Anti Colonialism in Africa
Anti Colonialism in Africa
When European countries went to Africa for various resources and control of land they greatly affected the natives that were there. Resentment grew in the hearts of Africans towards their imperial leaders and the only way they knew how to deal with it was with violence. When the Europeans finally left the people of Africa were free to live as they wanted but that did not mean things would get much better with their governments.
After years of being controlled by European colonists, the Africans or the “colonized” will not allow others to have power over them without a fight. According to Fanon, the colonists are in a position of envy because they have taken control and made their presence in Africa be viewed as supreme beings above the colonized. The colonized have rage built up inside them and when they have their chance they will strike on the colonists. It was written in Wretched of the Earth, that the colonized “is dominated but not domesticated. He is made to feel inferior, but by no means convinced of his inferiority. He patiently waits for the colonist to let his guard down and then jumps on him.” From this statement, the colonized man wants to get rid of the colonist because the colonist has attempted to make the colonized feel inferior and subservient. The colonized are stimulated by everything the colonists do to prove their superiority, but this fight will not be postponed forever. Eventually the colonized will outburst in a fit of rage because they are of the masses and in their eyes it is the only way to succeed in ridding their world of the colonists. The psychological factors of colonialism at first cause the colonized to release their violence in other ways besides upon the colonists. Colonized people will act obediently towards police and colonists, but a colonized man will “draw his knife” ready to fight if he receives any questionable look from another colonized man. Colonialism has caused the colonized ignore the fact that there are colonists among them and they continue to channel their anger towards one another. Another way the colonized forget about the colonists living in their land is through the belief in God. God is the reason that all things occur including evil things and the colonized understand that this is the way of God and they must accept the colonists. These are some of the ways colonialism has affected the colonized, but it only last for a certain amount of time. After being pushed up against the wall for a long time the colonized will eventually strike back and forget about channeling their rage in other ways.
Obasanjo