That seems like kind of a silly debate. How many European aristocrats of the Victorian era would we not consider somehow racist today? Joseph Catron
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You should read the essay. It's quite beautiful. It has a very well crafted composition that echos The Heart of Darkness. The writer Caryl Phillips drives up the Hudson River valley(?) to go visit Chinua Acheba who lives near Bard College. The day is a cold, icy, with as I imagine a slight overcast.
When they talk, there is quietness and the gray light barely seem to penetrate the room. They are discussing passages quoted from the novel, in such a way that Caryl becomes like Marlow, Chinua becomes his story teller. Its some nice stuff. Acheba closes:
"You know," he continues, "I think that to some extent it is how you must feel about your 'friend'. You take it to heart because a man with such talent should not behave in this way. My people, we say one palm nut does not get lost in the fire, for you must know where it is. But if you have 20 you may lose sight of some and they will get burned, but you have others. Well, as you know, we have very few who have the talent and who are in the right place, and to lose even one is a tragedy. We cannot afford to lose such artists. It is sheer cussedness to wilfully turn and walk away from the truth, and for what? Really, for what? I expect a great artist, a man who has explored, a man who is interested in Africa, not to make life more difficult for us. Why do this? Why make our lives more difficult? In this sense Conrad is a disappointment."
CG