che and his issues.

[BOZG]

I think he was just angry at the colonisation of Africa and South America.

[Naive]

Where is the quote from? The african dream?

[Angie]

It's from the Motorcycle Diaries, talking about the slums that the Portugese and Africans live in, in Caracas, Venezuela. The title of the section is "This Strange Twentieth Century" and the following is the full paragraph:

[i][Turning all these ideas over in my head,]*

The thing about Che's writing is that he writes his experiences as he sees them, as opposed to how he wishes us to see them. The Motorcycle Diaries is a fascinating book for that very reason - it's brutally honest. He doesn't appear racist to me, just extremely observant. The simple fact he's pointing out is that slavery has made the ex-slaves' outlook on life (and the outlook of their kin in modern generations) appear very dim, especially those of the Africans - different races react to situations in different ways, hence the differences between the Africans and the Portugese. Not to mention the fact that the poverty they're still living within has left them unable to look after themselves properly. That's commonplace the world over.

*

[Angie]

The following paragraph was interesting, too, especially when you look at it superficially. I can just imagine the thoughts in the heads of teenage girls who think Che's hot, when they read about how he turned up unannounced on the doorstep of a topless woman's house, and started a conversation with her, wanting to take pictures. :biggrin:

(Edited by Angie at 9:55 pm on May 30, 2002)

[Supermodel]

I haven't seen the Spanish version, maybe someone here has it, but surely the word "wash" is a mistranslation for "white". The word wash makes no sense in the context.

Secondly, if you cut through today's political correctness and remember Che was writing in the 1950's, to say that alcoholism was a problem among a certain group is not necessarily a criticism of that group but of the choices they are limited too. Alcoholism is also a terrible problem in Ireland, there's not really any shame or racism in saying so.


Then again, Che never claimed to be perfect. And how did the story about my topless exploits get out, eh? (LMAO)

[Avamatha]

About the topless miss,

"Shoot me, you covard! Tou're only shooting a human!"

..Or how was it?

However, Che was still just a man, with strong sexualthingies. (I'm very tired and strating to forget words, please forgive me..)

[I Will Deny You]

I don't own a copy of The Motorcycle Diaries, but I know that before his political awakening he was a semi-rich white kid from a very white country, and after his political awakening he supported the Civil Rights movement.

If he had gone around South America burning crosses, that would certainly be a bit hard to swallow. But I know that at the end of his life he was a committed anti-racist. So this doesn't worry me much.

Lindsay

[Conghaileach]

From John Lee Anderson's biography:

[At the UN conference, New York, Decemeber 11 1964] "He then proceeded to link the "white imperialist" action in the Congo with Western indifference to the apartheid regime in South Africa and the racial inequalities in the United States. "How can the country that murders its own children and discriminates between them daily because of the color of their skins, a country that allows the murderers of Negroes to go free, actually protects them and punishes the Negroes for demanding respect for their lawful rights as free human beings, claim to be a guardian of liberty?""

There's also a mention of Malcolm X reading out a letter from Che at a rally. Che didn't appear himself because he didn't want to be accused of getting involved in U$ internal affairs.

(Edited by CiaranB at 1:11 pm on July 13, 2002)

[Carl]

i think he was just angry of the african slave thingie

[TheGranma]

Remember, one of Che's best friend's and closest confidantes, was infact black. Harry "Pombo" Villegas. It is also true that he had links with Malcom X and his movement, supporting them. He also fought for the nation of Cuba, black and white.

There need not be a reason to believe Che was racist, he was merely very observant and wrote what he saw and felt.

[Fires of History]

Quote: from clum5y on 1:58 pm on May 30, 2002
i'm really just somewhat disappointed. first ghandi, now che. is no-one pure?

Nope. The sooner you learn that the better.

[booga]

The blacks didn't want to fight. The quote may have been said out of frustration. In one book Che is quoted as saying: "Africa represents one of the most important battlegrounds, if not the most important...There are great possibilities of success in Africa, but also great dangers." This remark was made to Josie Fanon, a symbolic figure of the African revolution.

The author Paco Ignacio Taibo II of "Guevara, Also Known as Che" made the comment--What place in his thoughts was occupied by the anticolonial revolution in Africa just then? (comment was made after Che's quote)

[Panamarisen]

As TheGranma says, Che was very observant. Indeed, thanks to this faculty of his and his aim to "discover" and learn about the real situation of the people of Latin America, he knew about facts and developed his own personal way of traying to change the situation for better. As a racist, he wouldn´t care at all about justice and freedom for the indigenous people over there (which were and still are the majority of the poor), for instance. He felt really bad about the kind of life they were living, being exploited by the rich for generations.

HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!