Has anyone read King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa

[babythunder]

after I finished reading this book I couldn't help but feel very cheated by my History education. Why is slavery and the savagery that was committed in the name of Colonialism glossed over or not even mentioned? Of course I'm not completely naive and understand why it was glossed but still there is entirely too much sugar-coating during our history lessons.


King Lepold is barely mentioned in our history books and thats a complete shame. This rotten son of a bitch should be eviscerated for his mass crimes against humanity.

Also I can honestly say that I will never look at my rubber tires quite the same.

[gabeana]

1. Great book

I use it for my contemporary american history class

[The Magistrate]

2. It Is Indeed An Excellent Book, Ma'am

[grammysandie]

3. Yes, it's a stunning book

History classes would have been a lot more interesting if the textbooks hadn't all been written by white people.

[Peace Patriot]

4. Yeah, I've read it. What a shocker! Our history educations tend to blend into the

general "river of forgetfulness" in which our Corpo/fascist 'news' monopolies drown all events, even the recent past. The legacies of slavery and colonialism are still with us, and will be for centuries, I think, precisely because we do not remember, and are not apprized of, what went before.

Today, in poor countries throughout the world, young women and men, and children, slave away in sweatshops, for pittance wages, and with few or no human rights, making many of the things our Corpo/fascists sell to us (and cart across the oceans using scads of oil!). Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy clothes, for instance, are the products of near slave labor in Saipan and points east. The proliferation of sweatshops worldwide is a direct assault on labor protections that our society has built up, here, with over two centuries of struggle.

Our Corpo/fascists are not that different from King Leopold. In places like Colombia, for instance--which receives $6 BILLION in U.S. military aid, and which the Bushwhacks want to favor with "free trade"--labor leaders are routinely murdered by death squads closely associated with the government, and tens of thousands of peasant farmers have been killed or displaced (or poisoned with pesticides, in the corrupt, failed, murderous U.S. "war on drugs"), to clear the land for the likes of Monsanto, Chiquita and Occidental Petroleum. Chiquita execs were paying death squads to "take care of their labor problem," and the Bush Junta, of course, let them off the hook for these murders with a minor fine.

As for what has been done to Iraq--in order to steal their oil--a million innocent people slaughtered, and thousands tortured, and millions of sick, injured and displaced--well...

King Leopold lives. That's the sad fact. And if our educational system was more truthful about such events in our narrations of history, perhaps our people would better recognize his greedy, amoral progeny, when they come stalking humanity once again, as our own leaders.

[enlightenment]

5. I've used it in my classes as well.

It is a well-done book.

In defense of history classes - consider that the most students usually get (or take, in college) is survey. US survey, European survey ('Western Civ') - maybe some World history. It is a daunting task to try to cover even the basics in a survey class. The typical European survey, offered over two classes, covers centuries. Even US survey, broken into shorter increments, is reduced to nothing more than a drive-by in a 16 week semester.

Are some things sugar-coated? Sure. But mostly it's just a question of how much can you cram into a semester. If you pour it in like water, it goes right out the other ear. That's not helping students at all; it's just reinforcing what a lot of them already believe - that history is dull and useless. If you pick and choose to concentrate on some things, you do it to the detriment of something else. That's usually what happens, though, because most history teachers really do want their students to take something away from the class.

I'd love to be able to insist that student's take more history classes - we could offer more classes looking at specifics - just imperialism, for example. The best history class I ever had as an undergrad was a semester long class, taught by an history prof, a poly sci prof, and a literature prof - looking at one century in Greek history. 5th century Athens. It was a fabulous class - but it's not the kind of thing that you see a lot of, anywhere.

Your critique isn't wrong, but there are plenty of reasons that don't have anything to do with glossing over or sugar coating the past.

Really! :)

[applegrove]

6. Yes an interesting book. Very eye opening. I had heard about King Leopold because

I took a few African history courses in university. He treated that huge country like his own personal slave labour camp. Too bad there was not a way to put the shithead on trial.

[Richardo]

7. I've always wanted to read that.

Thanks for reminding me of it :thumbsup:

[scholarsOrAcademics]

8. rereading it for mention

at my next library open book review session next month. My reaction to it was somewhat along the line I made to a friend to the effect it was almost a blessing the slaves were brought to the South.
They escaped genocide.
In the Footsteps of Kurtz, is another book on the Congo.
I could add paragrphs on the inadeguacy of history education. Pages and pages.

[Captain Hilts]

9. It's hair-raising. The past 15 years Congo has been trying to eclipse King L's record of violence..

It's un fucking be-lieveable what's been going on there the past 15 years.