Europe’s bloody Congo: Reparations for Africa, If not now, then when?

April 21, 2014

Gregory Boyce* “Every family has secrets, however there are some secrets that are so vile and so corrupt that generationally, it’s absolutely forbidden for anyone in the family to ever speak about them or even acknowledge that they exist for fear of immediate retribution”. – TheodoreW. Most people who have studied world history would agree that the unrepentant exploitation, desolation and rape of the continent of Africa for its’ precious minerals, presumed unlimited natural resources and its’ abundant supply of Black slaves by self-proclaimed “Christian” European monarchs, is without a doubt the “dirty little not-so-secret” scandal that is seldom spoken aloud in European parliaments, world cathedrals and inside European royal chambers. Attorneys who are well versed in the complexities of international-criminal-law and are sworn to represent the best interests of their super-elite clientele, fully understand that the slightest admittance of guilt from their clients on the indictment of committing genocide against Black Africans past or present, would “In a New York minute” unleash an avalanche of demands for financial reparations from every living descendant of Black Africans whose ancestors were subjected to centuries of displacement, stolen identity, torture, theft, rape, slavery and murder. There’s an old saying,...“Follow the money and you will clearly understand what is happening”. A mock trial for crimes committed against humanity A definition of the word Bastard:

1. A person born of unmarried parents; an illegitimate child
2. A vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked person or entity

