[Lon]

Originally Posted by David813

Colonialism greatly benefited whites. Colonialism drew boundaries all over the continent that were the catalyst for many bloody conflicts that continue today. The Belgian/French preference of Rwanda/Burundi's Tutsi tribe propelled that group to the top of the political and economic foodchain. The more numerous Hutu, whose roots in the region were much deeper were cast aside to menial jobs, housing, etc. We all know what happened in Rwanda in '94. Similar atrocities were played out in the Dem. Rep. of Congo, Somalia, several West African states and of course Uganda, where Idi Amin took power to avenge the treatment of his northern tribe by southerners.(preferred by their British masters.) The nomadic way of life for the north Africans was wiped out. Boundaries made up in Europe divided peoples, forced them to overgraze in one area and flood the capitals with refugees. In 1970 Nouakchott, Mauritania (the coastal capital) had a population under 70,000. The desertification of the rest of this very large country has swelled the city pop. to just under 500,000. The conditions make Haiti look glamorous. After finally using Africa as a playground during the Cold War, installing and supporting brutal dictatorships (such as Mobutu, Taylor, and others) that further drove these countries to ruin. U.S. financing of the terrorist Renamo guerilla war in Mozambique killed thousands and ended only 10 years ago. It took Cuba to defend the people of Angola from genocidal Jonas Savimbi and his masters in apartheid South Africa. Their defeat at Cuito Cuanavale was a victory for all Africans. Colonialism was great for white racists. It has spelled doom for generations of Africans whose homelands have been used, depleted and forgotten by the the developed world. History won't forgive us.

Care to speculate on what Africa might be like today if the ALL the colonial powers never set foot on the continent?