Kim Gram

November 19, 2000

The Struggle for Voice and Choice in Two African Societes

John Howard Griffin’s novel, Black Like Me, and Barbara Kingsolver’s novel, The Poisonwood Bible, describe journeys made by white Americans into black societies in the early 1960’s. Griffin, a white journalist for Sepia magazine, took medication to darken his skin and entered the United States’ Deep South to experience the plight of African Americans (Bain 195). His book is a true account of his experiences as a black man. Kingsolver writes of a man who, in many ways, made a similar journey. Nathan Price, a white Baptist missionary in The Poisonwood Bible, moves his wife and four daughters to the Congo of Africa with hopes of spreading the teachings of Christianity and baptizing many. Although Kingsolver’s story is fiction, her development of the Congo’s history and culture are based on recorded history and her own experiences there as a child (Kingsolver ix). John Griffin and the Price family leave a world in which their race automatically constitutes them with the rights of voice and choice; and discover a world in which those rights are limited.

Being that their professions are journalism and ministry, John Griffin and Nathan Price are accustomed to the use of words, whether written or spoken, to reach out to others and relay information. Once they cross over into the new territories, their abilities to be heard accurately or at all become difficult. In this new setting, Griffin finds the opportunity to speak to a white person does not present itself because it is preceded by a silent language spoken by whites. He first encounters this silent language outside a "Whites Only" restaurant as he is reading the menu in the window. He says, "I looked up to see the frowns of disapproval that can speak so loudly without words. The Negro learns this silent language fluently" (Griffin 46). The sight of his skin color immediately eliminates a chance for any spoken dialogue. Often times, this silent language communicates such loathing that some blacks would refer to it as the "hate stare" (Griffin 53). His communication with blacks, on the other hand, is an opportunity to hear the voices that have been stifled by society and to speak with those he would not ordinarily be able to speak with as a white man. His language, however, when speaking with other blacks is changed to be more obscene than usual. He finds this dialogue, which is considered by whites to be insulting, to be the common dialogue between blacks (Griffin 131). Griffin truly comes to realize how great the disparity is between the blacks and white’s right to voice after he returns to his natural skin tone. He states, "I, as a man now white once again, could say the things that needed saying but would be rejected if black men said them" (Griffin 172). Fortunately, the voices of many blacks, including John Griffin’s voice, are eventually heard through the writing and publishing of his book, Black Like Me.

Nathan Price does not integrate himself into the black society as well as John Griffin. His white skin allows him to remain a part of Africa’s dominant culture. However, his residence in a village completely inhabited by blacks does not lend him the status he would receive in the city. As an immigrant into small native village, Nathan is without a voice and without control over the Congolese. Although is given the opportunity to have a voice, his attempts at being heard fail miserably. He is relentless in his pursuit of the spiritual salvation of the Congolese people, but he does not take the time to properly learn their language or their beliefs. He relies instead on a local schoolteacher to translate his sermons to the congregation. Nathan’s daughter, Adah, makes the following observation about this arrangement: "I realized this slick trick schoolteacher could be saying anything under the sun. Our father would never be the wiser" (Kingsolver 72). As far as the Prices are able to discern, the translator performs his task honorably. Miscommunication occurs despite the translator’s efforts, however, when Nathan chooses to speak the words of the Kikongo language himself. The difficult thing about the Kikongo language is that one word can mean three different things according to one’s tone of voice while saying the word. Nathan uses the word "batiza" in his sermons which, according to the tone of his voice, can mean either "baptism" or "terrify" (Kingsolver 214). Nathan does not realize the effect his own sermons may be having on the decision of the Congolese to not be baptized. In addition, he often exclaims the phrase, "Tata Jesus is bangala!" to conclude his sermons (Kingsolver 533). This expression is meant to be said as a praise of Jesus, however, the tone he uses in saying the word "bangala" causes the meaning to change to, "Jesus is poisonwood". The poisonwood tree is avoided by the Congolese because its poison is deadly. Mistaken expressions and intentions prevent Nathan’s dream of mass baptisms from being realized, and ultimately leads to his own destruction.

Nathan labors to bring eternal life to the Congolese, yet neglects to be a voice of compassion for the struggles they are working to overcome in their daily lives. Unlike John Griffin, Nathan is not concerned about the segregation of wealth within the cities or the need for proper education for all. These issues, which are undeniably present in the United States at this time, are also present in Africa. The oppressed voices of African Americans is not unlike the silence invoked on Congolese by Belgians and Americans. By denying these groups a voice concerning the before mentioned issues, they have been denied the right to make choices about their lives.

One of the most prevalent injustices inflicted upon blacks in Griffin’s novel is the segregation of the races. Ruth May Price describes the condition of the races as perceived by a young girl in Georgia. "The man in church said [the colored children] are different from us and needs ought to keep to their own. Jimmy Crow says that, and he makes the laws. They don’t come in the White Castle restaurant either . . ., or the zoo" (Kingsolver 20). Jim Crow is the term used to represent the everyday segregation of blacks from whites in the southern United States and was legalized by the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 (Williams 2,10). Although the 1954 case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education stated that separate facilities for blacks is inherently unequal, the implementing of this case is a slow process (Cruse 29-30). In 1959, the Jim Crow concept still applies and Griffin is told by a black acquaintance, "You can’t do like you used to when you were a white man. You can’t just walk in any place and ask for a drink or use the restroom" (Griffin 29). Such de facto segregation, segregation by fact rather than law, as experienced by Griffin demonstrates the battle African Americans face despite their progress in gaining a voice in government.

