Short Essay Six

European people have a history of believing themselves to be superior to other races. While imperializing Africa in late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Europeans drew clear distinctions between the natives and themselves, citing themselves as the more cultured race. As Africans began traveling to Europe, white Europeans started to feel threatened by the newcomers. The more contact Africans had with Europeans, the more Europeans falsely felt as though their race was superior and needed to be preserved from the infiltration of impure Africans. According to Europeans, they were the epitome of societal advancement and progression and believed white skin was a marker of this. The attitudes many Europeans had towards the Africans displayed their feelings of pretentiousness. Countless Europeans believed, “skin color was equated with culture, thus eliding racial difference with a level of “civilization”” (Campt 54). Scientists of this era used many evolutionary theories to suggest that Africans were barbaric and not as intelligent as the Europeans. Though many European nations were imperializing Africa, Africans were not granted European citizenship. Laws were put into place preventing Africans from obtaining citizenship or legal rights in European countries. It was a common belief that Africans were unsuitable for citizenship because Europeans believed they were incompetent (Bush 216). The power obtained through citizenship was not something that the Europeans were willing to give to Africans because they believed it should be reserved for the cultured white Europeans. Following WWI, black-French troops occupying the Rhineland were both feared and hated by the Germans because of their own arrogance. Germans were insulted that the French sent African troops to occupy their territory because they believed it was inappropriate for such barbaric people to be watching over a civilized society (Campt 52-53). To the Germans, Africans were not as sophisticated as they were so they should not have been placed in a position of power. The African presence in the Rhineland was quite intimidating due to the fabricated belief that the Africans were so primitive and savage. In the European view, Africans were not considered part of their civilized society for many reasons. Unfortunately, they were denied many legal rights and citizenship because of the pomposity that the Europeans felt. Europeans prevented Africans from receiving power because they felt as though they needed to preserve their race from African influence. Believing that they were superior, Europeans would exclude Africans from many aspects of society. Ultimately, the distinctions Europeans drew between themselves and the Africans led them to think of the African as the “other”.