King Leopolds Ghost book

Horrors of Racism

Racism is a commonly used word in the twenty first century . Almost everybody in the United States and Europe has given thought to the state-imposed atrocities inflicted on the Jews in Germany and elsewhere in Europe in the twentieth century . Problems between the white and black people of the United States are also borne in mind by the Americans and the Europeans . As a matter of fact , issues between the white and black people of the United States are the first to come to mind as racism is reflected

upon , especially in the United States itself . More people around the world have given thought to European colonial times , however . After all , a great number of places around the world were taken over by the Europeans before those regions were freed from foreign dominance . If invasion and colonialism had been appreciated around the globe , or if the Europeans had managed to care for the people of those regions , the latter would not have sought independence . The reason they sought independence is clear to everyone the Europeans and the Americans have not always been kind to the people they came to conquer . Hence , the story of Congo under Leopold is not a truly unique one . In point of fact , the Europeans and Americans are ashamed to recall it , which is the reason why Hochschild must acknowledge the fact that he knew very little about Congo under Leopold before he conducted his research for King Leopold 's Ghost . According to the author , he has known a Belgian diplomat who was also unaware of the true story of Leopold . It may be assumed , therefore , that the story of Congo under the cruel Leopold has been erased from countless books of history

There are various classifications of racism . Whether it manifests itself due to differences of skin color or religion , racism is certainly a belief that almost the entire world is acquainted with . It is the `us versus them ' mindset that Hochschild 's book is meant to vanquish at a time when human rights are discussed day in day out at international conferences . The United Nations was established in the middle of the twentieth century also for the same reason . Now is the time to contemplate the concept of `universal brotherhood ' and `shared values Yet , the primitive , racist mindset seems to have been deeply imbedded throughout the history of humanity . By making people feel inferior to themselves , racists have won accolades for themselves . Leopold is known to have been a looter and plunderer . The British colonialists expanded their economy by invading many countries around the globe . Nowadays the United States is blamed for having invaded Afghanistan for its rich opium trade and Iraq for its oil . It is for this reason that racism remains a touchy subject in the United States and Europe . The Muslim world complains that the United States has tortured and killed numberless people from Muslim countries . The African Americans are still not wholly accepted as real Americans in...