Essay On African American Imperialism

I was arguing with my British friends one day about the British Empire and how it impacted the world we live in. They argued it was for the good thing but it also had negative effects. I argued against this. Colonization or as I call it ’legal theft’ was a catastrophe. People deserve to rule themselves. But why was it able to happen? Colonized Africans were exploited and the significant changes that their colonial powers brought were thought to solely positively but many of these negative changes are still effecting Africa today.

Lack of unity is something the colony powers created in Africa. The colonial powers divided the continents into countries in the Berlin Conference, of whom don’t share a common language. This mentality was “put them all them together they are savages.” A lack of unity is the root of a lot of civil unrest in African nation, is mainly due to this ignorant ideology. Tribalism between different ethnic groups are retained in many African nations.

The Western countries use of African in combat especially the world wars and tore families apart. Many may argue it also tore western families apart too but no in same way. African were sanctioned into entering war while European families were pressured into entering wars. A major difference in
the treatment of African solider and European solider was that if had died in action families would be sent letter. Africans would wait for years with no reply. “A dead child is better than a lost child.”

My grandmother taught me many thing about colonial Africa. Her action taught me many things, my grandmother was in the car with my mum and me. My mum was driving slowly and we need to be somewhere. Then my grandmother started saying “(flies are biting the tire).” Which is a way of saying move faster. I began to laugh due to the irony that my grandmother was encouraging my mum to drive more dangerously. Although she was peaceful and humble, she had an edge to her. She was bold when she need to be and I admired her for that.

Abeokuta is an ancient beautiful town in Nigerian. All house remained as the colonial power had left it. Due to lack of sunlight and the increasing amount trees makes the town look almost black and white which adds to its scenery. This was where my grandmother was born, the world she knew so well but she wanted more than that. My grandmother although coming from a poor background, made sure she got her degree. Then she was among 15% of women in Nigeria who were literate. Grandma Josey, soon became seamstress due to the fact she had to join the war effort. After the allies were declared victorious, she remained a seamstress. Grandma was literate, so was able to speak the English language to an advance level. She quickly rose up in society and soon earned the name “Cash Madam”.

I remember one day that I was in a car with my grandmother and my uncle were on our way to Abeokuta. I was about 6 or 7, we had been on the motor way for hours, being the impatient child I was I began to cry because I was hungry. Grandma and I went to the filling station to get food and my uncle went to the latrines. When we were done the car was being towed. We had to go to the car park to get it. The worker there said we had to pay a fine. He assumed my grandmother was illiterate as it was common for elderly women to not have gone to school. Ignorantly the man told my uncle the bad news. My grandmother went along with act of being uneducated and began crying saying she couldn’t afford it. She screamed, yelled and created a havoc. As result of this the man reluctantly begged my grandma to get up but she refused. So he finally let us have our car free of charge to avoid more embarrassment from my grandmother.

That was the only time I ever saw my grandma lie or behave irrationally. Till this day, I cannot comprehend why my grandmother attempted to prove the guy right. Why was my grandmother irrational behavior justified because she believed to be illiterate, why do we expect people who don’t have a formal or western idea of an education to behave illogically. Our ancestors were what we would call illiterate but they held themselves with poise, pride and dignity. We accept that African who remain uneducated are savages but will our standard be determined by aliens?

Although my grandmother is dead, her memories and words of encouragement are engraved in the depths of my soul. Writing about colonization brought a renaissance of her to me again. My grandmother taught me something that anyone can make it. All they need is hard work and determination. Grandma was determined to be somebody, so she was. I am determined to be someone, so I will be somebody. Africa is determined to be great, we will get there with triumph.

Another lesson my grandmother taught was “education is the witchcraft of the European.” The socialist African revolutionary Julius Nyerere was asked by a reporter while he was fighting for independence. “If the black has witchcraft why don’t they use against the white man.” Julius Nyerere replied “I don’t know.” Witchcraft is something that has been sacred to Africans for century. Education is thought to be sacred to Europeans by many Africans. This was a misleading idea that my grandmother put in my head.

The answer to the question at the beginning why was it to happen, the low literacy rate in African is what is condoning and condoned Western imperialism in Africa and many regions of Asian.
My grandma opinion of education is evident in many place in Africa is accepted as the norm. This mentality of Africa seeing education as privilege bestow on Europeans has held us back for years. I believe this why the West has exploited due to the mentality we have given ourselves that we are inferior to the European is untrue and highly inaccurate. “Education is not a way to escape poverty, it is a way of fighting it”- Julius Nyerere once said. This not financial poverty but poverty of the knowledge and
understanding.