Modupe Labode, assistant professor of history, the effects of colonialism is an important topic to include in International Week because it allows people to see actual representations of people from other nations and breaks stereotypical images the West has of exotic colonial nations.

As examples of these stereotypical concepts of “anywhere outside of the West,” Labode showed overheads of ads in magazines. One of these, an ad for Raw Vanilla perfume, showed what Labode called a “generic tropical landscape … steamy and warm and of course very, very sexy.”

In other advertisements, Labode pointed out that African countries were depicted as “landscape empty of people and empty of politics.” The ads featured exotic animals like lions and water buffalo and gorgeous white models.

The only ad she showed that included an black person had the person’s back facing the camera so that she too became part of the landscape, Labode said.

She spoke on the effects of colonialism to about 30 people Monday night in the Pioneer Room of Memorial Union as part of International Week activities.

Labode’s speech was sponsored by Student Union Board. Neelika Perreira, SUB senator, arranged for Labode to speak after hearing her speak before.

“She articulated all the things I had confusedly been trying to make sense out of when I was growing up,” said Perreira, reflecting on her experiences living in several colonized lands.

Labode purposely did not define the term colonialism because, she said, others have spent a lifetime trying to define it and have been unable to. Labode cited the definition in the Oxford English Dictionary as “alleged policy of exploitation of backwards or weak people,” a definition she said was very culturally influenced.

Instead, she gave examples of cultural representations of colonialism, including her own personal experiences.

Labode’s mother is African American and her father is Nigerian. Her father grew up in Nigeria when the country was a British colony.

Colonizers used “warped mirrors” to look at colonists and define themselves in terms of their superiority to colonists, Labode said. These images of superiority and the definition of “the West,” in terms of its relationship to the rest of the world, still persist, she said.

Labode also talked about human showcases, a trend in the nineteenth century in which streets were decorated during carnivals to resemble exotic areas like Cairo so people could see them without leaving their home country. People were displayed like animals in zoos, Labode said.

Labode talked about missionaries’ attempts to “civilize” people and convert them to Christianity.

“Although some missionaries lived for a long time with these people, they never really understood them,” Labode said.

A man in the audience from Zaire said, “You can’t say colonialism is dead,” because the effects are still present in Zaire, which has a president imposed by “the West,” he said.