. So, maybe most just decided to “conform to current norms, rather than what people truly feel” (Bobo, Krysan, Schuman, and Steeh 2). This idea can explain how Heart of Darkness was influenced by its time period. For instance, American’s were trying to socially integrate African Americans into society; however, that did not mean they wanted to. For example, Conrad wrote, “a certain enormous buck nigger encountered in Haiti fixed my conception of blind, furious, unreasoning rage, as manifested in the human animal at the end of my days. Of the nigger I used to dream of for years.” (Achebe 59). Obviously, this is a racist statement; he is writing that he finds African Americans savage and primal. His harsh diction, such as, “blind, furious, unreasoning rage”, show how he really dehumanizes African Americans. This tells a lot about the mindset of Americans at this time if they found novels that contain references like this to be an amazing piece of art. 

One can easily tell that a time period influences the content of a piece of work, but one can also say that a piece of work can influence the period of time. For instance, a year after Heart of Darkness was published, on July 23rd, the Robert Charles Riot occurred. In New Orleans, Louisiana, African American laborer Robert Charles shot a white police officer and escaped without arrest. In that event, chaos arose for four days and a manhunt for him began, starting a white mob that attacked blacks all over the city (Taylor, “African American History Timeline: 1801-1900” 36). This behavior could have been retriggered by the way Americans were so positively responding to Conrad’s novel. African American’s were not going to put up with the way they were being talked about. On the other hand, whites thought it was okay to treat African Americans inferior to them from the way Heart of Darkness, “a piece of art,” portrays them. Ultimately, one can see how Heart of Darkness reflects the 1890s racial violence that took place, but it is also evident that the novel may have swayed the behavior of American’s towards people of color during that time as well. 

 The Heart of Darkness’ racial tones and dehumanizing content sparked Chinua Achebe to write “An Image of Africa” in the mid 1970s. In America, this was a time where people became to be more accepting to black people and much less racial violence occurred. For instance, on May 29th, 1973, Thomas Bradley was elected the first black mayor of Los Angeles, California. He ended up holding his position as mayor for twenty years (Taylor, “African American History Timeline: 1901-2000” 41). This election was considered a huge step forward because Los Angeles is such a big city with a wide range of diversity. Also, holding his position for so long showed that Americans only positively processed with fixing the racism problem. African Americans were not only accepted politically, they were welcomed into competing in athletics as well. In 1975, Lee Elder became the first African American to participate in the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia (Taylor, “African American History Timeline: 1901-2000” 43). Overall, African Americans were finding themselves willingly being greeted into American society more and more. The current acceptance of this time period makes perfect sense why Achebe would write, seventy-five years later, an argument against Heart of Darkness. For example, Achebe explains why Heart of Darkness is not a piece of art:

 I would not call that man an artist, for example, who composes an eloquent instigation to one people fall upon another and destroy them....the time is long overdue for taking a hard look at the work of creative artists who apply their talents, alas often considerable as in the case of Conrad, to set people against people. (Achebe 58) 

In this quote, Achebe clarifies that just because an idea was accepted previously, does not mean it is accepted now. An African American politician would have been unheard of, but it became a reality. Mentioned earlier was how sometimes people just go along with the current norms and not what they truly feel. However, Racial Attitudes in America:Trends and Interpretations also suggest that over time to some degree “norms are internalized and became personal attitudes” (Bobo, Krysan, Schuman, and Steeh 4). This displays that the social norm, equality of all people, eventually becomes what people believe; through this quote, this concept is truly proven. “An Image of Africa” clearly depicts the 1970s by Achebe taking a stand for African Americans through fighting that Heart of Darkness is not an artwork. 

 Throughout the historical examples shown in the 1890s and the 1970s, along with the two stories, Heart of Darkness and “An Image of Africa,” these written works evidently demonstrate the time period. One also saw through the Robert Charles Riot of 1900, how a novel could influence a time period as well. This research shows how important it is to keep the time period in mind when reading and analyzing a piece of literature. The historical background can give one more insight of why an idea was thought, why a mind-set was accepted, and more. The fact a norm can become an attitude shows great value; this will keep one aware of one’s possible beliefs. Racism, being such a huge part of history, is portrayed heavily in these readings and provides insight so that history will not repeat itself.
