The passing on of queen Elizabeth II has brought to the limelight the deleterious effects of decades of colonialism. Notably,these opinions have been fundamentally passed through the social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. A section of the members of the former colonies came out in large numbers to voice their anger and contempt at the monarchy for their actions during the colonialism epoch. The anger stems from different actions with some blaming her late majesty for the latter parts of chaotic periods just before granting of independence while others pin the entire colonial saga on her as a member of the monarchy who had the chance but did not apologize nor pay the colonial reparations. Notwithstanding,it is important to note that there are dissenting voice among the colonized who support the late queen and vehemently place the blame on the leaders of the colonized for not making things better after colonization. They admonish the leaders for effecting little change even after sixty years of independence. Even though it is justified to blame the leaders for their part in the post colonial instability, it is only right that the colonizers contribution to the current situation is known and put to light.
First,the entire process of colonialism did not only affect the economic and social aspect of life of the colonised,it also affected the psychological and intellectual aspects. The utter dehumanization,the brutal conditions in the concentration camps,the persistent whipping of local leaders,the desecration of religious shrines and political authorities just to mention a few had a lasting impact on the local population. The forced labour, victimization of one’s family,rape of wives in front of family members. These atrocities experienced are not easily wished away even if one wanted to. These atrocious and dehumanizing acts had an everlasting psychological impact on the adults who passed them down to their offspring. The heavy burden is still carried by a majority of the people. Apparently,they affect the brain and recovering from it require an intense, focused and rigorous healing process. These kinds of psychological traumas are stored in the subconscious and time after time could lead to person becoming more and more susceptible to violence for trivial . Frantz Fanon who experienced it first hand while treating freedom fighters in Algeria documents it thoroughly in his book The Wretched of the Earth. Worthy to note, education of the indigenous people was not prioritized by the colonial authorities and very few people attained primary and secondary education while a handful scaled the dizzying heights of university education. Post independent governments thus were almost unable to rule because of lack of qualified personnel and the uneducated mass who were still steeped in their traditional ways. This simply means that starting point was terrible. Colonists came up with racist scientific research findings to support their lack of focus on indigenous people’s education. Researchers such as Dr. Carother and professor Porot came up with studies to support the notion that the colonized population were lobotomized, lacking or were not using the frontal lobe of the brain. Such studies cemented the racism experienced today. The governments in colonizing powers funded such studies and accepted their findings which were used to tighten the grip on the colonies and increase the level of oppression. One of the biased studies was done in Kenya during the Mau Mau fight for independence. It was only after the late queen ascended to power that the state of emergency was declared in Kenya and millions sent to concentration camps and tortured,raped, murdered and forced to work in labour camps. So yes,she is responsible and did not apologize for her seventy years in power. Heads of African heroes are still in museums across United Kingdom. The place of the indigenous person in the society was downgraded to the lower rungs no matter the economic status, educational qualification and career. The systemic desecration of indigenous religious places of worship and demonization also affected the social structure of the society. The effects of such acts linger longer than expected. These religious institutions took years and years to build but we’re destroyed in a matter of few years. The core of the society was torn apart. Forced labour and taxation have left an indelible mark in our modern societies. Labour was not well paying and was a form of repression. A large of amount of the earnings was given back to the government in form of forced taxation and families left desolate with hunger and poverty. Hordes of people left their own homes and flocked to big towns to find work leading to creation of slums and the unprecedented high levels of unemployment in towns . Crime levels of skyrocketed. Remember,these were satisfied people living comfortably before the coming of the white men with abundant food, living in tandem with nature. So it’s evident that the monarchy,her late majesty included,have a large role to play in the situations colonised countries face today. They left but the impacts of their actions remain to haunt the colonised forever. The blames,she is accosted with are sufficient. If she really wanted to right the wrongs she committed,she would have since she had the power and the resources, but no, she didn’t. The severed heads of African heroes still decorate British museums together with artefacts stolen from all over the world. She didn’t endeavor to return them. Reparations for slave traders were paid until 2015 but the slaves themselves were never compensated for the torture. The British government still try to dictate the economic, social and political trajectories of the colonised countries. Going against them is disastrous both for the country and it’s leaders. They never left.
Anonymous 