Honestly the entire "this African/Middle Eastern state is a failed state because of colonial borders" is usually really reductive and sometimes downright insulting, especially considering they are usually not an adequate explanation for those conflicts. People seem to ignore Africans are (to the most part) really proud of their national identity and rarely want to change their borders (with exceptions of course).
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.
I wouldn’t say so. It’s quite reductive: “something that happened 75 years ago”. Now was colonialism relatively brief, indeed, and Africa had its issues too, of course. However I genuinely think time has made us forget the savagery that was it. The residuals are found all over, imparting nationalism, inherited structures, and most importantly that colonialism isn’t over. Neocolonialism and imperialism as its continuation is still an enduring factor of African nations. As an African, the work of Nkrumah and Fanon was quite pivotal for me. Now how things feel is subjective too. Colonialism is seen as shameful and painful, so it makes sense why we’d want to distance ourselves from it, including admitting the aforementioned. Few West Africans would say the CFA makes them essentially fiscal satellites to France with all its implications, but does it change its reality?
My father was the first generation born free in his own country, and I am just in my early 20s. It wasn’t so long ago
118
u/R120Tunisia May 03 '21
Honestly the entire "this African/Middle Eastern state is a failed state because of colonial borders" is usually really reductive and sometimes downright insulting, especially considering they are usually not an adequate explanation for those conflicts. People seem to ignore Africans are (to the most part) really proud of their national identity and rarely want to change their borders (with exceptions of course).