Why Britain has failed to challenge its history, time and time again
Short summary:
Afro-Caribbean refugees in Ukraine, past racist remarks by the PM, statues and reparations. Will Britain finally wake up and make amends for its brutal past?
The question of changing names of buildings, statues and schools of White, British imperialists and colonialists, seems to ignite backlash. Why? Britain has long been the self-proclaimed, enlightened, ¹ "master race", according to Cecil Rhodes (BBC NEWS), which continues to better itself in philosophical thoughts and political ideologies. However, when the issue of colonialism and its effects are brought up, it seems to spark outrage. One specific example is the ‘Rhodesmustfall’ campaign. The campaign was deemed a removal of British history. However, some Britons have failed to acknowledge the atrocities that this man committed, and I believe that Rhodes should forever “stand condemned in the eyes of the world and of history” (The Telegraph), and He will “never be able to cleanse the blood of” (The Telegraph) the oppressed, African souls “from his hands” (The Telegraph). Although, this judgment may be deemed unfair to those imperialists, those are the words of the ² PM in regards to Vladimir Putin, hence, if Putin can never rid himself of the suffering He is inflicting onto innocent Ukrainians, how can White colonialists do the same?
The main issue is that Britons would never question a building, statue etc. named ‘Hitler House’ or similar, as this is deemed offensive and unthinkable, and rightly so. Despite this, other similar figures have been supported, and some White Britons have said we should not judge the British slave traders, White supremacists and colonialists. The argument is that our moral standards of today are better, so, it is not fair to target the British men of the past. So, to that I say, look at the history of the Nazi Germans. In British primary schools we paint Hitler in a monstrous form, we don't even think of trying to justify his actions; which are not justifiable. However, for the British imperialists, we view them as ‘lost souls’, whom were not aware of their actions, and did bring pride to the flag. This withholds immense hypocrisy, causing frustration for many oppressed groups, Britain seems content with condemning other historical atrocities, however, repeatedly justifies its own.
The second argument that many propose to celebrate British imperialism, is the concept of ancient history. Once again, I will bring up the Nazi Germans, this regime occurred during the 1940s, and is not widely justified. However, colonialists did not finish their African exploits until ³ 1980 in Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia), Leeward Islands in the Caribbean were only fully independent in 1983 and Hong Kong in South-East Asia was liberated in 1997. Hence, this seemingly ‘ancient history’ is not so ancient, and needs to be reflected on by White, British society, starting with children in schools. If the 1940s atrocities by the Germans can be taught as recent history, then so should British colonialism, that did not end until the 1990s.
An important clause is shame and fear. Some White Britons fail to acknowledge the true impacts of colonialism, as it provokes shame for the British image; just as they shamed Germany in the 1950s, and it damages the once impenetrable, British, Imperial fortress. Furthermore, the economic power of Britain will certainly be shaken up. Germany rightfully paid a financial restitution of over ⁴ £200 billion after the holocaust, so why would Britain and other European post-colonial powers not do so to many African countries? Simple. A 15–20-year Germany regime, that saw brutal, inhumane treatment of Jews and Blacks alike, cost Germany’s economy billions. Now, imagine almost 400 years of slavery and 150 years of colonisation, so how much would 550 years of similar human exploitation and oppression cost the British economy? An unimaginable amount. Furthermore, notice that Germany did not pay much – if any, reparations to African countries, despite also targeting Africans during the Holocaust, which highlights the undignified treatment of Africans, Asians and Caribbeans, that is failed to be extensively addressed within European society.
Another issue I have is the hypocrisy in treating Afro-Caribbean and Asian refugees, compared to others. With the ongoing crisis within Ukraine and the influx of White refugees, some are calling for the British government to implement policies, allowing the Ukrainians into the U.K. Not only is this hypocritical and unethical to how they treat North African and Middle-Eastern refugees, it is arguably illegal. How can politicians implement laws for one group of people, and not for another? Earlier this year, before the Ukraine crisis, some ⁵ Conservative MPs were pushing for an updated Nationality and Borders Bill, and now most MPs are pushing for entry of a different group of people; whom look similar to them. Does that not impede the ⁶ Equality Act of 2010? Furthermore, the ⁷ treatment of Africans, Caribbeans and Asians by Ukrainian officials; beaten, threatened of being shot, freezing for days in the cold, forced to trek miles with no hope of safety, restricted access on transport, and hunger for young children, shows how the West values the lives of some, over others. Very few have stood up in parliament to condemn the abuse that many non-white refugees are facing and this abuse has had no obvious acknowledgement from the PM, which is not surprising, considering His record of racial abuse. Therefore, why should I place my trust in British political institutions? They influence policies that oppress a minority, whilst choosing to change their philosophical ideas, so they can validate their own enterprise, which is not right. This moment ought to be a teachable opportunity, to enlighten the British conscience of its inequalities and make steps to overcome its racial disparities.
