Opinion: Changing racist narratives through George Floyd – By ROBERT NWOKORO
The statues of King Leopold II, Edward Colston and Christopher Columbus might have enjoyed their final standing ovation on earth few days ago before they were brought down by angry Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors. The BLM protest, one would say, is on the verge of rewriting African history, having stirred up a new awakening of black consciousness since the demise of George Floyd. The protesters had pulled down and defaced some racist monuments across Europe and America -a feat no one thought would be possible in contemporary history.
This is because, some of those that Western history presented to us as models, were in fact our own oppressors. The raging BLM protests which stemmed from the extra-judicial killing of George Floyd, have confirmed our fears that some of the most-talked-about European kingpins, were indeed despicable savages and racists.
Unfortunately, the black African people are far removed from reality. Their failure to convert this period of global empathy for black people and demand substantive reforms for the artificial colonial construct that is known as Africa, which is in fact, the largest symbol and climax of European racism and white supremacism, leaves me helpless to worry about the priorities of a black man.
As much as we condemn King Leopold II for his atrocities in Congo, atrocities of Columbus on native Americans and atrocities of Edward Colston for his role in slave trade, the determination of the BLM to obliterate statues of these eminent Europeans, is an indication that we can take the protest even further.
Therefore, I feel that this revolutionary protests will not be complete if the black Africans, to whom the bulk of this effort stand to benefit most, do not utilise this rare opportunity to address the vestiges of colonialism- Berlin Conference being the focal point.
‘Africa’, as we know, is the English version of the name, ‘Africanus’, the name of the Roman military general and strategist, Scipio Africanus, that conquered the Carthage Empire. It’s a name churned out from racist template and supremacist ideology. Facts attest that the name is not of indigenous African origin and was presented to us in a manner which depicts conquest and slavery.
Sadly too, the various African states with the exception of Ethiopia, are also vestiges of colonialism and racist conquests, whose boundaries and values are not only driven artificially by European interests, but also irreconcilable and heterogeneous. Oronto Douglas once described African Map as “boxes and squares” due to the obvious European interventions.
I therefore think that Africa, right now, stands a chance to erase and rewrite its own history using George Floyd’s death as a substantial background and, racism, as the narrative. While the world has for once, stood on our side, I think every right thinking person would not disregard the issue of revisiting Berlin Conference at this stage of our human development.
Pulling down statues of these renowned figures, who were in fact, disasters to humanity, is a step in right direction as the world strives to rebrand its image and extricate itself from the muds of racism. However, we might still be setting the ravenous tigers on the herd of sheep if we fail to carefully reorganise and restore societies borne out of racism and colonialism in Africa.
Pathetically, we have shown lack of solidarity amongst ourselves as black people. It’s for this same reason that only few of us stood firm for Floyd while a great many of us, in our egocentric individualism, went about their private businesses. No wonder not many of us could see the rare opportunity in the sight of Floyd’s death to rewrite our history. The world has offered us tremendous support but we are those not ready to grab the rare opportunity. It’s my prayer we never looked back after now to regret our failure to make use, the opportunities of today.
By:
Robert Nwokoro (LL.B)
Writer, Rights Activist