Stereotypes During The European Scramble For Africa

Documents two and three reveal the effort among Africans to react with diplomacy. In Document two, Ashanti leader Premph I rejects a protectorate status under British rule goes to great lengths not to offend “Her Majesty” and insists

During the European Scramble for Africa, in the early 20th century, Africans had a peaceful reaction with anti-imperialistic sentiments (docs. 2, 3, 4, and 7), peaceful actions through the approach of diplomacy (docs.1, 2, and 3) and also a rebellious anti-imperialistic reaction (docs. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) towards the Scramble for Africa.

The Scramble for Africa can easily be defined as the forced invasion and division of African countries among European superpowers. Those powers included Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and Belgium. Each superpower wanted control over a certain area on the continent and would do anything to ensure that their area remained in their best interest. To bring the conflicts to the forefront, the countries participated in the Berlin Africa Conference in 1884-1885. In this conference, the issues of Anglo-German relations and everybody’s control in Africa were discussed. As a result of the conference, European control began to overtake the African continent and imperialism became a giant part of the European mark. In his book, “Worlds of Color” W.E.B DuBois discusses the idea of whole colonial enterprise stating that the problem the world faces is the color line. This can easily be interpreted as Dr. DuBois giving the idea that if World, more specifically European superpowers stop viewing the color line and Africa’s color line as something less than them a lot of the world’s issues could be detected and fixed. But more importantly, Dr. DuBois is stating that without the Worlds of Color, European industrialization would not exist.

In the early 1880’s, the powers of Europe started to take control of regions in Africa and set up colonies there. In the beginning, colonization caused the Africans little harm, but before long, the Europeans started to take complete control of wherever they went. The Europeans used their advanced knowledge and technology to easily maneuver through the vast African landscape and used advanced weapons to take control of the African people and their land. The countries that claimed the most land and had the most significant effect on Africa were France, England, Belgium, and Germany. There were many reasons for the European countries to be competing against each other to gain colonies in Africa. One of the main reasons was that the

Between 1870 and 1914, European countries ceased about ninety percent of Africa. Native Africans faced political, military, and imperialism pressure from various European countries. After the end of the profitable slave trade in Africa, due to abolishing of slavery, Europeans explored for new guaranteed markets, and heavily profitable investments. In addition, European countries were under industrialization, the demand for raw materials heavily increased. Europeans as well faced power struggles with one another and competition for political influence in Africa. European power struggle ultimately lead to the “Scramble for Africa.” Europeans undertook the process of imperialism in Africa in the late 19th century by exercising political, economic, and military power on their African colonies. Some African leaders and societies welcomed Europeans in hopes to protect and develop their native land. Some African leaders and societies responded to European occupation by gathering resistance groups in attempt to fight off foreign imperialists.

There were attempts to rationalize the Scramble for Africa such as little knowledge of the region, the political implications, and the preciseness in distribution of supply that would come with separation into smaller “states”. Though there was “rationale” the 1884 Berlin Conference and Scramble for Africa can be seen as cultural genocide.

In a freezing class, two brilliant minds unlocked the fiery passion that is their talent one an artist the other a writer. Bringing to light a history long forgotten creating abstract thoughts arbitrary to our own. Komi Olaf the artist and Okey Ndibe the writer not only enlightening the class but also the world with each brush stroke and each word. Every creation stemming from the hands of these masters tell of issues at the heart of Africa from colonialism to existential dilemmas. Thru spoken word, hip-hop, art, music, poems and literature issues close at heart to the artists and to Africa are portrayed. This paper will focus on the art exhibit by Komi Olaf and Foreign Gods inc by Okey Ndibe as spoken by them during their discussion in the class on October 13th. Where the talks focused on the key course objectives being stereotypes, post-colonialism, youth culture, and resistance.

The sources of problems that Africans and their governments have had to face since independence are a result of their prior colonization. Imperialistic policies often promoted ethnic rivalries, unequal distribution of resources and wealth, and creating oppressive governments. After the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885, at which powerful European countries negotiated and formed claims to territories within Africa, marked the beginning of the ‘Scramble for Africa.’ The objective of the Berlin Conference was to reduce the possibility of conflict among European countries over territories in Africa. European’s conquered Africa because they wanted to increase their sphere of influence by acquiring empires. Africa has encountered conquest, colonization,

Stereotyping has lived in the human world for a long time. It is seen throughout our history. It was mainly recognized in Africa because of its unfamiliar culture. However, Africans are probably not aware of why their culture is not accepted.

