A Treatise on Euro-Colonialism

Posted: February 06, 2002
An analysis by
Dr. Kwame Nantambu

Now that we have analyzed and decoded the operational aspects of Euro-Roman religious supremacy in TnT, it seems appropriate to analyse and decode the operational aspects of its companion in crime, namely, European Colonialism.

The study of world history within the Euro-ethnocentric perspective focused on three things: First, history or HIS-STORY was the study of Europe's past which emphasized British history in England, French history in France, Spanish history in Spain, etc.

Second, history was elitist, that is, it was concerned only with those who governed countries (European colonizers), won battles and world wars, invented, discovered and innovated things.

And three, Afrika and Afrikans was totally irrelevant. Afrika was viewed as the barbaric 'Dark Continent' with NO history and contribution to world culture and civilization.

One of the central issues of Euro-colonial rule was the attitude of Europeans toward race differences, which lay behind all the policies they pursued in Afrika and the Caribbean.

Euro-colonialism was racist at its core. And since skin colour is the most obvious physical trait, it was then natural for the European colonizers to assign the lowest rank to people whose skin colour was most different from their own.

The Euro-colonial racist mind-set and attitude was best articulated, popularized and perpetuated by Arthur de Gobineau in his 1854 book titled The Inequality of Human Races as follows:
'Such is the lesson of history. It shows us that all civilizations derive from the white race, that none can exist without its help, and that a society is great and brilliant only so far as it preserves the blood of the noble group that created it, provided that this group itself belongs to the most illustrious brand of our species . . . .

Of the first seven civilizations, which are those of the Old World, six belong, at least in part, to the Aryan race, and the seventh, that of Assyria, owes to this race the Iranian Renaissance, which is, historically, its best title to fame. Almost, the whole of the Continent of Europe is inhabited at the present time by groups of which the basis is white, but in which the non-Aryan elements are the most numerous.

There is no true civilization, among the European peoples, where the Aryan branch is not predominant. In the above list no (Black) race is seen as the initiator of a civilization. Only when it is mixed with some other can it even be initiated into one. Similarly, no spontaneous civilization is to be found among the yellow races; and when the Aryan blood is exhausted stagnation supervenes.'

In Afrika, the height of European racism coincided with the European conquest of Afrika and the first imposition of colonial rule. The prevailing Euro-colonial thought process at that time was that the Afrikan colonized were permanently inferior to their Euro-colonial masters.

European colonizers accepted racial subordination because they thought it was part of the natural order of things ordained by God. They thought colonial rule was their Divine Right.

Indeed, the greatest detrimental Euro-colonialization occurred when Afrikans were involuntarily uprooted from their Homeland and now remain a minority in North America (United States).

The next most complimentary Euro-colonialization occurred when they were uprooted but now form the majority of the population in the Caribbean.

French colonialism was based on 'La mission civilisatrice' while the Euro-British based theirs on 'the white man's burden' and 'manifest destiny.'

Euro-colonialism embarked on a radical cultural reorganization of Afrika. Afrikans were made to feel that their history began with their induction into the Euro-colonial world system.

Afrikan-colonized were indoctrinated to view themselves as Black Englishmen, Black Frenchmen and Black Portuguese, etc. They were skillfully indoctrinated to view their own colonized people with the eyes of the Euro-British colonizer; this new system after 1962 in TnT and the Caribbean is called Neo-colonialism or Afrikan colonialism.

Under this system the Afrikan colonized has kicked out the Euro-British colonial Governor who is now replaced by a Chief Minister Premier and/or Prime Minister of Afrikan descent.

However, this new ethnic Afrikan political leader now turns around and treats and/or oppresses his own people worse than the Euro-British Governor.

The colonized are not better off under this new Afrikan rule. In other words, for the majority of the colonized, political independence from their Euro-British colonizer has not improved their lives to any real, substantive degree.

To the majority of the colonized, they are only experiencing 'flag independence' under this Afrikan leader. Independence is nothing but a farce. And this is the sad situation in TnT and the Caribbean today. The stark historical reality is that both TnT and the Caribbean have moved from under the control of Euro-British colonialism then to the supreme control of Euro-American colonialism now, not by accident but by design of their political leaders.

To all intent and purposes, the political powers that be in TnT have decided to turn TnT into the virtual 52nd state of the Euro-United States of America under the guise of sobriquet of 'a first world status' country.

An American-headquartered Trans National Enterprise (TNE) named Price Waterhouse is the primary modern-day Euro-imperialist medium that is calling the shots.

The Euro-American imperialist TNE has now replaced the Euro-colonial missionaries and the British East India Company. The more things change, the more they remain the same. As such, the change from a British colony to a sovereign, independent nation-state has meant absolutely NOTHING to Ntn.

TnT's Euro-colonized status has remained the SAME under different Euro-colonial masters. Euro-colonialism is alive and kicking in TnT B American style.

Unlike up to the 1980s, Euro-American imperialism has now replaced Euro-British colonialism. One of the most detrimental aspects of Euro-colonialism is that Afrikans suffered the ultimate humiliation of being told and totally convinced what components of their own culture should be allowed to continue.

European colonizers disrespected, denigrated and devalued Afrikan culture. And that's why today, some Afrikans in TnT are ashamed not only of their culture but also ashamed of being Afrikan.

These Afrikan-Trinis are the victims of Euro-colonial culture incest. The European colonizer has done an excellent job on the mind of the Afrikan colonized. For it I destroy your culture, then I automatically destroy you and that's exactly what the European colonizer did to the Afrikan.

In the social sphere, the Euro-colonials sub-consciously convinced the colonized that they could be trusted to govern the colonies because of their superior scale of civilized values and the colonized's innate immaturity and inferiority.

In the political sphere, the Euro-colonials sought to achieve the following objectives:
(1) to keep the colonized in permanent political subjection
(2) to make possible the maximum exploitation of the colonial subjects and their resources and
(3) to keep the colonized divided so as to maintain maximum control.

This last Euro-colonial political ploy is called Divide and Rule/Conquer. It was masterminded during slavery by separating the Afrikan slaves into field-hands and house-servants on the plantation.

In TnT, this inherited Euro-British-colonial Divide and Rule/Conquer political ploy was masterminded by separating the dentured and indentured slaves into Afrikans and Indians after the British Governor left the country.

Even today, racial derogatory words are being used to describe or label these two ethnic classes of Trinis which this writer will NOT repeat.

Thus, national dis-unity is the sad, but still lingering legacy of Euro-British colonialism in TnT. In this new millennium, nationals of TnT must cut out this concerous, Euro-colonial scar completely from its body politic.

Whether we celebrate 'Emancipation Day' 'Indian Arrival Day' or 'Spiritual Baptist (Shouter) Liberation Day,' we were ALL enslaved by the same British, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, American-European.

This is the common, historical denomination of Afrikan-Indian-Trinis. We must use this not as a negative experience but as a positive, political force to eradicate this Euro-colonial DIVIDE and RULE legacy. National unity will ONLY be achieved after this had become a reality in TnT.

My fellow Trinis, let us not make enemies of ourselves; this will only lead to self-destruction. And if this happens, then, Euro-colonialism has succeeded at our expense.

Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").

Dr. Nantambu is an Associate Professor, Dept. of Pan-African Studies, Kent State University, U.S.A.

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