Write a 500-750 words essay

User Generated

ghra

Humanities

Description

Please follow the documentation requirements and refer to the articles I have provided, writing an article around the subject of these articles.

Please read the documentation carefully

Do Not Plagiarize

Unformatted Attachment Preview

Instructions for Historical Op-Ed assignments What is an op-ed? Op-ed is short for “opposite the editorial page,” though is often interpreted as “opinioneditorial.” Op-eds regularly appear in major and not-so-major newspapers such as the Seattle Times, Daily Evergreen, or the Moscow- Daily News. While you will take a position on a topic, you will ground your position not in feeling or belief (opinion) but in substantiated evidence (historical analysis). Who is your audience? Your audience for this essay is not an academic one but the general reading public. Write in a way that engages the casual newspaper reader. Because this assignment asks you to simulate a newspaper column, it is imperative that you keep within the word limits of 500750 words. What is the purpose of an op-ed? Your goal in a historical op-ed is to connect an important and very specific contemporary event or controversy to the historical issue (colonialism & capitalism, carbon & politics, race & racism, war & terror, Israel-Palestine). Basic questions that should inform any good historical op-ed include: • How does the past help us better understand today's world? • In what ways do past events clarify the origins problems we face in the present? • Do past events parallel present-day controversies? • How does an understanding of the historical origins of a current problem help us solve the problem? • How might we learn from the mistakes or triumphs of the past? How do I approach and structure an op-ed? Your op-ed must: range from 500-750 words, excluding the title, be single-spaced with paragraphs of no more than 3-4 sentences; use 12-point font and one-inch margins. First, select a specific, concrete current event and/or controversy that can be better understood by looking at the past. Scour recent headlines to find your hook. Write a succinct argument about the event/controversy. This is called the “lede.” Second, provide at least 3 concrete historical examples drawn from assigned readings, films, and in class discussions that inform and support the argument you are making about the contemporary event/controversy in question. At least one of your examples must come from a primary source. Quote sparingly and when you do, be sure to set up and provide context for quotes. While you need to provide Chicago-style footnote citations for your sources in your op-ed (you should have at least three), you should also cue your examples in the text of the op-ed itself. For example… • “In a 1915 letter to Sharif Husayn, Sir Henry McMahon wrote…” • Or…”In his 2001 book Late Victorian Holocausts, historian Mike Davis argued…” Third, return to your argument and to the contemporary event/controversy in question in your conclusion. *Consult the example provided in the course reader, examples published in newspapers, and visit theopedproject.org for additional structural guidance. V The Code Noir, 1685 Describe and give the numbers of the articles in the "Code Noir" that place restrictions on slaves and slave masters. What does the "Code Noir" say about the relationship between race and slavery? Edict of the King: On the subject of the Policy regarding the Islands of French America March 1685 Recorded at the sovereign Council of Saint Domingue, 6 May 1687. Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre: to all those here present and to those to come, GREETINGS. In that we must also care for all people that Divine Providence has put under our tutelage, we have agreed to have the reports of the officers we have sent to our Ameri- can islands studied in our presence. These reports inform us of their need for our authority and our justice in order to maintain the discipline of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith in the islands. Our authority is also required to settle issues dealing with the condition and quality of the slaves in said islands. We desire to settle these issues and inform them that, even though they reside infinitely far from our normal abode, we are always present for them, not only through the reach of our power but also by the promptness of our help toward their needs. For these reasons, and on the advice of our council and of our certain knowledge, absolute power and royal authority, we have declared, ruled, and ordered, and declare, rule, and order, that the following pleases us: Article I. We desire and we expect that the Edict of 23 April 1615 of the late King, our most honored lord and father who remains glorious in our memory, be executed in our islands. This accomplished, we enjoin all of our officers to chase from our islands all the Jews who have estab- lished residence there. As with all declared enemies of Christianity, we command them to be gone within three months of the day of issuance of the present [order], at the risk of confiscation of their persons and their goods. Article II. All slaves that shall be in our islands shall be baptized and instructed in the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith. We enjoin the inhabitants who shall purchase newly-arrived Negroes to inform the Governor and Intendant of said islands of this fact within no more that eight days, or risk being fined an arbitrary amount. They shall give the necessary orders to have them instructed and baptized within a suitable amount of time. Article III. We forbid any religion other than the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith from being practiced in public. We desire that offenders be punished as rebels disobedient of our 155 Roots of Contemporary Issues orders. We forbid any gathering to that end, which we declare to be conventicle, illegal, and sedi- tious, and subject to the same punishment as would be applicable to the masters who permit it or accept it from their slaves. Article IV. No persons assigned to positions of authority over Negroes shall be other than a mem- ber of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, and the master who assigned these persons shall risk having said Negroes confiscated, and arbitrary punishment levied against the persons who accepted said position of authority. Article V. We forbid our subjects who belong to the so-called "reformed" religion from causing any trouble or unforeseen difficulties for our other subjects or even for their own slaves in the free exercise of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, at the risk of exemplary punishment. Article VI. We enjoin all our subjects, of whatever religion and social status they may be, to observe Sundays and the holidays that are observed by our subjects of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith. We forbid them to work, nor make their slaves work, on said days, from midnight until the following midnight. They shall neither cultivate the earth, manufacture sugar, nor per- form any other work, at the risk of a fine and an arbitrary punishment against the masters, and of confiscation by our officers of as much sugar worked by said slaves before being caught. Article VII. We