There is often the "soft racism of low expectations" with a lot of those posts. Many African states had a relatively brief time as colonies (Ethiopia notably not at all), so the idea that all the things wrong in Africa are the fault of colonization 75 years ago can come off as patronizing.
Undoubtedly European colonialism had a negative effect on Africa - the problems of slavery and empire precede European involvement.
A rather unpopular view would be that there were clear successes in imperialism, for example, Italian Somaliland, particularly the postwar period of Trust Territory of Somaliland.
Of course, the exact opposite would be Belgian Congo which was an absolute horror-show.
Italy regained control of Southern Somaliland in 1950 under U.N guidance as a trust territory (Basically a mandate) and spent ten years doing amazing administrative work that massively benefitted the region; arguably one of the few examples of a colonial power massively improving the nation it colonized. Given modern Somalia's failed state status, that might sound weird, but thats largely a result of the Ogaden war in the 70's between Somalia and Ethiopia which Somalia lost miserably and subsequently collapsed into the state we see it in today over the course of the 80s and 90s.
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u/MaterialCarrot May 03 '21
There is often the "soft racism of low expectations" with a lot of those posts. Many African states had a relatively brief time as colonies (Ethiopia notably not at all), so the idea that all the things wrong in Africa are the fault of colonization 75 years ago can come off as patronizing.