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Dutch king makes historic apology for his country’s colonial past
(www.politico.eu)
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this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2023
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When I first read this comment, I thought "for sure, not black and white. This fella says there's 'incredibly positive changes and advancements' "
Then I tried to think of one positive change or advancement that colonialism brought about. I'm sorry, my lemon, I'm calling BS. Honestly, the best thing I could come up with was "a bunch of bananas for 79¢" and frankly, that industry is horrifying.
Yuval Harari’s “Sapiens” has some good perspectives on this issue. I recommend you read it. Then check out some of the cited sources.
You can do better than that. Sell the book to me, what are some perspectives?
I've visited indian residential schools in Canada, stood before the limestone blocks upon which slaves were displayed for trade in Virginia, and have seen the ecologic destruction caused by open-pit copper mining rural N America. These impact my view of colonialism. You've gotta give me something more than, "there's one book you haven't read that will change everything"
Slave trade, for one instance, wasn’t happening solely because of colonialism. It was happening in Africa long before it became apart of the colonial operation. It has a long history and it’s not one tied exclusively to colonialism.
As for the residential schools, that’s some fucked up shit, no doubt. I don’t know the history of Canada and how all that came about. But the interaction and history of European settlers with North American natives (which once were from the Middle East or Africa and walked over through Serbia and crossed the land bridge to Alaska) is long and complicated. It was not purely one of one person oppressing another at all times.
The oppressor/oppressed narrative that is so popular in left wing ideologies today is a product of Foucault and its subsequent propagation amongst the post modernists. It’s popular in many circles in academia, but it’s not the only narrative, nor is it a perfectly true narrative.
Anyway, I enjoyed Sapiens a lot. I thought it gave more nuance into the complexities of colonialism.