Colonialism's Destructive Impact: A Comprehensive Analysis

Tunde Obadina, an African author, clearly states that there is no debate about the destruction that colonialism caused. The facts presented about this issue are irrefutable; the Belgian Congo, the British Protectorate of Uganda, and European imperialism in the Americas all perspicuously exemplify this idea. In each of these cases, the ethnocentric views of the European colonizers resulted in the mistreatment of the indigenous peoples, which further led to change in the political, economic, and social elements of these nations. Colonialism in Africa and the Americas--among other countries--was ultimately a negative part of each country’s past, present, and future. During the scramble for Africa, a period when Africa was split up and colonized

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Spanish on a quest to find Asia, but ended up finding the Americas instead. The explorer was greeted by the Indigenous people who had already settled the land; however, this didn’t stop Columbus and his crew to begin the process of colonization. This ethnocentric point of view damaged the Indigenous in countless way. They were susceptible to diseases brought by the Europeans, and they were also kicked off of their land, which meant that they needed to change their way of life; both these resulted in the depopulation of Indigenous peoples. Assimilation was a major problem as well: the Europeans believed that their culture was superior to any other, so they made an effort to change other cultures to be more like them. To achieve this, residential schools were built. At these schools, children were banned from doing anything related to their own culture, including speak their own language and practicing traditions. In addition, missionaries from Europe came to convert indigenous peoples to

Studies have shown that Aboriginals have a higher chance of becoming addicted to different substances than non-Aboriginals due to the isolation that residential schools caused. “Addicts are made, not born, and the most common precursors are early childhood privation, neglect and abuse. For several generations, Canada's native children have been far more likely to suffer grinding penury, abuse and childhood substance addictions than non-natives” (3). Residential school also resulted in the loss of many cultures. Racism also continues; people of colour are constantly being judged according to their ethnicity. For example, Michael Brown, a black teen in Ferguson, Missouri, was shot and killed by a cop, despite the fact that he was unarmed and posing no threat (4). This, along with other similar cases, has caused an uproar of people stating how different ethnic groups need their rights to be more protected. Aboriginals are still fighting for their rights, and are still asking for apologies--and European imperialism is to blame. From these examples, it is clear to see the negative impact of colonialism. European imperialism in the Congo, Uganda, and the Americas was detrimental to the future’s of the native people, and also, in some cases, was detrimental to the development of the country due to the effect it had on economic, political, and social parts of these nations. Anyone who ultimately believes