A time of expeditious colonization of the African continent by European power is better known as ‘the scramble for Africa’. The European nations involved in the scramble were Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Portugal, and Italy. The economic, social, and military evolution Europe was going through at the time allowed for this to happen. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control. However, over time European rivalries intensified which caused a mad scramble to rule as much of the continent as possible. By 1914 the only states European nations did not control were Ethiopia and Liberia. (1) (Robert R. Edgar, George F. Jewsbur, Neil J. Hackett, Barbara S Molony, Matthew Gordan, Civilizations Past & Present - 12th Ed. - Vol. II (New York: Longman, 2007), 738) The scramble for Africa cannot be explained by just one cause. It looks indisputable that although the specific reasons that set forth the scramble were wide ranged throughout the continent the action was determined by a state of the expanding international economic and political rivalry caused by the unequal growth of industrial capitalism.

In the latter half of 1885 several European empires gathered together for a conference in Berlin. At this meeting of utmost importance, the various European powers laid claim to their African colonial territories, thus dividing the continent like a birthday cake among themselves. The new boundaries now united thousands of cultures, nations and ethnicities under the banner of white ethno-centricity. Thus began the final colonial dominion of Europe which would last well into the 20th century. Although the white minority has relinquished it?s stranglehold on Africa, the ramifications of hundreds of years of political dominion can be found throughout the continent. In 1962 during the heat of these

Throughout much of the 19th century, European powers used their financial wealth and technological advancements to colonize much of Asia and almost the entire continent of Africa, desire for more wealth and ambition after the Industrial Revolution led many European countries to look elsewhere for new markets, new natural resources, and new methods of production, Many nations looked to Africa as a source of raw materials and as a market for industrial products, this means that they are all looking for an uncivilized country which was “Africa”. As the slave idea developed, Europeans created a racist ideology which could be used to justify the way they feel about Africa, and how they think Africans were subhuman, uncivilised, and inferior to Europeans in every way, And as they are not classified as whites they think that they just are bought and sold and used for slavery, and the idea of slavery could not have continued without this ideology to justify slavery back in colonial times.The English had equated blackness of African with death and evil before they met any black people. Their first reaction to people with black skin was to assume that they were some form of devil or monster because of their skin color. From this, and from travellers’ tales, arose the stereotype of the African, as barbarous, prone to excessive sexual desire, lazy, untrustworthy and even cannibalistic, and this can be assimilated with the novel written by an African American novelist Mildred D.

The European colonization of Africa, also known as the Scramble for Africa, Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, occurred between the 1870s and 1900s, and was the invasion, occupation, colonization, and annexation of African territory by European powers during a period of New Imperialism. European control of the continent increased from 10 percent (1870) to 90 percent (1914), with only three territories, Saguia el-Hamra, which was later integrated into Spanish Sahara, Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent of Europe’s control. There were many reasons for the European colonization of Africa, including economic and political motives, with the Berlin Conference serving as a catalyst. Africans resisted the European invasions of their lands, with the two main methods of opposition were guerilla warfare and direct military engagement. European influence on Africa still remains today, though these influences are generally negative and hurt Africa’s overall development.

(Pieterse 1992: 227) says that, “The racism that has developed is not an American or European one, but a Western one”. With the global exportation of Western popular culture, it is no surprise that racist Western iconography and ideology have enjoyed immense popularity as well. The different components of Africa are stereotyped to be uncivilized due to the lack of technology. This causes Africa to be stereotyped as a victim, not only a victim of past transgressions of colonialism and slavery but a victim of illness and diseases which inflict penuriousness upon the land. Often in today's society Africa is portrayed as victim and by victimizing Africa this avails Africa overcome the post-colonial tropes of looking as people now visually examine

This chapter in Africans and Their History by Joseph Harris presents some of the roots of the stereotypes and myths about Africa in the past and for the most part are still held today. Harris discusses how the “greats” of history, geography, and literature starting a path of devaluation of Africans that writers after their time followed. Harris also denounced the language that these “greats” used to describe and talk about Africans. He asserts that this language inherently painted Africans as inferior and subhuman.