Imperialism
Sparks the Pan-African Movement
 Shortly
after the end of
World War II, most European nations were in
the process of ending imperial control of Africa.
Pan-Africanism
became prevalent on the continent of Africa. Pan-Africanism is a
nationalistic movement that calls for the
unity of all African nations. While is does have
tremendous influence, such as the African National Council, or ANC, it has never succeeded in uniting all of
Africa. Disunity and many of the problems facing Africa
since the end of WWII into present-day can be blamed on
European
imperialism. Political corruption is rampant
because European imperialists left without establishing stable
governments. Ethnic tension exists because
European borders were made without any thought given to the
tribal system.
Tribalism is one of the biggest hindrances to
Africa because
traditional enemies were contained within one
European-made border. A good example of ethnic tension is the
conflict between the
Hutus and Tutsis in which 1,000's on both sides were massacred
and many more fled to Zaire to seek refuge. Both the
nations of Rwanda and Burundi had significant populations of
Hutus and Tutsis, both traditional tribes. Despite the
overwhelming problems, there have been some major
accomplishments where nationalism has resulted in positive
change.
 Ghana
and Kwame Nkrumah
During the days of imperialism, the nation now known as Ghana
was called the Gold Coast, an English colony. The
nationalist leader
Kwame Nkrumah called on
the hearts of
the African people by renaming the obviously imperial European
"Gold Coast" to something that hearkened back to the
golden age of western Africa, the Empire of Ghana.
Nkrumah was a believer in the principles of
Mohandas K. Gandhi. He established autonomy for Ghana through
civil
disobedience and passive resistance. Through the
pride and courage of Nkrumah and the Ghanaian people, Great
Britain left . To quote the words of Nkrumah, "No
people without a government of their own can expect to be
treated on the same level as people of independent sovereign
states. It is far better to be free to govern or
misgovern yourself than to be governed by anybody else . . .
"
 Kenya
and Jomo Kenyatta
The situation in the British colony of Kenya was much the same
as that in Ghana. The exploitation
of Kenyan resources
and oppression of its people were the typical trademarks of
British
imperialism. The road to autonomy, however, was
dramatically different. Kenya's nationalist leader,
Jomo
Kenyatta, began his movement using passive
resistance. However, Great Britain refused to end its
imperialization of Kenya and had imprisoned Kenyatta for
guerilla warfare he may or may not have called for. Regardless,
the
Mau Mau, Kenyan guerilla fighters, resisted British
troops until Great Britain released Kenyatta and left in 1963
with Kenyatta as the prime minister of a free
Kenya.
 South
Africa and Nelson Mandela
The most famous of all African nationalist leaders was
Nelson Mandela. The situation in South
Africa was
different. It had experienced imperialism, but the country had
gained autonomy at the turn of the century. White setters
called
Afrikaners had control of the South African
government and had imposed a social structure known as
apartheid.
Apartheid consisted of two social classes,
upper white and lower black. The races were kept separate and
unequal, with the black population suffering terrible abuses.
Examples of this abuse include pass cards for blacks only,
voting rights for whites only, and segregated reservations
called Home Lands. Mandela, due to speaking out
against apartheid, was imprisoned for 27 years and not
released until the early 1990's. South African president
F.W. De Klerk freed Mandela and ended the
racist institution. In 1994, South Africa had its first free
election and Mandela was elected president. Mandela and De
Klerk earned the Nobel Peace Prize together for their efforts.
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