From The Ramparts

The West Moves to Justify and Continue Its’ Imperialist Past

The West Moves to Justify and Continue Its’ Imperialist Past

PARIS, Jul 5 (IPS) - France and other European countries are claiming, either officially or through historians, that colonialism was a positive thing. In a law passed on Feb. 23, the French parliament, dominated by President Jacques Chirac's right-leaning Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), demanded that teachers at schools all over the country and textbooks emphasise ”the positive role (played by) France overseas, especially in the Maghreb region” in North Africa. This move sparked debate among French historians, politicians, teachers, and representatives of former colonies, especially Algeria. At first, the Algerian government considered calling a special joint session of the two chambers of parliament to discuss the issue and formulate a response to the French claims. But President Abdelaziz Bouteflika decided against the special session. Instead, the two chambers will review the issue separately and adopt a resolution condemning ”the crimes of colonisation.”

As the G8 hypocritically and disingenuously meets to discuss global warming and African debt it was revealed that France and several other colonial powers have instigated movements to glorify and justify their predatory, exploitative and brutal legacy of imperialism rapine and colonialism. France passed a law earlier this year mandating French teachers and textbook publishers “emphasis the positive role played by France overseas especially in the Maghreb region in North Africa”. In AmeriKKKa, Hollywood will continue its long tradition of glorifying war, genocide and larceny with two new television series one on HBO called Rome and the other on ABC called empire. Taken together it is clear both these countries and their European counterparts have no intention of changing or altering their approach to the rest of the world. It is almost funny that France and the US still are in delusion and denial about the virulent violence, rapine, degradation and victimization they imposed upon the world. In their dementia the colonial powers like France Britain and the United States refuse to see themselves as heirs to the behaviors of the immediate ancestors the barbaric Normans, Anglos, Saxons, Jutes, Pics and other Germanic tribes that pillaged and plundered their way across Europe and subsequently the whole world wrecking havoc, displacement and disruption on a scale unseen in human history.
Response to the French law has been predictable. No self-respecting nation who liberated themselves from the ruthless savagery of colonialism would sit back and passively acquiesce to the Europeans delusional and insensitive attempts to rewrite history at the expense of the truth and reality. A former freedom fighter in Algeria Bachir Boumaza who was tortured by the French responded angrily to France’s new policy, “praising colonialism, a system universally condemned, cannot contribute to curing the historical conflict it gave birth to. Colonialism is, above all, the humiliation of human beings. It is sad that France is not able to put an end to its colonialist mentality.” Others have likened France’s behavior to that of the Nazi Germany. Opponents of the move in France have also decried the intent and consequences of the policy, “In Paris, leftist parliamentarians, such as socialist senators Bariza Khiari and Jean-Pierre Michel, have called the new efforts by the French government to revise colonialism's historical record ‘a crime against memory.’ In a joint declaration released in late June, Khiari and Michel denounced the French law as ‘an unacceptable, unprecedented provocation, which insults the historical facts and the victims of colonialism alike, and also historians and researchers who have condemned colonialism.’ Similar positions were adopted by historians and teachers. The French association of history and geography teachers dismissed the law as ‘a call to write an official version of history.’ History professor Francois Durpaire told IPS: ‘It's as if the government had asked mathematicians to teach that two plus two equals five.’ ” This is how the right wing rolls,, it always moves to glorify the ugly, defend the indefensible and promote their barbaric legacy as the norm.
There is a saying “there is nothing hidden that won’t be revealed”; in this case the thievish and genocidal nature of the French and their G8 counterparts will eventually and ultimately be unmasked in their actions. For example while the G8 talks about African debt relief, the usurious policies of their economic shock troops, the IMF, World Bank and US-AID systematically place so called Third World countries deeper in bondage to their former colonial master’s. These agencies’ mandated larcenous and unbalanced trade policies coupled with the already predatory capitalistic economic system, ensure Third World countries will remain dependant, underdeveloped and impotent for generations. Thus the global race war continues! Just as the French want to defend their colonial legacy and the AmeriKKKans want to promote their invigorated imperialist agenda, those of us who advocate freedom, self-determination and the end to global white supremacy must use whatever means necessary to ensure we accomplish our ends.

-30-

posted by Junious Ricardo Stanton @ 6:20 AM