British Ethnic Legacy in Africa - Essay Example

? British Ethnic Legacy in Africa It is unequivocal that European colonialism had profound, enduring, and widespread consequences on contemporary African states and the major legacy of the retrospective incursion are the recent and prevailing ethnically conflicts. The territorial boundaries that the British put up and used to divide the continent were the foundation on which the myriad of ethnically charged political violence that came to plague Africa (Jackson & Rosberg 179). As the partitioned the continent, their primary ambition was to share the resources among each other and they gave no consideration to the centuries old ethno-cultural distribution patterns that were necessary for sustaining stability in Africa. This paper contends that problem of tribalism and negative ethnicity that has dominated the African social cultural political and economic spheres giving rise to intense rivalry, divisions and frequently civil strife is predominantly a legacy of British colonialism. Using their superior economic and political position, they created deep-seated divisions that destroyed the social- political harmony in Africa since even after they left the class inequalities and negative feelings that some communities had towards others who collaborated with colonialist remained to fuel future conflict (Blanton, David & Brian 474). Nigeria exemplifies the divisive nature of ethically motivated politics; therefore, British colonialist divided the country with the intention of making it easier to control in the typical divide and rule policy capitalizing on the preexisting ethnic and religion differences (Amadife & Warhola 533). The British were gradually withdrawing from the country and with them the control they had exerted over the different groups; however, the disunity that served the British so well in marginalizing and effectively making it impossible for the tribe to unify against them became a cause for civil conflict. The long run effects are evident in the civil war of 1967- 1970 when the nations was almost split asunder as communities fought form behind the artificial boarders the British cleaved into their country. Even today, many insecurity problems facing the country are due to ethic conflicts which can be traced back to the British Imperialist’s actions. In addition, another example can be seen in the infamous Rwanda genocide of 1990, as aforementioned, elevating certain communities over others to effectively practice indirect rule was a tactic the British widely employed, however the aftermath of the divisions which usually ran deep has often been catastrophic in posterity (Blanton, David & Brian 478). While it would appear that the conflict was a primarily matter of tribal issues with no connection to the retrospective colonial past, critical examination of the events leading up to the period implies otherwise. Since their takeover of the country in the late 19th century, the British had taken advantage of existing divisions between the two tribes and by sideling the Hutu and elevating the Tutsis who the deemed as more civilized than the Hutus (Wa Wamwere 142). Decades after independence, the Hutu used the fact that the Tutsis had been loyal to the British in retrospect to massacre them and strengthen their position as legitimate leaders of the country, the Exiled Tutsis came back to try to salvage the situation and this resulted in a full scale war to end the aftermath and the British who had sowed the seeds of the bloody divisions were nowhere to quell the situation. Opponents of this papers claim will likely claim that not all African colonies degenerated in violence and ethnic politics, to this end, they may cite Tanzania, Liberia and several other states that remained peaceful. Therefore, according to them, accusing the British of being responsible for Africa’s present and past problems is unreasonable and the situation would probably be much worse had it not been for their intervention in the first place. In addition, attributing the problems of Africa to the colonial period may be attacked as an escapist position arguing that Africa is responsible for her own problems and the British colonialist actually helped to civilize and develop the content. This argument is quite reasonable based on the fact that Africa had been divided among ethnic lines even before the British came and intertribal wars were commonplace as the natives fought for resources, like cattle land and sometimes women and slaves. The British had given Africa education, built infrastructure such as road and hospital and put in place transport and communication networks without which Africa would probably still rightfully deserve the title the dark continent. Nevertheless, while conceding the opposition is correct to some point, an examination of the colonial legacy on a global perspective will show a pattern of violence following the withdrawal of the British; in America, it was followed by the civil war. Although the factors were probably more internal than external, in India it was also followed by a bloody civil war that saw the country hewn between India and Pakistan. While it is true some African country were not left divided, it was because their leaders such as Tanzania’s, Julius Nyerere recognized the potential impact of British policies on the country and took deliberate steps to eliminate them. This included banning any state record officers from collecting or recording data about and individuals’ ethnic background (Which the British used to do) and thus effectively alienated the tribal identity form the nationalist ideology. Most of the other countries that did not have the foresight for such actions invariable found themselves embroiled in ethically charged political crisis at some point, some more serious than others. While it is true that the British developed the continent, they did so in an inequitable manner marginalizing some communities and after independence a lot of the ethnic conflict was a result of different communities fighting for equal access to the resources the British claim developed and civilized Africa. In conclusion, Africa as a continent has undergone a plethora of social political challenges linked to ethnicity and it would be unrealistic to assume that the colonialists are solely responsible for the continent’s challenges. Nevertheless, the impact they had on the preexisting social cultural and ethical relationships and systems in Africa was undeniably among the major lynch pins of the ethnic based political and social crises faced in the country today. By taking cognizance of the genesis problem that is tribalism, the continent can take steps to remedy the situation in order to ensure the bloody inheritance of negative ethnicity is disentangled from the social-cultural, economic and political space in Africa. Works Cited Amadife, Emmanuel and Warhola, James “Africa’s Political Boundaries: Colonial Cartography, the OAU, and the Advisability of Ethno-Nationalist Adjustment.” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society. (1993). vol. 6, no 4: 533-555. Blanton, Robert, David, Mason and Brian, Athow. “Colonial Style and Post-Colonial Ethnic Conflict in Africa”. Journal of Peace Research .(2001). Vol. 38, No. 4 pp. 473-491 Jackson, Robert and Rosberg, Carl .“Popular Legitimacy in African Multi-Ethnic States.” Journal of Modern African Studies. (1984), vol. 22, no. 2 177-198. Wa Wamwere, Koigi.. Negative Ethnicity. New York: Seven Stories Press. 2003. Print. Read More