Time to liberate our minds from the shackles of the oppressor
AMERICAN hip-hop artist Kanye West is a polarising figure. At the best of times, he has been controversial. Notable among the controversies he has been embroiled in is when he baldly stated on TV that former US President George W Bush hated black people.
Each time, Kanye has pushed the envelope. Many of his fellow celebrities have come to his defence, but this time, however, it seems as though he has gone too far.
Not long after he came out in support of right-wing US leader Donald Trump in May, he also insultingly stated that slavery seems to have been a choice for black people in the colonial era because it lasted for 400 years.
There is nothing good about what Kanye or Trump, for that matter, have said or done. The sad state of affairs is not the ludicrous or outlandish statements by Trump or Kanye. It is easy to reject Trump and what he represents but what about those organisations, political parties and countries, claiming to be fighting global oppression but affiliate themselves with Trump’s perspective?
In a weird way, Kanye’s rejection of the Democrats seems to encourage us to question the “progressive” countries in the political North and their record in fighting against global oppression and inequality.
Can we truly say that African and Latin Americans and other minority groups’ lives were better off under a Democrat-led government? Or did the African continent substantially benefit when Obama was in the White House?
The challenge the world faces is not just Donald Trump.
The hidden challenge is that even those countries in the political North that present themselves as defenders and advocates of the poor and oppressed are actually direct beneficiaries of systemic global inequality. Let’s take France, for instance.
Its president, Emmanuel Macron, is smooth, suave and sophisticated. He is the so-called George Clooney of world politics. He reflects France, a country always seemingly open to change. France changed the world with the 1789 French Revolution with its call for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. It chose not to support the Americans in their invasion of Iraq. African and Middle Eastern culture is infused in French popular culture, film, and literature.
They are the current football World Cup champions, with a national team consisting of a majority of players with backgrounds immersed in immigration.
The French economic system is unapologetically a social welfare one, and at various times in their history, the French have elected a socialist president.
However, the legalised oppression of former French colonies in Africa by France should be regarded as criminal.
France allowed independence for its 14 African colonies, as long as they agreed to the Colonial Pact.
In the 2013 edition of the New African, Professor Mamadou Koulibaly, Speaker of the Ivorian National Assembly, outlined the elements of this pact.
France organised its colonies into the “French colonies of Africa (CFA)”, with a system of compulsory solidarity. Essentially, France agreed to back the currencies of its former colonies in West and Central Africa. But in return those countries had to pay a high price… 65% of their foreign currency reserves had to be placed in the French Treasury, with a further 20% being kept back for financial liabilities, and therefore the countries only had access to 15% of their own money.
If they needed more they had to borrow their own money from France at commercial rates. France has a preordained right to buy the natural resources in those countries. Only, if France opts not to purchase, can it be sold to other countries. Similarly, with government contracts, French companies have the right of first refusal, and other companies are only considered if the French reject the proposed contracts.
In economic terms the former colonies are vassal states of France.
We should be careful, though, not to judge our fellow African countries harshly or disregard the injustices of slavery they went through.
These had to pay a particular price for political freedom. If we examine our own political independence, I am sure we will also find a set of unfair agreements that ensured that the economic and social sectors didn’t mirror the changes in the political arena. Policies and posture of countries like France reveal the complex battle for a better, just world.
We must not fall into the trap of simplistically caricaturing the challenges, but be honest about the complexities and difficulties.
Inequality is legalised within the system, based on a historical tradition of racial chauvinism. Recall the words of Marcus Garvey, immortalised by Bob Marley in Redemption Song, “emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds”.
We ought to recognise how meekly we accept inequality and thereby ensuring its legitimacy.
Steve Biko advised us that “the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed” therefore it is a good time to liberate that weapon.
Williams is a social commentator and activist.
Shannon Ebrahim is on leave. She returns to The Global Eye next week.