Published 09:44 IST, June 27th 2020
Petitions gaining momentum to remove European rulers' statues who promoted slavery, racism
The police brutality in Minneapolis killing George Floyd sparked massive anti-racism protests leading to vandalism of statues of rulers who inflicted slavery
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The incident of police brutality in Minneapolis killing George Floyd had sparked massive anti-racism protests leading to pulling down and vandalism of statues of historic leaders who promoted racism. This has led to various other countries especially the Europeans to revisit and re-examine their colonial history.
After brief unrest and violence leading to vandalism of statues of colonial rulers, people in Europe have been putting up online petitions to bring the statues of racist and colonial rulers down. Belgium based 14-year-old Noah whose parents were Congolese [country is now known as Democratic Republic of Congo] has put up an online petition for the removal of King Leopold II's statues across Belgium.
According to historic records, King Leopold II was a colonialist from Belgium who had captured territories in Africa, personally owned them, and even inflicted inhuman cruelties on the natives of the land where hundreds of thousands of Africans died in slavery.
After the row over George Floyd's death igniting the anti-racism sentiments, Africans see these colonial rulers, the likes of Leopold II as Germans and Jews would see dictator Adolf Hitler who conducted genocides on Jews.
Belgium's colonial past
When Leopold became the King of Belgium, his desperation to make Belgium a colonial power grew so much that despite having opposing opinions from the Belgium Parliament, he sent private armies to force locals into slavery. Those natives who resisted were executed, amputated. Leopold did not even spare those who were ready to work as slaves but couldn't meet the work targets imposed on them. They suffered the same fate as those who resisted the colonial force.
It is estimated that at least half a million of the Africans got killed under Leopold's colonial rule.
Many statues and busts across Belgium have been blackened or painted red or vandalised in protest against the colonial atrocities and racism which the natives of Africa suffered during Leopold's reign. Protestors have demanded that the statues be removed as they signify the racism and colonialism inflicted upon their forefathers but the cruel ruler.
Whereas another section of society opines that history must be preserved as it is. Some suggested the dethroned statues be put in their original places with the addition of a plaque detailing the positive and negative impacts of Leopold II's rule. While Noah's online petition has garnered over 80,000 signatures, another online petition is catching up which is against Noah's petition and speaks for preserving the statues of their ruler who colonised distant land and inflicted atrocities.
This sort of rage against the colonial rulers and the opposing opinions against the rage and in favour of the rulers has gripped other parts of Europe as protestors have been uprooting statues of colonial rulers in England too compelling the current leaders to rectify the course of the history.
09:44 IST, June 27th 2020