When Joseph Conrad wrote The Heart of Darkness, the heart of darkness in the word at that time was Africa. People thought of it as a savage and primitive place that was causing harm and needed to be helped. In the United States culture, there is still a heart of darkness, and it is Afghanistan.
The United States have been fighting a war against the Taliban for years, but contrary to popular belief, the Taliban does not represent Afghanistan as a country. Less informed people blame the entire country for a group's actions and think of and respond to an entire ethnicity with that belief. It is unfair to believe that the entire Afghan population is bad because of a group, just like it is bad to assume that an entire country of people are uncivilized and in need of saving.
The general population of the United States sees Afghanistan in a certain way and fears the Afghan, and because of it, Afghanistan is the heart of darkness of our society.
I definitely agree that there is a very big comparison that one could make between the idea that Afghanistan is a certain way due to a certain group of people, and the generalizations that Europeans made about the Congo due to a certain event or perhaps tribe. This definitely leads to further alienation and a sense of xenophobia. Great post!
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