For nearly 600 years, the past and present monarchical / centralized governments of Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, England, Italy, Germany, and last but not least, their bastard nation,… “The United States of America”, are all figuratively and literally connected, intertwined and drenched in the spilt and splattered blood of incalculable millions of Black Africans. There is not one noteworthy post-Renaissance European / American precious metals stock exchange, marble edifice, bridge, canal, hospital, museum, botanical garden, architectural wonder or industrial revolution commerce that is not in one way or another connected to the plundering and rape of the continent of Africa and its people. Even the modern day cell phone cannot function without the conflict minerals that are mined in the Congo. If murder, rape, kidnapping and theft are all recognized as uncivilized transgressions worthy of trial in a righteous court of law, then why haven’t the governments and royal families of the aforementioned nations stood before an international tribunal and answered for their crimes past and current against humanity? Just imagine during the closing arguments of a mock trial, the lead prosecuting attorney looking into eyes of the jury, pointing at the representatives of the accused nations and asking, “How is it possible that an entire continent that was once wallowing in the deepest bowels of the Dark Ages suddenly and miraculously emerge in a relatively short period of time as a world power? Where did the treasure to build an enormous army, navy, fleet of merchant ships, exquisite palaces / cathedrals, and infrastructure come from? Did this newfound gold and silver simply fall from the sky like manna that fed the newly freed Israelites from their Egyptian captors? It’s a valid question that is answered in history books that were written by men who were handsomely paid to create a romanticized image / illusion of “empire building”. However, noticeably absent from the official “royal version” is the tale of how cunning and ruthless men withbetter weapons conquered and subjected millions of Black Africans and their descendants to a living hell. Absent are the stories of treachery, rape, theft, enslavement and murder that still resonate across four continents nearly six centuries years later. Absent from the royal version are the secret deals that was made between Rome, its Christian allies and the Monarchs who conspired to use Jesus Christ as their shield of protection as they went about their business becoming ostentatiously wealthy and pompous from the blood, sweat and tears of Black Africans who were nothing more than expendable “worker ants” in their increasingly growing empire. When questioned about their motives for establishing colonies in a foreign continent, the Monarchs and “Friends” responded by repeating the same rehearsed talking point of “Wanting to save Black African souls through Christ”. If the dark and rich soil of Africa could speak it would cry out, “What international law justifies the conquering and pillaging of a peaceful nation and its people by a separate warring entity simply because that separate warring entity (nation) is in possession of better weapons”…What gives them that right?” Europe’s “reintroduction” to the riches of Africa began in the year 1415 when Portugal’s naval forces financed by King John I captured the Moroccan city of Ceuta. It was from this Portuguese military fortress that countless expeditions were launched along Africa’s unknown west coast. The mission was crystal clear, “bring back treasures that will build empires”. And for nearly 600 years bringing back unmeasurable amounts of treasure stolen from the mines and jungles of Africa to give to European monarchs and “Friends” as a tribute to their empirical vision, is exactly what sailors, marines and soldiers of fortune did; at any human cost and by any means necessary. By the mid-1800s much of Europe’s financial interests were deeply embedded in Africa. Monarchs playing a real-life game of Monopoly were dividing and claiming what was not rightfully theirs to take. Border tensions were increasing between “Kissing Cousin- Monarchies” and the threat of war over who owned North, West, East and South Africa was boiling to a fever pitch. In 1884, leaders from 14 colonial powers, including the United States, Belgium, Portugal, Germany and Spain held what would later be called “The Berlin Conference”. This “great meeting” divided the continent of Africa into 50 countries, allowing dishonest men to “legally” rip apart and claim for themselves a continent that they clearly understood was their “goose that laid the endless supply of golden eggs”. And rip apart and “rejoin” is exactly what they did without any consideration to the different cultures, history and language shared by a great variety of African people. This European-made inconvenient assimilation of different tribes of people often brought enemies under the same newly made government. Belgium’s creation of the Tutsis, the Hutus and the Twa At the end of the Berlin Conference, the region that later became the country of Rwanda was awarded to Germany’s Kaiser, Wilhelm II and his expanding German / Prussian empire. Heeding the advice of their Kaisers’ invitation to find their fortune in Africa, a flood of German colonists began arriving in Rwanda in the 1890s. Upon arrival they discovered a centrally governed and efficiently ran country comprised of an African people who shared a common culture, language and religious beliefs. Germany’s influence in Rwanda remained strong up until the end of World War I. After the War that would “end all wars”, Belgium gained control of Rwanda as part of a war reparations deal from Germany and the League of nations. This “war reparations deal” expanded the Belgian Congo that was initially created by Belgium’s infamous King Leopold II. A ruthless and soulless man, Leopold II personally oversaw a campaign of terror, torture and murder in the Congo that ultimately killed hundreds of thousands of Black Congolese from 1884 to 1908. For over two decades as Europe and America’s industrial revolution demanded rubber, Leopold II and Belgium dominated the world’s rubber market. And let there be no mistake, Leopold II demanded rubber. A rubber laborer not meeting the King’s quota for harvesting rubber extracted a heavy punishment in the form of kidnapped wives, their wife’s rape and even having their own hands and feet severed. Their sadistic Belgian overseers, who were all hand-picked by King Leopold II, relished in playing “God”, determining who would live and who would die for not meeting their demanded quota. On December 17, 1909 Belgium’s King Leopold II died, and even in death, his ghost provided an evil blueprint on how to extract the most from the Congo and its people. With Germany out of the way, the Belgians colonists divided Rwanda’s unified population into three distinct groups: Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa. In order to make their plan work, Belgian colonists created a strict system of racial classification. Both the Belgians and the Germans, influenced by racist beliefs, articulated that the Tutsi were a superior people because they appeared (in their mind) more “White” in their physical traits. The Belgian colonists believed that the Tutsi were natural leaders, so they placed only Tutsis into positions of authority and discriminated against the Hutus and Twa. The Hutus, who demographically make up about approximately 85% of Rwanda’s population, were denied higher education, land ownership and jobs working in the government. By the 1950s, Hutu resentment towards their White “masters” and the Tutsi had grown. Even the Tutsis who were placed in power over the Hutus and Twa by the Belgians, began to feel resentment. They heavily resented Belgian colonial rule and wanted to be more independent of Belgian influence. After World War II, Tutsi elites grew impatient and became more aggressive in their pursuit of independence. The Belgians fearing their colonial rule was coming to an end, began favoring the Hutu and began taking back some power from the Tutsi as ploy to remain in power longer. In 1959, violence between the Tutsi and Hutu erupted. Hutus overthrew Tutsi rule, declared an independent republic and elected the first Hutu president, Greg wa Kayabanda. Mass killings of Tutsis occurred during the transition to Hutu rule, hinting at nefarious events that were soon to follow. Rising tensions based on Belgian racial divisions set the stage for the ghastly events that occurred in 1994. Hutu officials bent on revenge, began carrying out a massive genocide of the Tutsi minority. Hutu military forces trained and armed militias and gave weapons to civilians. Local Hutu leaders distributed lists of names of Tutsis who were marked for death. Messages of hate were broadcast over the radio, encouraging the killing of Tutsis and any opponent to the Hutu regime. The messages portrayed Tutsis as evil cockroaches and rodents. The murders began the night that Rwandan President Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down near Kigali Airport. The President’s own supporters, Hutu extremists, are thought to have orchestrated the attack in order to stop the President from signing peace agreements with the Tutsis, although the exact circumstances have never been proven. Learning well from their European “masters”, Hutus used different methods to carry out the genocide of their Tutsi neighbors; assassinations, death-lists, hate propaganda, demonizing, civilian militias, and rape. In total, almost one million Hutus were killed during 100 days of genocide, and an estimated 250,000 women were raped. During those 100 days of “darkness”, not one European country or the United States came to the rescue of those being murdered and raped. Not one. In closing, when people in Western governments shake their head in disbelief to the violence being perpetrated by Black African against Black African they should take a closer look at Africa’s one-time European masters who taught the Black African a ruthless game of torture and murder as a means to enrich their own lives and the continent of Europe. The crimes committed against Africa and its Black natives by Europe and its’ “Friends” is a stain that cannot be washed away by soap and water, however reparations is a start. It’s time to pay back Black Africa with modern roads, schools, hospitals, universities and industry that will uplift the poor and prepare them for career opportunities in the 21st century. Without a doubt Europe and the United States owe a world of debt to Africa and Black Africans for all their accumulated wealth and power, yet having “milked the cow almost dry”, Western governments are content to watch Black Africa implode and wither away…the question is why? And, what lessons can Blacks who have been torn from their ancestral African homeland and now reside throughout Europe and the United States learn from this lesson? In short, the answer is simple, that being, “conquering a people by dividing them”, seems to work quite well. Black people, never fall for the “Oakie Doke”….understand how the game is played. Yes, it’s time to repay Africa and its living descendants for all crimes committed against humanity, if not now, then when? *Source New Orleans Progressive Examiner]]>