Partial CR #7

Green Banana:

As a product of American higher education, I had neverpaid theslightestattentiontothegreenbanana,excepttoregarditas a fruit whose time had not yet come. Suddenly on that mountain road, its timeandmyneedhadconverged.ButasIreflectedonitfurther,Irealized that the green banana had been there all along. Its time reached back to the veryoriginsof thebanana.Thepeopleinthathamlethadknownaboutitfor years. XIV

If some of the goals of education in modem times are to open up possibilities for discovery and expand learning and the chance for mutual acceptance and recognition in a wider world, it may be important to offer students a perspective on their own immediate center of the world by enabling them to participate sensitively as crosscultural sojourners to the center of someone else’s world.

The cultures of the world are full of unexpectedgreenbananaswithspecialvalueandmeaning.Theyhavebeen there for ages, ripening slowly, perhaps waiting patiently for our students to come along to encounter them. There are people there who will interpret the special meanings, give them perspective, combine ideas in new ways, and slice old concepts to answer modern questions.

To Hell:

To hell with good intentions. This is a theological statement. You will not help anybody by your good intentions. There is an Irish saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions; this sums up the same theological insight. (1)

I do have deep faith in the enormous good will of the U.S. volunteer. However, his good faith can usually be explained only by an abysmal lack of intuitive delicacy. By definition, you cannot help being ultimately vacationing salesmen for the middle-class “American Way of Life,” since that is really the only life you know. (2)

In fact, you cannot even meet the majority which you pretend to serve in Latin America — even if you could speak their language, which most of you cannot. You can only dialogue with those like you — Latin American imitations of the North American middle class. There is no way for you to really meet with the underprivileged, since there is no common ground whatsoever for you to meet on. (3)

Suppose you went to a U.S. ghetto this summer and tried to help the poor there “help themselves.” Very soon you would be either spit upon or laughed at. People offended by your pretentiousness would hit or spit. People who understand that your own bad consciences push you to this gesture would laugh condescendingly. Soon you would be made aware of your irrelevance among the poor, of your status as middle-class college students on a summer assignment. (4)

I am here to entreat you to use your money, your status and your education to travel in Latin America. Come to look, come to climb our mountains, to enjoy our flowers. Come to study. But do not come to help. (5)