Now, iwnet lemenager, the images that you are about to see, appeared in this month'sSeleda Berenda after a whole lot of explaining, listening and finally understanding (which, as you know, is not the same as agreeing) took place among the SELEDA editors.

These images challenge, mock and denigrate how we, Ethiopians, perceive ourselves. So why are we including them in the same column that, for crying out loud, celebrated our beauty when it was inaugurated last month (/nov00/gallery1.shtml). Well, because some of us (that is the editors who agreed, not understood) feel it is necessary and important to know how we are perceived by others. For what purpose, you may ask? We could pontificate but we'd rather not. Should we be shielded from or exposed to these types of images? We'd like to know what you think. Drop us a note at editors@seleda.com

Now, we'll move out of the way to let the contributor who located these cartoons have his say.

Ras Hailu's Choice

No, we don't think the images that you are about to see are funny. Nor do we think they are tasteful, profound, or outstanding works of art. Nor, in case you wondered, are we misguided-but-destructive proponents of the Neo-Fascist Party.

But, sixty-five years ago, the occupying force that had mustard gassed its way to Addis Abeba, did find the cartoons that you are about to see humorous. Many of their enchanted followers had convinced themselves that the grotesque depictions were not only amusing but also accurate. The Fascist Party's propaganda machinery had done its homework.

Once the occupying force assumed control of most of the urban and some of our rural areas, the party's ideologues and advocates set out to convince our people about the veracity of the pictures that are hidden behind this opaque background.

However, most of our people, be they partisans, peddlers or collaborators held on to their humanity and ridiculed the racial hierarchy that the occupying force was trying to institute. For the most part, our people did not confuse technological advancement with ethnic superiority. A case in point was Ras Hailu Tekle-Haimanot of Gojjam.

Among the Ethiopian leaders that had submitted to the Italians, Ras Hailu's defection was considered one of the most damaging for the morale of our people. Nevertheless, in spite of the 40,874 Lire he received as a monthly stipend from the colonial government (By far the largest sum. Ras Gugsa Araya, the second most important collaborator in the eyes of the Italians, received a modest 25,000 Lire a month) it did not occur to Ras Hailu to think of himself as inferior.

In 1938, three years into the Occupation, the Italian colonial government finalized the division of Addis Abeba along racial lines. Piazza became a shopping center for Italians while Ethiopians could only go to Mercato.

Enter Ras Hailu. He wants to see a movie. Films screened at theatres in the "native" townships were either Fascist propaganda or heavily censored. He does not consider "second best" as an alternative. After all, Ras Hailu is Ras Hailu. He and his entourage go to the principal theatre at the Piazza. Flustered, the ticket-seller timidly informs the great Ras that Italians and Ethiopians are not allowed to sit in the same hall.

Anticipating a blunder--after all Ras Hailu is Ras Hailu--the manager quickly steps into the booth and offers the nobleman and his retinue box seats. Ras Hailu does not care for box seats. He will only have the best seats. Perplexed by the manager and the ticket-seller's odd behavior Ras Hailu buys the tickets of all of the seats in the house for his small party. Ras Hailu and his cronies, surrounded by rows and rows of empty chairs, recline in their padded orchestra seats. Their eyes are transfixed on the flickering images on the screen. They gleefully watch a sprightly soubrette cuckolding her doddering old husband in an Italian black-and-white comedy.

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Now, Ras Seledawi[t], lean back in your plush chair. You already have the best and only seat in front of your screen. Click on the icon below.