Challenging the Stigmas Born from Colonialism

Lagos, Nigeria. Image Credit: Wikipedia

When asked to think about the African continent, most modern Americans will picture a desolate, war-torn wasteland with people in tribes, living in huts, devoid of any technology. This view is not only drastically problematic, but unfairly portrays a large group of modern Africans. So why do we hold these views? Africa has the fastest rate of urbanization of and continent on the planet, with multiple megacities. By 2030, it is estimated that Africa’s thirteen largest cities will have a trade spending power over $2.5 trillion[1]. Why is this idea perpetuated in the media, when we see images of starving African children, or tribalistic people with little clothes, living as hunter/gatherers in huts?

 

This view has been maintained as yet another form of oppression and control. This stems back to colonialism. For much of the 20^th century, the colonial powers used this image of a ‘backwards’ or underdeveloped African continent to maintain their control[2]. They told their citizens of how they were helping the colonies through economic development. In truth, this mostly involved exploiting the continent for its natural resources and taking them without thought for the native people. These western countries and their businesses racked up enormous profits through a combination of forced labor, unfair trade with natives, and human rights abuses. The image of these war-torn, “primitive” people allowed westerners to justify their domination, as simply a necessary practice to bring them up to modernity.

However, as time went on, public support for colonialism diminished. Following the end of WWII, most of the colonies were dissolved, and from them countries were established. Once the colonizers were gone, it seemed the new African countries would finally be able to make profits on their resources and keep them for themselves. Instead, the exploitations continued, simply changing forms to adapt with the times. Economic growth came to a halt due to a variety of influences, such as foreign political intervention out of fears of communist takeover. The countries invested in production, but the annual GDP on the continent began declining after this. “By the end of the 1980’s, many African countries had a lower GDP per capita than at independence”[3].

Because of the economic instability, some Africa nations were forced to continue their one-sided trade, often with their former colonizers due to lack of other options. The sudden release from the grasp of colonizers left the young governments to try to navigate the international trade market. When they ultimately failed, European nations came back offering to continue trade, essentially creating a monopoly. Now the former colonizers could continue their exploitative behavior without fear from concerned western outcry.

The idea of and African “primitiveness” allowed the colonizers to enact their rule and maintain public support through the idea that they were helping. This mindset continued past decolonization and is still around today. Even though most of us are not aware that these preconceptions maintain their negative connotations, we still help to perpetuate these ideas. We can look back and condemn the practices of western governments, and still be blind to how we continue to engage in these negative stigmas.

By engaging in these practices, we continue to hold the continent back. Take Somaliland for example, the semi-autonomous region of Somalia, formerly the British colony, British Somaliland. In 2017, they had their third peaceful transfer of power. The Somaliland election cited democratic rules and was supported by the European Union and the United Kingdom. This heavily contrasts the state of the rest of Somalia, who held their own elections earlier this year. These elections were not successful, held back by unrest within the citizens. Somalia is currently torn apart, and the unstable government is not in a position to offer much in the way of change[4]. How could this region be so different from the rest of the country? Are they seeking independence from Somalia, seeing as they seem to be much more successful in their governmental well-being?

Somaliland formally declared independence from Somalia in 1991, following civil war after the fall of dictator Siad Barre’s regime. It hosts its own elections, supports its own army, has its own flag, and even uses an independent currency. Yet it cannot gain foreign recognition from anywhere. I was surprised to discover this was not due to diplomatic relations, but instead a “strategic decision to hinder other [territories] from declaring independence, due to fears of a domino effect in the region”[5]. Even with our progressive views, striving for African autonomy in the international market, we still remain unchanged in this regard. In the past, foreign nations refused to recognize the independence due to not wanting others to follow. This philosophy was used as a form of control, in order to keep other potential independent regions from causing more structural change in the region. This ideology does not think about the well-being of any of these regions and their people, simply, it attempts to keep the African countries ‘in line’ to be able to continue their relations with the powerful nations, whether economic or for other reasons.

Even after colonialism ended in the 1990’s, the influence and sense of ‘responsibility’ still remains within the western world. We do not recognize how these viewpoints have been influenced from the previous colonial institutions. Out continued outlooks portrayed through each other and the media leave a damaging effect on the African continent, as well as the rest of the developing world. It is difficult to think about our perceptions, but we must commit to challenging these preconceived ideas in order to help end the lasting effects of colonialism.

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[1] Signé, Landry. Africa’s Consumer Market Potential: Trends, Drivers, Opportunities, and Strategies. Washington DC: Brookings, 2018. Accessed March 16, 2019. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Africas-consumer-market-potential.pdf

[2] Frederick Cooper. Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 67.

[3] Thandika Mkandawire and Charles Soludo, Our Continent, Our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment (Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press, 1999), 6.

[4] “Somaliland: Still Seeking Recognition After 25 Years of Independence,” Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization, last modified August 23, 2016, http://unpo.org/article/19401.

[5] Ibid.