Colonialism: Present in the school system, the economic system, it played a role in underdevelopment of the continent of Africa,
“Capitalists under colonialism did not pay enough for an African to maintain himself and family. (265)”
In this paragraph, we see how Africans were exploited for their work. They were essentially being paid nothing for their labor. Whatever little shillings that were gained, went to taxes, etc. He makes a note that a very select few had to pay for school, which were missionary schools. This shows how whatever money was made, if any, went back to the colonists and colonial economy. Of course, playing a significant role in the underdevelopment of Africa.
“First three decades of colonialism, hardly did anything that was done that could remotely be termed a service to the African people… after all, the statistics which show that Africa today is underdeveloped are the statistics representing the state of affairs at the end of colonialism.” (246) this paragraph is important to refute the lie that colonialism helped develop Africa, when it did the opposite. The African population did not thrive from capitalism like the Europeans did. Any amenities otherwise acquired by colonies isn’t a guide for what African people got out of colonialism.
“But, in Africa, colonialism did not bring those benefits-it merely intensified the rate of exploitation of African labor and continued to export the surplus.” (312)
This paragraph is important because we can see how Africa was trying to get back their individualism from Europe. However individualism didn’t work out too well for African countries, it did more harm than good and exploited the laborers in Africa. As we can see, this has become a problem politically, economically and socially for African people. Economically the laborers were being exploited and were getting paid little because of the jobs that they held. Socially individualism caused it to be more of a separation between the people especially in the school system because colonialism programmed it in a way that there was no social responsibility from the people. Politically it caused it to be a problem because the process was delayed because Africa was trying to gain back their individuality to have full control over what was once theirs.
“Early educational commissions also accorded high priority to religious and moral flavoring of instruction – something that was disappearing in Europe itself. The role of the Christian Church in the educational processes obviously needs special attention. The Christian Missionaries were as much part of the colonizing forces as were the explorers, traders, and soldiers.” (Pg. 308)
During the period of European rule in Africa, an aspect of colonization that is often overlooked deals with education and religion across the continent. With Christian missionaries making their way into the African nations, the one thing that became clear was their motives to spread the Christian faith amongst African communities through implementing Christian and European standards upon the African population. This was a piece in the overall capitalistic system that was being forced onto the African people by pushing Christian and European values in the educational system.
“In colonial Africa, the European bourgeoisie realized that some education would maximize the value of labour.” (315)
The text says it was not necessary to educate the African masses because only a small part of Africa actually entered the colonial economy in a way that their performance could be enhanced by education. However, in colonial Africa, when the Europeans realized that some education would increase the value of labor they went right for it. This education only really helped the Europeans. The intention of this education was never to benefit the African people for themselves, but to enhance their performances on the work the Europeans needed them to do. The education implemented to the Africans was an education that was only high enough to do the jobs that the Europeans wanted them to do, and high enough for them to never be able to advance on their own. The Europeans did a successful job on preventing Africans from advancing without their help.
Joka Oyefeso 