Racism and colonialism were symmetrically related in Africa under white rule. Both drew a line between the superior white man and the inferior black man Besides the predominantly economic justification for European colonization of Africa, the race factor stands out distinct. The slave trade which preceded colonialism had confirmed the thesis among Europeans that the black race was an inferior one. The need there fore to “civilize” these inferior peoples was often advanced as one of the major justifications for European control of Africa. This notion fed heavily on a new theory called social Darwinism which appealed to imperialists. Social Darwinism, Racism and Colonialism in Africa The greatest intellectual force that lent support and justification to European control of Africa was social Darwinism. It derived from Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and what he called the “survival of the fittest.” Darwin argued that in a world of fierce competition for limited resources, the strong survive and evolve into higher forms while the weak perish. This theory appealed to imperialists all over Europe who later put it to good use in Africa which in their view belonged to Darwin’s category of the “weak.” The result of this experiment was the surge of colonialism or the scramble for Africa. In his book Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics and Society, Marvin establishes the link between social Darwinism and colonialism in the following words. “In the popular mind, the concepts of evolution justified the exploitation of lesser breeds without law by superior races. This language of race and conflict, of superior and inferior people, was widely expressed in western states.” Even before social Darwinism took hold in Africa in the form of colonial rule, European states had advocated reforms to select the best breeds for the greater task of empire building. “When working men proved unfit to serve in the Boer war” says Perry, British imperialists became advocates of health and education reforms to improve the British race so that it could rule the empire.” The popularity of eugenics throughout the West in the 19th and 20th centuries was proof of the search for a superior race capable of dominating the world. In his search for a master race, Hitler put eugenics to good use. And one of his principal demands was the restoration of lost German colonies in Africa, seized by the Allies after WW1. Manifestations of Racism in Colonial Africa: South Africa, Congo and others Colonialism was racism in its most brutal form. It was expressed differently in differently African colonies but the common denominator was the line separating “white” from “black” or the superior from the “inferior.” In South Africa, this line of division was called apartheid but the black man in South Africa was as dreaded and tormented as his brother in Algeria or Kenya or Rhodesia.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 15:39:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015