Native American Desire

The European desire for capital was socially disastrous because they implemented the strategy of divide and conquer within the Native American and African-origin peoples. Hartman quotes Walter Rodney in saying “There was in existence a fundamental class contradiction between the ruling nobility and the commoners; and the ruling classes joined hands with the Europeans in exploiting the African masses” (Hartman 31). Indeed, the Europeans’ entitlement made them foreign to the idea of family and ultimately led to a divided Africa nation. In Lose Your Mother, an elder of the Akan people reflected on his merchant life and said “The desire we have for your fascinating goods and your brandy, bring it to pass that one brother cannot trust the other,