Leadership and Colonial Oppression against African - Assignment Example

Leadership and Discrimination Introduction From the ancient times, different societies have always had a leadership system. The purpose of the system is to give guidance and make decisions for the benefit of the society as a whole. Leadership is the process of being in charge of a given group of people who in most cases, especially in democratic settings, elect the leaders of their choice. Therefore, a leader has a responsibility to his or her subjects. Kings, presidents, heads of different organizations among others are examples of leaders heading different fraternities (Fehr, Yam & Dang, 190). Discrimination entails the segregation of specific individuals basing on diverse aspects such as gender and race. Some aspects that are attributable to leadership include colonialism, gender issues and orientalism. Superiority is an integral aspect of leadership. A leader tries to be as influential as possible to maintain his or her position. Different leaders may also compete to single out the superior or the front-runner. A credible example of such a case is the scramble for Africa by European powers during the pre-colonial period. The struggle led to wrangles among European nations because of their different interests and the fact that each of them desired to get as many colonies as possible to display their superiority. An appropriate example is the scramble between Britain and France for Egypt. Before colonization, Africans had their own form of leaderships for example chiefs and village heads. The colonialists later do destruction of the local leadership systems. Therefore, Europeans were intending to rule over helpless Africans for the reason that they had superior leadership systems. Derek Walcott’s poem, “A Far cry From Africa” displays the violence and other effects of colonialism on both Africans and Europeans. The struggle for leadership leads to untold violence that even leads to the death of people as Africans struggle for independence and Europeans try to keep the colonies under their rule. Therefore, the colonial era gives a different leadership perspective that is full of violence and rivalry in search of power and relevance. The effects of forced leadership or colonization are evident even in society today. From Walcott’s poem, he says he is not sure whether to support his African ancestry or his current English decent. Therefore, leadership can result into the division of unification of the subjects and even nations. The fact that people of African descent exist in the west because of colonial leadership is an example of the unity and diversification of the global communities. Orientalism entails a stereotypic view of the Asian continent by Western countries. Europeans and other westerners view themselves as important or greater powers as compared to other countries including Asia. Orientalism initiates a better understanding of stereotypic leadership. Western nations are of the opinion that their leadership and ways of governing are the best. Leadership is a competitive affair in which partakers try to outwit or be better than others. Gender inequality is a controversial issue in various societal sectors for example in workplaces. In leadership, especially the global presidency, there are very few women leaders. Therefore, leadership has not been extensively inclusive as far gender is concerned. As a result, discrimination in leadership is evident with men dominating most leadership posts ranging from federal authorities to smaller organizations like companies. Inclusion is imperative for the achievement of gender parity. Federal states and other organizations should make an effort to ensure that gender discrimination is not exercised within their jurisdiction (Fryer, 30). From Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, the author introduces the readers to two types of leadership, the local and the colonial. Okonkwo is a character in the book and is portrayed as a leader of his community but displays the exact opposite of what is expected of him. He gives in to his vile thoughts and commits suicide, an act of cowardice. A leader should be bold enough to stand up for the decisions he or she makes and defend the subjects. The display of cowardice or weakness while holding a leadership post is undesirable as it leads to instability within the territory being ruled over. The responsibility of making crucial decisions that would possibly have diverse effects lies with a credible and responsible leader. Understanding the reason behind the European colonialist’s success in conquering African states is imperative. Besides the leadership concept, it is now clear that utmost power is an imperative leadership aspect. The European system of governance was stable and well organized compared to the simple ruling methods used by ancient Africans. The European army was superior to that of the Africans in terms of ammunition. African warriors used simple war tools such as bows and arrows. The feeble ammunitions could not match the firearms processed by European armies (Kühne, 341). For state leadership to prevail, defense forces must be well equipped to defend the state. Military prowess drives the leadership rivalry among the world’s super powers for example the US, Britain and Russia. A state is considered a super power if it can command an extensive degree of leadership and power and is able to defend itself successfully from external aggression. Ancient African communities did not have well-coordinated military systems, as a result, it was easier for Europeans to take over forcefully from local leaders. Leadership has both advantages and disadvantages. In the bright side, having a stable ruling system for example one that is governed by a universally accepted constitution. Having a constitution ensures that proper guidelines to the citizens are in place. Therefore, internal disputes would be resolved with regard to the provisions of the existing constitution. A constitution stipulates the procedures involved in transiting from one form of leadership to another or handing over power to a new ruler. In the absence of a constitution or democratic system of leadership, an anarchy is imperative. Consequently, an anarchical state is unstable and lacks rules and regulations that would govern citizens. The rule of law protects social evils and other illegal acts, but this is not the case in an anarchy. Conversely, leadership has a dark side. Greed for power drives nations to turn against each other and leaders against their subjects. Colonialism is a credible example of such a situation. Europeans were yearning for more territorial command and acquisition of more resources and consequently conquered Africa to achieve this. Western powers were against the fundamental rights and freedoms of the African people. The First and Second World Wars evolved from leadership or power wrangles among western nations. Adolph Hitler is a good example of a leader that turned against his subjects by applying dictatorship instead of a democratic system of governance. His rule led to mass killings that resulted in the death of millions of Jews in Germany (Kühne, 350). Leadership elicits the need for power, which could result into such negative effects. Conclusion Conclusively, from the discussions covered so far, leadership and discrimination are some of the major themes covered by different literary authors. Leadership is associated with other factors such as colonialism. Power is an integral aspect of leadership. Without power, leadership would not be credible. Orientalism and gender discrimination are also evident in leadership dockets. Women are considered as a weaker gender and do not hold most leadership posts. However, certain disadvantages and disadvantages are attributable to leadership. Colonial oppression against African resulted from the fact that Europeans wanted more power and territorial influence. For example, dictatorship that is an undesirable issue results from inappropriate ways of ruling people. Therefore, leadership is imperative in every country, society and organization. Optimal and just leadership results to proper and peaceful relations between the groups of people that are concerned. Work Cited Fehr, Ryan, Yam, Kai Chi (Sam), & Dang, Carolyn. "Moralized Leadership: The Construction and Consequences of Ethical Leader Perceptions." Academy Of Management Review 40.2 (2015): 182-209. Business Source Complete. Web. 23 June 2015. Fryer, Roland. "21st Century Inequality The Declining Significance Of Discrimination." Issues in Science & Technology 31.1 (2014): 27-32. Professional Development Collection. Web. 23 June 2015. Kühne, Thomas. "Colonialism and the Holocaust: Continuities, Causations, and Complexities." Journal of Genocide Research 15.3 (2013): 339-362. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 June 2015. Read More