COLONIALISM IS THE POLICY OR PRACTICE OF ACQUIRING FULL OR PARTIAL POLITICAL CONTROL OVER ANOTHER COUNTRY, OCCUPYING IT WITH SETTLERS, AND EXPLOITING IT ECONOMICALLY.

IDEAS OF AFRICANS AS INFERIOR CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE 18TH CENTURY, WHICH INVOLVED COLONIALISM. AFRICA IN FACT HAS A HISTORY AND A LEGACY OF COLONIALISM.

BETWEEN THE 1870’S AND THE 1900’S, AFRICA FACES EUROPEAN AND IMPEPRIALIST AGGRESSION, DIPLOMATIC PRESSURES, MILITARY INVASIONS AND EVENTUAL CONQUEST AND COLONIZATION. YET, AT THE SAME TIME THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA TRIED THEIR ABSOLUTE HARDEST AND TRIED TO RESIST AGAINST THE ATTEMPT TO COLONIZE THEIR COUNTRIES AND IMPOSE FOREIGN DOMINATION. BY THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY HOWEVER, MUCH OF AFRICA HAD BEEN COLONIZED BY EUROPEAN POWERS.

THIS CONOLIZATION WAS MOTIVATED BY THREE MAIN FACTORS: ECONOMIC, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. IT DEVELOPED IN THE 19TH CENTURY DUE TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE PROFABILITY OF THE SLAVE TRADE, ITS ABOLITION AND SUPPRESSION, AS WELL AS THE EXPANSION OF THE ERUOPEAN AND CAPALST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. THE DEMAND FOR ASSURED SOURCES OF RAW MATERIALS, THE SEARCH FOR GUARANTEED MARKETS AND PROFITABLE INVESTMENT OUTLETS SPURRED THE EUROPEAN SCRAMBLE AND THE EVENTUAL CONQUEST OF AFRICA. THEREFORE, THE PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR THE COLONIZATION OF AFRICA WAS ECONOMIC.

HOWEVER, AT THE TIME, OTHER REASONS PLAYED A ROLE IN THE COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. BRITAIN, FRANCE, ITALY, SPAIN, GERMANY, PORTUGAL ETC WERE ALL COMPETING FOR POWER WITHIN EUROPEAN POLITICS. ONE WAY TO DEMONSTRATE NATIONAL POWER WAS THROUGH THE ACQUISITION OF TERRETORIES AROUND THE WORLD, INCLUDING AFRICA.

THE SOCIAL FACTOR WAS THE THIRD MAJOR ELEMENT THAT HAD A PART TO PLAY IN THE COLONIZATION OF AFRICA. AS A RESULT OF INDUSTIRALIZATION, MAJOT SOCIAL PROBLEMS GREW WITHIN EUROPE SUCH AS UNEMPLOYMENT, POVERTY, HOMELESSNESS ETC. ONE WAY TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE WITHIN EUROPE WAS TO ACQUIRE COLONIES AND EXPLORE THIS “SURPLUS POPULATION”. THIS LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SETTLER COLONIES IN ALGERIA, TUNISIA, SOUTH AFRICA, NAMIBIA, ANGOLA, MOZAMBIQUE ETC.

THE ACTUAL DEFINITION OF RACISM IS: PREJUDICE, DISCRIMINATION, OR ANTAGONISM DIRECTED AGAINST A PERSON OR PEOPLE ON THE BASIS OF THEIR MEMBERSHIP OF A PARTICULAR RACIAL OR ETHNIC GROUP, TYPICALLY ONE THAT IS A MINORITY OR MARGINALIZED.

A SIMILAR DEFINITION IS THE BELIEF THAT DIFFERENT RACES POSSESS DISTINCT CHARACTERISTICS, ABILITIES OR QUALITIES, ESPECIALLY SO AS TO DISTINGUISH THEM AS INFERIOR OR SUPERIOR TO ONE ANOTHER.

