Racism 9

Germany is now to be regarded as a colonial power and is therefore in a position to propose a conference in Berlin. Our country will be heard at this important congress aimed at laying the foundations of future government for these vast territories.

Christian Kopp/Berlin Postkolonial (2009): "Im Geiste guten gegenseitigen Einvernehmens" - Bismarcks Berliner Afrika-Konferenz.

Kaiser Wilhelm I (1797-1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and the first German Emperor from 1971.

The Berlin Conference was convened on November 15, 1884, at the invitation of the German Empire and the French Republic. This conference is uniquely scandalous as a historical event, in that through it, an entire continent was divided up amongst mostly Western countries, without the participation and even knowledge of its African inhabitants. Those who participated in it were twelve European countries, the USA and the Ottoman Empire. However, the colonisation, dispossession, enslavement, murder and forced labour of people in Africa had begun much earlier. This colonial policy led to significant economic enrichment for those who participated, especially within Europe. Thus today's prosperity and wealth in Europe cannot be discussed without addressing the imperialist (post)colonial politics that persist into the present.

*Walter Rodney (1975/2012): How Europe underdeveloped Afrika. Cape Town: Pambazuka Press.

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