Africa, And The Lies Europeans Told

Cartoon depicting Belgian King Leopold II cutting up a pumpkin (representing the Congo) at the Berlin Conference of 1884
Emeka Ochiagha
August 5, 2021

When the Europeans came to Africa, they came with the worst intentions. They wanted to find reasons to justify their violence, and their abhorrent desire to colonize other human beings. 

These are the biggest lies told about Africa.

They believed Africa was uncivilized, and that African people could not civilize themselves.  Europeans' only measure of civilization was their own – THEIR standards of how people should live was the only one that mattered to them.

By a fair standard? Many African societies were MORE civilized than Europe throughout history.

Europeans believed that Africa needed to be indoctrinated into Christianity. This was bizarre, considering that the prototype of Christianity came from Egyptian mythology. Europeans were using white-washed African spirituality to justify their violence!

The colonizers would have you believe that Africa was nothing, and provided nothing to the world. But long before colonization and the transatlantic slave trade, there was merchant trade happening between African empires and the wider world. To this day, white museums have stolen art taken from African palaces.

Europeans used propaganda to depict Africa as “uncivilized” as a means to justify their violence. The more we unravel their lies, the more we truly see our true dignity both in the past and present.

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