WeeklySA_AdminDEVELOPMENT: The colonial legacies of oppression entrenched systemic racism and fuelled inequality
By Monk Nkomo
The colonial legacies of oppression have entrenched systemic racism, widened global wealth gaps and fuelled inequality – structures that must be dismantled to correct the historical wrongs that still shaped our world today.
This sentiment was shared by about 20 experts from the African continent and its global diaspora at the recent Dekoloniale Berlin Africa Conference – a decolonial counter-version of the 1884/5 Berlin Africa Conference 140 years ago – where they called on European governments to address their colonial past and ongoing impacts.
The experts discussed, amongst others, the issue of reparations and how the legacies of historical injustices were linked to systemic racism and global inequality. They also called on European countries for the return of what was stolen from African communities. This could include land, objects or the remains of their ancestors.
‘’Colonialism, enslavement, the slave trade and their ongoing legacies remain largely unaccounted for by European states and others who are responsible’’, said Rym Khathraoui, Amnesty International’s racial justice researcher.
Those affected by colonialism were calling for accountability and acknowledgement of the historical injustices of European colonialism and its impacts on human rights in line with European governments’ obligation under the international human rights law.
Representatives from Africa and people of African descent came together at the conference to reflect on the history and lasting impacts 140 years after the opening of the 1884/5 Berlin Africa Conference, where European powers expanded their colonial reach across the African continent.
Civil society organizations working on the legacies of colonialism in the world, including its ongoing impact on human rights, also joined the recently-held conference. The experts included the award-winning UK broadcaster, Gary Younge, Pumla Dineo Gqola, the South African academic, award-winning writer and gender activist, the Angolan artist, Kiluanji Kia Henda and the Cameroonian lawyer, Alice Nkom.
“It is important the Dekoloniale Berlin conference took place at the site that changed the world in many ways, powered by an enormous sense of entitlement which can never be fully returned,” said Gqola.
“The conversations around debt, human rights and reparations, even at the level of art and culture, the conversation of coloniality, is one that shows every aspect of how the EU is a power block. Going forward, I want to see a significant shift in the negotiation of states inside and out of the EU – and whatever that looks like needs to move beyond diplomacy, while conversations about reparations must be serious and move out of the realms of superficiality.”
The experts, either from the African diaspora or invited from countries affected by the 19 European powers represented in the 1884/5 conference, set out a 10-point list of demands including human rights, reparations, migration, economy, trade and anti-racism. For far too long, communities and individuals directly impacted by historical injustices , have been demanding reparations.
‘’ Reckoning with the European colonial legacies is not optional for European governments – it is an obligation under international human rights law,’’ according to Almaz Teffera, researcher on racism in Europe at Human Rights Watch.
As part of a wider Dekoloniale festival marking 140 years since the Berlin Africa Conference, African Futures Lab, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch organized a joint workshop to explore strategies for communities impacted by colonial legacies – and who continued to be affected today – to achieve justice and fulfilment of their human rights in line with European governments’ obligations under international human rights law.
“For far too long communities and individuals directly impacted by historical injustices have been demanding reparations, especially Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent,” said Khadhraoui.
The experts were of the view that European governments could no longer dismiss their call for reparations because they must be held accountable. ‘’ True reparatory justice is not just a step forward, it is a necessity for building a fair and equitable world rooted in racial justice’’, said Genevieve Kaninda, advocacy and policy officer at African Futures Lab.
‘’ The colonial legacies of oppression have entrenched systemic racism, widened wealth gaps and fuelled inequality. It is time to dismantle these structures and correct the historical wrongs that still shape our world today.’’
Based on experts’ interventions, participants at the workshop shared and exchanged reparations struggles they had experienced and obstacles to upholding communities’ rights. Participants noted the failure of meaningful consultations of affected communities in the Namibia-Germany negotiations process to address Germany’s colonial crimes in Southwest Africa and by the UK government in the context of its negotiations with Mauritius around sovereignty over the Chagos Islands..
European governments, the experts added, should embrace the need for victim-centred reparations processes that genuinely recognized and addressed the ongoing harms and losses of their historic actions over the years.
African Futures Lab recently released a report on the Metis children— children of mixed African and European ancestry — abducted by Belgium’s colonial administration. In the Great Lakes region, organizations concerned with the rights of Métis children were demanding concrete reparations measures from the Belgian state.
Five Métis women, who were forcibly taken during Belgium’s colonization of Congo, are pursuing legal action in Belgium against the Belgian state. They seek justice and reparations for crimes against humanity, with a ruling expected in early next month.
The far-reaching impacts of colonialism were manifold, with Amnesty International highlighting the impacts in a submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism , racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
DEMANDS BY AFRICAN EXPERTS:
• European governments to address their selective advocacy of human rights in their relations with the African continent based on political, economic and diplomatic interests;
• The need for European governments to adopt transformative actions of unconditionally recognizing systemic racism, inequalities and inequities;
• The need for fair and equitable trade and investment regimes between Africa and Europe;
• To consult with the African diaspora ;
• An end to the European Union externalization of its border which has created EU borders on African soil;
• The return of what was stolen from communities – whether land, objects or the remains of ancestors;
• Inclusive dialogue where African communities lead the conversation on their terms;
• The need for human rights;
• Demand for reparations, migration and economy
• The need for trade and anti-racism.