Furthermore, the public domain has not changed in terms of racial harmony, ⁸ Frederick Douglass, according to ‘Black and British’ by David Olusoga, upon returning to England in the 1850s, believed it regressed in racial progress than the decade before. This can be seen evident in those currently in power withholding prejudicial views. One example is the PM, who referred to ⁹ Africans as “piccaninnies” (The Independent), and believed in the imperial notion that when it comes to Africa, the ¹⁰ “problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more” (The Independent). This simply summarises the issues with colonialism and its effects today. The ‘man at the top’ will not even understand that Africa’s poverty today, was solely due to British slavery and colonialism of innocent lives. Prior to European exploits, Africa was a once prosperous continent with kingdoms; Kush, Aksum, Oyo and Mali, and rulers such as: ¹¹ Mansa Musa (1280-1337, King of the Mali empire with wealth that is “indescribable”) (BBC NEWS), hence, one can only wonder what the future of Africa would have been, as Africa was likely ¹² “more developed than Europe” (Medium) before the 1500s; which was coincidentally the rise of the European slave trade. Ultimately, it all comes down to responsibility. Germany had to take responsibility for something that not all of its citizens partook in, however, the whole economy suffered. Whereas, Britain (and other European powers); being the dominant forces in the world, will not accept being held to account, causing them to justify the actions of their ancestors and deem those actions as ‘heroic’.
In conclusion, this short essay is written simply to raise awareness of the flaws within the British political and educational system, and to provide steps to amend them. This article has not even touched on the systemic racism and misogyny expressed by the British Metropolitan police force; from Stephen Lawrence in 1993 to ‘ChildQ’ in 2020.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
¹ Parkinson, Justin. Why is Cecil Rhodes such a controversial figure? BBC News, 1 April 2015, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32131829.amp
² Boycott-Owen, Mason; Penna, Dominic. PM unveils 'largest and most severe economic sanctions Russia has ever seen', The Telegraph, 24 February 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/02/24/boris-johnson-russia-ukraine-joe-biden-liz-truss-cobra/
³ Simpson, Victoria. Former British Colonies, World Atlas, 8 September 2020, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/former-british-colonies.html#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20last%20British,independence%20was%20Zimbabwe%20in%201980.
⁴ Blakemore, Erin. Germany’s World War I Debt Was So Crushing It Took 92 Years to Pay off, SKY History, 27 June 2019, https://www.history.com/news/germany-world-war-i-debt-treaty-versailles#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20of%20Versailles%20didn,or%20about%20%24269%20billion%20today
⁵ Lindsay, Frey. U.K. Immigration Bill Threatens Millions Of Ethnic Minority Britons’ Citizenship Rights, Forbes, 8 February 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/freylindsay/2022/02/08/uk-immigration-bill-threatens-millions-of-ethnic-minority-britons-citizenship-rights/?sh=7f14b3ff182d
⁶ Equality and Human Rights Commission. Race discrimination, Indirect discrimination, Equality and Human Rights Commission, 19 February 2020, https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/race-discrimination#types
⁷ Gruenbaum, Oren. Second-class refugees: Africans and Indians complain of racism as they try to flee Ukraine, Commonwealth Round Table, 10 March 2022, https://www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/general/eye-on-the-commonwealth/second-class-refugees-africans-and-indians-complain-of-racism-as-they-try-to-flee-ukraine/#
⁸ Olusoga, David. Black and British; A short, essential history, Chapter: Victorians, pg. 123, Macmillan Children’s Books 2020.
⁹ Woodcock, Andrew. Boris Johnson does not disown past comments on race, but repeats apology for offence caused, The Independent, 15 July 2021, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-piccaninnies-letterbox-apology-b1884677.html
¹⁰ Stone, Jon. Boris Johnson said colonialism in Africa should never have ended and dismissed Britain’s role in slavery, The Independent, 13 June 2020, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-colonialism-africa-british-empire-slavery-a9564541.html
¹¹ Mohamud, Naima. Is Mansa Musa the richest man who ever lived? BBC News, 10 March 2019, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47379458
¹² Korkor, Francis. Why has Africa been less developed than Europe and Asia throughout human History? Medium, 22 July 2020, https://medium.com/mother-afrika/why-has-africa-been-less-developed-than-europe-and-asia-throughout-human-history-a95c027acb07#:~:text=Africa%20has%20not%20always%20been,Europe%20in%20terms%20of%20development.