why is racism the colonial legacy?
When the colonies matured, embracing all of the institutions and ideals of the mother nations, independence was ultimately granted - either by conflict or peaceful means - but the racism of the colonial legacy, like the guilt of slavery, is one that is still hurting today.
The new worlds in North and South America had their own unique history in that the British and Spanish colonies had to import and enslave Africans to do their work - creating a problem of what to do with these people when the abolitionist movement ended slavery.
Liberia in Africa was created by the North Americans for this purpose, but few Africans wanted to leave. Having lived in the colonies for as long as their white masters, the Africans considered themselves to be as much an American as anyone else. And quite rightly so. In this respect, the new western civilization as it developed in America is distinctly different to how it developed in other colonies.
The colonial legacy in other colonies - or dominions such as British India - was not slavery but a unique problem related to race and citizenship. Colonial independence led to dual citizenship of the mother country as well as the new nation, and once given a passport to Europe many of the formerly indigenous populations used it to their advantage and in doing so sparked racism in the white nations they migrated to.
Because of its foundation on slavery, the racism that developed in the American colonies - which is still evident today - is very different to that which developed in post-WWII Europe.
The pre-WWII European colonial governments mostly had a benevolent attitude towards native populations, and in granting former colonies or dominions independence it was probably never expected that the populations of these places would want to use their former colonial status to emigrate to the lands of their former governors.
Racism, as it developed in post-WWII Europe, was a backlash against massive immigration. Europeans were in war recovery, rationing continued for many years after the war, everything was in short supply and they did not like their jobs and housing and schools and meagre government benefits being taken over by a mass of people from former colonies - especially those people from countries which had not been touched by the war.
In Europe, there is little, if any, intrinsic hatred of non-white people as evidenced in America with a history of slavery. What is called 'racism' in Europe is similar to the hostility shown by Americans to Mexicans.
Basically, nobody likes their jobs and houses and schools and government benefits being taken over by people who have no birthright to it, and it is unfortunate that a different skin color was involved.
The new worlds in North and South America had their own unique history in that the British and Spanish colonies had to import and enslave Africans to do their work - creating a problem of what to do with these people when the abolitionist movement ended slavery.
Liberia in Africa was created by the North Americans for this purpose, but few Africans wanted to leave. Having lived in the colonies for as long as their white masters, the Africans considered themselves to be as much an American as anyone else. And quite rightly so. In this respect, the new western civilization as it developed in America is distinctly different to how it developed in other colonies.
The colonial legacy in other colonies - or dominions such as British India - was not slavery but a unique problem related to race and citizenship. Colonial independence led to dual citizenship of the mother country as well as the new nation, and once given a passport to Europe many of the formerly indigenous populations used it to their advantage and in doing so sparked racism in the white nations they migrated to.
Because of its foundation on slavery, the racism that developed in the American colonies - which is still evident today - is very different to that which developed in post-WWII Europe.
The pre-WWII European colonial governments mostly had a benevolent attitude towards native populations, and in granting former colonies or dominions independence it was probably never expected that the populations of these places would want to use their former colonial status to emigrate to the lands of their former governors.
Racism, as it developed in post-WWII Europe, was a backlash against massive immigration. Europeans were in war recovery, rationing continued for many years after the war, everything was in short supply and they did not like their jobs and housing and schools and meagre government benefits being taken over by a mass of people from former colonies - especially those people from countries which had not been touched by the war.
In Europe, there is little, if any, intrinsic hatred of non-white people as evidenced in America with a history of slavery. What is called 'racism' in Europe is similar to the hostility shown by Americans to Mexicans.
Basically, nobody likes their jobs and houses and schools and government benefits being taken over by people who have no birthright to it, and it is unfortunate that a different skin color was involved.
Labels: America, colonial legacy, europe, liberia, post-wwii, racism, slavery
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