Brief Rhetorical Analysis of "British West African Association"

Unlike women's issues, issues of race are avoided in most modernist magazines. However, in a letter to the editor of New Age, Vol. 8 No. 10, H. O. Newland appeals to the editor's pathos by affirming that the West African Natives deserve to be educated by the British Empire. Newland displays a colonizer mindset, which he also wants the editor to agree with. He begins his letter by stating that the British West African Association was formed to "further the interests- educational, political, and commerical- of the West African Colonies" (237). He believes that the West Africans need to be civilized and educated, in turn, claiming that they need pity from Britain. Further, Newland states that there is a British "ignorance" concerning the education of the Africans and that they all should be educated, not just the coastal natives. Newland resorts to making the editor question whether he was ignorant to the issue as well, further driving his emotional response to the issue. Newland wants the editor to inform other readers about the poor African natives, driving the effort to colonize them, as he claims the letter is an "invit[ation] to help" (237). By displaying the natives as helpless to educate themselves, Newland effectively displays the British empire as the "White Savior," as well as convinces the editor that the association needs help and support to educate them.