Francois Marie
Syracuse University
For several reasons as follows :
- Partial African origin of European people : “White” Europeans are 2/3 Asian and 1/3 African in their ancestry. You can lie about the past but DNA does not lie. Only Iceland has less than 1% of the e1b1b hg, a signature gene of African people (African Moors, Kushites and ethnic Egyptians). Millions of Europeans are the descendants of African Moors, Kushites (Horners and Nubians) and ethnic Egyptians but they will never admit it publicly. The Crowned Moor heraldic symbol hints at a very ancient African presence in Europe.
- Partial European origin of African people: Millions of Africans are the descendants of Europeans, not only in North Africa (ancient Greeks, Romans, Slavs, etc.) but also in West (Cape Verdeans), Central Africa (Chad, Sao Tome, northern Cameroon among the Ouldeme). Even the most racist Whites never hide that fact. No wonder that they created the myth of a “White North and Saharan Africa”. They perfectly know that some Romans and other Europeans traded or migrated as far as northern Burkina Faso, which is a Saharan zone.
- No justification: Very few Europeans can adapt to the different climates in Africa. Apart from North Africa and South Africa, millions of Europeans complain about excessive heat. Africa is really a hot continent. Africa was seen as a reservoir of slaves and cheap raw materials.
- Conquest of Africa was not an option before 19th: Until the mid 19th, Africa had military power and wealth that could rival and surpass the great empires of Europe. Medieval Africa and the centuries that followed was ruled by several hundred kings, chiefs, sultans and emperors. Until the invention of the Maxim Gun, Europe could not conquer or penetrate Africa. The Zulu defeated the British in 1879. The Ethiopians defeated the Italians in 1896.
- African resistance and fighting heritage: Africans never accepted European domination. There was never a pax colonica. Africans resisted in all regions of European penetration. It took more than 400 years for Europe to conquer and penetrate Africa. There is a long list of European defeats by African armies. Continued military resistance from Africa might have led to more bloodshed and rebellion.
- Sheer size of Africa and number of Africans: Africa is huge, really huge. It is the second largest continent. Africa is also the second most populated continent. It is not so easy to conquer a continent with major towns and cities with over hundred thousands people.
- Historical factors : Europeans had serious competition in Africa : Arabs. There were Arab communities even at the heart of Africa, in southeastern (coming from Zanzibar) and northern DRC (coming from Egypt). Europeans had to fight both Africans and Arabs in order to conquer Africa. Another major factor is the Bantu expansion from North-Central Africa (MegaLake Chad to Southern Africa). It would have been very easy for European armies to subdue small communities of “Pygmies” (Batwa, Baka, Mbuti) and San. It was not so easy for Europeans to defeat Bantu warriors. European armies suffered the most humiliating defeats in Central and Southern Africa by Bantu warrior elites. The Portuguese were beaten at the battle of Cunene by the Ovambo as well as the battle of Kintombo by the Kongo. The Zulu and the Pedi of South Africa defeated the British army. The Pedi army of King Sekhukune defeated the British three times.
