KING LEOPOLD S CHECKPOINT #1 (P6-60)

KING LEOPOLD’S CHECKPOINT #1 (p6-60)

Here in the 21st Century, we can’t go 15 seconds without breaking news. Just watch CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC, and even ESPN – you’ll see some kind of new story scrolling across the bottom followed by all sorts of coverage. The events of the 1800s in Africa would have made for fascinating TV, but without the invention of television or marketable electricity, the world was deprived.

Good news for you: we’re giving history a second chance. CNN is looking to do a celebratory series of imperialism called King Leopold’s Ghost. It will chronicle the events outlined in Adam Hochschild’s bestseller of the same name. The premiere is set for next month, and the public relations department at Time Warner (parent company of CNN) wants interviews with the main characters in advance. As usual, TV executives called Mr. Klein to conduct the interviews, but with 3 kids, coaching and teaching, he doesn’t really have the time.

That’s where you come in. You are going to conduct an interview with the following characters: King Affonso I, King Leopold, Henry Morton Stanley, General Henry Stanford and Leopold’s sister Carlota. It will be a roundtable session. You need to ask each of them the following questions, and then formulate each person’s response to each question.

1. What is the proper role for Europeans in Africa?

2. What is the proper relationship between Africans and African leaders?

3. Describe the relationship, in your time, between African leaders and Europeans.

4. Is slavery acceptable?

5. Describe your view of Christianity and its proper role in your life and in the lives of Africans.

6. What was your role in the unfolding story of European imperialism in Africa?

7. Why did you play this role?