Colonialism's Bloodiest Legacy

Colonialism’s Bloodiest Legacy

There are 50 states in the United States of America, which means that there are 50 legally agreed-upon boundaries. Each of these boundaries was carefully drawn in a way that was most beneficial to the people living there, and to the country as a whole. However, because of colonialism, some countries weren’t given the option of choosing advantageous boundaries because their borders were assigned by a foreign nation. One such region, Africa, was assigned these kinds of borders, called superimposed boundaries, and is still suffering from the effects of them today. Due to the separation between the countries creating the boundaries and the country affected by it, superimposed boundaries tended to pay little attention to any previously existing boundaries, like any unofficial ones agreed upon by neighboring tribes. These superimposed boundaries have caused bloodshed and heartbreak, and not enough is being done to remedy the situation.

Superimposed boundaries forced tribes together and caused or furthered tensions between different tribes. When foreign countries split up Africa during the Scramble for Africa, “the colonial powers showed little regard for the natural boundaries of existing ethnic groups. Each colony encompassed multiple ethnic groups within its newly imposed territorial boundaries, and many ethnic nationalities were divided between two or more colonial entities” (Blanton). This disregard for boundaries already inherent within the tribal system is what led to such conflict between different ethnicities. If one country was mostly one ethnic majority, with an ethnic minority encompassed in the boundary, resentment would form on both sides. The majority would dislike the minority for being different than them, and the minority would fear the majority’s culture overpowering theirs.

In addition, these already present ethnic tensions were further strained by the actions of the colonists. According to Awoowe Hamza, a writer at the Huffington Post who often focuses on ethnic conflict in Africa, the colonists would often “select representatives from the smaller ethnic minorities that had grievances against the larger ethnic groups, and provide them with British education and then [install] them as the new colonial civil service and law enforcement” (Hamza). This led each ethnic group to view the other ethnicities, and not the colonizers, as its enemy. By pitting groups against each other, colonists ensured that the natives would be distracted from the real threat of colonization, and therefore easier to control. Colonizers conditioned the native population in a way that only served to worsen the issue by encouraging the tribes to define themselves and to form groups based on their ethnicity, which furthered the rift and hostilities between different groups. For example, Dr. Moses Ochonu, a professor of African History at Vanderbilt University, states that the British used “a divide-and-rule system that required sharp ethno-religious differentiation among Nigerians, made religion and ethnicity the preeminent markers of identity and pushed exclusionary identity politics into the political arena” (Ochonu). The constant pressure to stick with their own kind and to view others as outsiders, or threats, is part of what caused colonialism and superimposed boundaries to have such a lasting negative impact.

There has been a consistent push to find a solution to the constant conflicts plaguing Africa, but an effective solution has yet to be found. However, until the bloodshed is ended, the world cannot give up on finding a solution to colonialism’s bloodiest legacy.

Works Cited

Blanton, Robert, et al. “Colonial Style and Post-Colonial Ethnic Conflict in Africa.” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 38, no. 4, 2001, pp. 476–477. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/424898.

Hamza, Awoowe. “Ethnic Conflict: Colonialism's Never-Aging Offspring.” HuffPost UK, HuffPost UK, 27 Apr. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/awoowe-hamza/ethnic-conflict_b_4854220.html.

Ochonu, Moses. “The Roots of Nigeria's Religious and Ethnic Conflict.” Public Radio International, 10 Mar. 2014, www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-10/roots-nigerias-religious-and-ethnic-conflict.