RACISM CAN AFFECT ANYONE AT ANY AGE, ANY RACE, ANY ETHNICITY.

RACISM CAN MANIFEST ITSELF ITO MANY DIFFERENT VARIATIONS INCLUDING INDIVIDUAL RACISM, SYSTEMATIC RACISM, INSTITUTIONAL RACISM, STRUCTURAL RACISM ETC.

THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD WHO WAS A BLACK MALE, KILLED ONLY FOR BEING ACCUSED OF FORGING A CHECK BY A POLICE OFFICER LEANING ON HIS NECK UNTIL ASPHYXIATION. THIS HAS SPARKED RIOTS AND PROTESTS GLOBALLY IN ORDER TO GET RID OF POLICE BRUTALITY AND THE PREJUDICE POLICE SEEM TO HAVE AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE.

RACISM HAS EXISTED ALL OVER THE WORD, GEORGE FLOYD HOWEVER, GOT KILLED IN AMERICA, A COUNTRY INFAMOUS FOR RACISM.

BETWEEN 1525 AND 1866, 12.5 MILLION BLACK PEOPLE WERE KIDNAPPED FROM AFRICA TO THE AMERICAS THROUGH THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE. THIS WOULD’VE BEEN THE INITIAL SPARK TO RACISM, AS BLACK PEOPLE WERE NOW SEEN AS SLAVES AND ESSENTIALLY LESS SUPERIOR TO WHITE PEOPLE.

SLAVE WERE BEATEN, RAPED, LOOKED DOWN UPON AND MANY OTHER HORRIFIC THINGS ONE WOULDN’T WISH TO EXPERIENCE THEMSELVES, THEY WERE TREATED HOW NO HUMAN WOULD WISH TO BE TREATED. THEY WERE DEHUMANIZED.

EVEN WHEN THE SLAVE TRADE WAS MADE ILLEGAL, AND EVENTUALLY STARTED TO DIE DOWN. RACIAL INEQUALITY STILL OCCURRED. POLL TAXES EFFECTIVELY DISENFRANCHISED AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTERS, AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR 1 AND 2 WERE TREATED LIKE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS, BLACK INNOVATORS WERE BARRED FROM FILING PATENTS FOR THEIR INVENTIONS, WHITE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS EXPLOITED BLACK WOMEN’S BODIES, TRAVEL WAS SEGREGATED WITH THE WHITES HAVING TO SIT AT THE FRONT AND THE BLACK PEOPLE AT THE BACK, THIS SEGREGATION ALSO HAPPENED IN SCHOOLS.

IN ADDITION TO ENDURING CENTURIES OF ENSLAVEMENT, EXPLOITATION AND INEQUALITY, AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE LONG BEEN THE TARGETS OF RACIALLY CHARGED PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. MORE THAN 4,400 LYNCHINGS AND MOB KILLINGS TOOK PLACE IN THE US BETWEEN THE END OF RECONSTRUCTION AND WORLD WAR 2. SURPRISINGLY, THE SENATE ONLY PASSED LEGISLATION DECLARING LYNCHING A FEDERAL CRIME IN 2018!

THIS IS ONLY HALF OF THE SUFFERING THAT BLACK PEOPLE HAVE ENDURED OVER THE YEARS. MANY PROTESTS HAVE TAKEN PLACE OVER THE YEARS. MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS BLACK ACTIVISTS WHO BECAME THE MOST VISIBLE SPOKESPERSON AND LEADER IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT FROM 1955-1968.

ALL THIS HISTORY, HAS TRIGGERED THE PROTESTS OVER GEORGE FLOYD AS RACISM AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE IS STILL OCCURRING TODAY. THIS DIAGRAM BELOW SHOWS THE PREJUDICE AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE OR PEOPLE FROM OTHER ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS EXCEPT WHITE, EXPERIENCING THE FEAR OF BEING SHOT BY POLICE JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE OF A DIFFERENT ETHNICITY.