A similar form of segregation imposed on blacks in Africa is their limitations in choosing their housing locations. The Congolese are not allowed the luxuries of suitable housing within the city. "Leopoldville is a nice little town of dandy houses with porches and flowery yards on nice paved streets for the whites, and surrounding it, for miles and miles, nothing but dusty run-down shacks for the Congolese" (Kingsolver 183). Nathan Price’s view of this segregation matter is indicative of his lack of concern or voice for the true plights of the Africans. He believes this injustice to be the Belgians’ doing and that Americans will help provide better housing because "Americans would never stand for this kind of unequal treatment" (Kingsolver 183). Obviously Nathan is not aware of the extent of the injustices suffered by African Americans for Griffin describes this same situation as occurring in America. Griffin met a black man who used to take the bus into the better parts of town where the whites lived "just to get away from this place . . . just to get somewhere where it’s decent"(Griffin 24). The blacks in America and in Africa are forced to live in an environment chosen for them by the dominant white culture.

The hopes of overcoming injustice by receiving an education is also a closed door for the blacks in both of these societies. In the southern United States, education for blacks is either segregated in some areas, affordable only for whites, or unable to change the lack of job opportunities open to blacks. The schools in Bethlehem, Georgia are segregated at least up until the Prices leave for Africa. Ruth May says that her sisters have to go to the same school, "[b]ut not the colored children" (Kingsolver 20). Griffin discusses not only the physical segregation of the two races in schools, but also the separation of opportunities regardless of integration. First of all, the before mentioned boundary lines between the city and the slums for the races is also a boundary designating one’s school location. A black acquaintance of Griffin’s says, "Our schools in the south don’t compare to the white schools" (Griffin 92). The ability to attend college and then to find a career are even greater obstacles blacks must overcome. Griffin is told, "Our people aren’t educated because they either can’t afford it or else they know education won’t earn them the jobs it would a white man" (Griffin 43). Unless a black person is trained in a specific profession in which he may establish a private practice, a job in the field of his education can only be found outside the South. For African Americans, "Learning is almost a sacred privilege now" (Griffin 125).

Leah Price would probably have been able to sympathize with blacks in America who suffer educational injustices because she sees similar injustices for blacks in Africa. She believes her friend Nelson, a Congolese native, is a gifted person much like herself. However, as far as his education is concerned, Leah says that, "[G]ifted doesn’t count for a hill of beans in the Congo, where even somebody as smart as Nelson isn’t allowed to go to college . . . . [T]he Belgians are bent on protecting against independent thought on native ground" (Kingsolver 143). Possibly, the Belgian government’s fear is of education’s ability to provide a person with a better understanding of the inequalities they are experiencing and thus a greater desire to achieve voice and choice. The education the Congolese children are able to receive is a great monetary sacrifice on the families. "[T]hese boys’ families were scraping together extra food or cash for their sons to go to school, and no one ever forgot it. Going to school was a big decision" (Kingsolver 280). Nevertheless, the importance of education in the lives of blacks is as great an importance in Africa as it is in America. In fact, one Congolese man named Ndu expresses a bit of gratitude to the whites for the new information the blacks have had the opportunity to learn. He tells Nathan Price, "[W]hite men have brought us many programs to improve our thinking. The program of Jesus and the program of elections" (Kingsolver 311). The irony in this statement, however, lies in the Congolese people’s misunderstandings surrounding both of these "programs". As was discussed before, Nathan Price’s tone of voice when speaking Kikongo often times relayed the wrong message about the nature of Jesus. In addition, the Congolese used elections to determine every issue including those that are not political, such as voting on the existence of Jesus. Unfortunately, the power of the white man to throw out an election that does not produce his desired results causes confusion for the Congolese in understanding its validity. Whites have provided the Congolese with a hunger for knowledge, but are unwilling to completely feed that hunger. Without a sufficient education, blacks are forced to be subjected to the control of the educated whites.

In order for there to be an end to the injustices imposed on blacks in America and Africa, it is necessary for blacks to gain a voice. The voices of the African Americans and the Congolese finally begin to be heard through the determination of leaders who strive to fulfill their dreams of the right to make choices. The message of Martin Luther King, Jr. is one that remains familiar in the minds of many Americans decades after his leadership of the Civil Rights Movement in America. His words have survived his death. "I have a dream that one day . . . little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers" (Williams 205). The Congolese have a similar dream of independence from Belgian control. This dream is fulfilled by Patrice Lumumba who provides a voice for the Congolese much like Martin Luther King, Jr.’s. Lumumba addresses a large crowd of followers by saying, "Together we are going to make a place for justice and peace, prosperity and grandeur. We are going to make the Congo, for all of Africa, the heart of light" (Kingsolver 184). Through the courage of such leaders to provide a voice, the oppressed blacks in these novels begin to experience liberation from the constraints placed on their rights to make their own choices.

Bain, Robert, Joseph M. Flora, and Louis D. Rubin, Jr., eds. Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1979.

Cruse, Harold. Plural but Equal: Blacks and Minorities in America’s Plural Society. New York: William Morrow, 1987.

Griffin, John Howard. Black Like Me. New York: New American Library, 1962.

Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1998.