Colonialism: the awakening of memories in Europe

Audio 19:30

A statue of Leopold II covered in red paint in Antwerp, Belgium, June 4, 2020. JONAS ROOSENS / BELGA / AFP

By: Léa-Lisa Westerhoff Follow

23 min

The Black Lives Matter movement born in the United States and the successive deaths of black Americans killed by the police are at the origin of a memory leap in Europe.

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Calls to re-examine the colonial history of the continent to reject or explain its symbols which are everywhere, the past of the former European empires is scrutinized.

In the United Kingdom, for example, where the debate is particularly lively, since July 2020, 600 historians have protested against the citizenship test that must be taken by all those who want a visa or a British passport.

In an open letter, these academics denounce a series of untruths, an idyllic and even mistaken view of colonization and the role of Great Britain in slavery and its abolition.

in London tells us more.

And in Belgium, the wind of anger which followed the death of the American black George Floyd killed by a white policeman had the effect that several statues of King Leopold, architect of Belgian colonization, were repainted in red.

Since then, the authorities have also taken a series of decisions with the establishment of a special commission at the federal level to look into the painful chapter of colonization.

The explanations of

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Decolonizing public space is an old demand in Germany.

For the past fifteen years, intellectuals supported by left-wing parties have demanded that certain streets in the capital be renamed.

A first step has just been taken since the Berlin City Council decided, at the end of August 2020, to rename the Mohrenstrasse, the rue des Maures.

But the decision is far from unanimous.

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The question also arises.

France: should we rename the places that pay homage to the colonial past of France?

In Paris, for example, no less than 200 streets, squares and avenues are named after figures of colonization, some of whom were responsible for thousands of deaths.

But, in France, the government rejects for the moment any possibility of change.

Never mind two history buffs have launched a series of guides to French towns that identify and explain who is behind the names on blue plaques.

Direction the 11th arrondissement of Paris, with the authors of the Guide to colonial Paris and the suburbs,

and

Most of the continent's former colonial empires are affected by this thirst to reexamine their history.

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• United States

• Racism

• United Kingdom

• Belgium

• Germany

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