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This capacity for imitation is possessed by savages, at least by the more intelligent ones, and it has deceived us time after time. The British are as gullible as we are. Hundreds and hundreds of times, at least, they gave scholarships to Blacks from Basutoland or Kenya or Nigeria or one of their other possessions, and the result was almost always the same. With the money given him, the savage bought himself a good wardrobe, attended an English school, learned to play soccer, attended Oxford, wrote a charming essay on Wordsworth or on ancient law, copulated with half-witted English women who thought him 'romantic' and themselves 'broad-minded,' and when he got tired of living on English generosity, went home to his tribe where he had a well-roasted baby served up to him as a delicacy of which he had been long deprived by the stupid prejudices of the stupid British.

Revilo P. Oliver#12

CriticismCultureEducationPolicyRacism

About this quote

What does it mean?
The author claims some individuals imitate Western behavior to gain benefits, then return home to tribal customs. He describes this as deception that wastes resources.
In plain terms
Some people pretend to be Western to get benefits, then go back to their old ways.
What can you take from it?
Imitation can be used to exploit generosity.

Where it applies

  • immigration policy
  • cultural debate
  • scholarship review

Putting it to work

  • reviewing scholarship programs
  • analyzing cultural exchange

Questions to consider

  • How do we prevent abuse of aid?
  • Is cultural imitation always negative?

Another view

The claims rely on racist generalizations and unverified anecdotes.

More from Revilo P. Oliver

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