forbid them also to hold slave markets or any other market on said days at the risk of similar punishments and of confiscation of the merchandise that shall be discovered at the market, and an arbitrary fine against the sellers. Article VIII. We declare that our subjects who are not of the Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith, are incapable of contracting a valid marriage in the future. We declare any child born from such unions to be bastards, and we desire that said marriages be held and reputed, and to hold and repute, as actual concubinage. Article IX. Free men who shall have one or more children during concubinage with their slaves, together with their masters who accepted it, shall each be fined two thousand pounds of sugar. If they are the masters of the slave who produced said children, we desire, in addition to the fine, that the slave and the children be removed and that she and they be sent to work at the hospital, never to gain their freedom. We do not expect however for the present article to be applied when the man was not married to another person during his concubinage with this slave, who he should then marry according to the accepted rites of the Church. In this way she shall then be freed, the children becoming free and legitimate... Article XI. We forbid priests from conducting weddings between slaves if it appears that they do not have their masters' permission. We also forbid masters from using any constraints on their slaves to marry them without their wishes. Article XII. Children born from marriages between slaves shall be slaves, and if the husband and wife have different masters, they shall belong to the masters of the female slave, not to the master of her husband. Article XIII. We desire that if a male slave has married a free woman, their children, either male or female, shall be free as is their mother, regardless of their father's condition of slavery. And if the father is free and the mother a slave, the children shall also be slaves. ... 156 Roots of Inequality: Race and Racism Article XV. We forbid slaves from carrying any offensive weapons or large sticks, at the risk of being whipped and having the weapons confiscated. The weapons shall then belong to he who confiscated them. The sole exception shall be made for those who have been sent by their masters to hunt and who are carrying either a letter from their masters or his known mark. Article XVI. We also forbid slaves who belong to different masters from gathering, either dur- ing the day or at night, under the pretext of a wedding or other excuse, either at one of the mas- ter's houses or elsewhere, and especially not in major roads or isolated locations. They shall risk corporal punishment that shall not be less than the whip and the fleur de lys, and for frequent recidivists and in other aggravating circumstances, they may be punished with death, a decision we leave to their judge. We enjoin all our subjects, even if they are not officers, to rush to the offenders, arrest them, and take them to prison, and that there be no decree against them.... Article XVIII. We forbid slaves from selling sugar cane, for whatever reason or occasion, even with the permission of their master, at the risk of a whipping for the slaves and a fine of ten pounds for the masters who gave them permission, and an equal fine for the buyer. Article XIX. We also forbid slaves from selling any type of commodities, even fruit, vegetables, firewood, herbs for cooking and animals either at the market, or at individual houses, without a letter or a known mark from their masters granting express permission. Slaves shall risk the con- fiscation of goods sold in this way, without their masters receiving restitution for the loss, and a fine of six pounds shall be levied against the buyers.... Article XXVII. Slaves who are infirm due to age, sickness or other reason, whether the sickness is curable or not, shall be nourished and cared for by their masters. In the case that they be aban- doned, said slaves shall be awarded to the hospital, to which their master shall be required to pay six sols per day for the care and feeding of each slave.... Article XXXI. Slaves shall not be a party, either in court or in a civil matter, either as a litigant or as a defendant, or as a civil party in a criminal matter. And compensation shall be pursued in criminal matters for insults and excesses that have been committed against slaves.... Article XXXIII. The slave who has struck his master in the face or has drawn blood, or has simi- larly struck the wife of his master, his mistress, or their children, shall be punished by death.... Article XXXVIII. The fugitive slave who has been on the run for one month from the day his master reported him to the police, shall have his ears cut off and shall be branded with a fleur de lys on one shoulder. If he commits the same infraction for another month, again counting from the day he is reported, he shall have his hamstring cut and be branded with a fleur de lys on the other shoulder. The third time, he shall be put to death. Article XXXIX. The masters of freed slaves who have given refuge to fugitive slaves in their homes shall be punished by a fine of three hundred pounds of sugar for each day of refuge. Article XL. The slave who has been punished with death based on denunciation by his master, and who is not a party to the crime for which he was condemned, shall be assessed prior to his execution by two of the principal citizens of the island named by a judge. The assessment price shall be paid by the master, and in order to satisfy this requirement, the Intendant shall impose said sum on the head of each Negro. The amount levied in the estimation shall be paid for each of the said Negroes and levied by the [Tax] Farmer of the Royal Western lands to avoid costs.... 157 Roots of Contemporary Issues Article XLII. The masters may also, when they believe that their slaves so deserve, chain them and have them beaten with rods or straps. They shall be forbidden however from torturing them or mutilating any limb, at the risk of having the slaves confiscated and having extraordinary charges brought against them. Article XLIII. We enjoin our officers to criminally prosecute the masters, or their foremen, who have killed a slave under their auspices or control, and to punish the master according to the cir- cumstances of the atrocity. In the case where there is absolution, we allow our officers to return the absolved master or foreman, without them needing our pardon. Article XLIV. We declare slaves to be charges, and as such enter into community property. They are not to be mortgaged, and shall be shared equally between the co-inheritors without benefit to the wife or one particular inheritor, nor subject to the right of primogeniture, the usual cus toms duties, feudal or lineage charges, or feudal or seigneurial taxes. They shall not be affected by the details of decrees, nor from the imposition of the four-fifths, in case of disposal by death or bequeathing... Article XLVII. Husband, wife and prepubescent children, if they are all under the same master, may not be taken and sold separately. We declare the seizing and sales that shall be done as such to be void. For slaves who have been separated, we desire that the seller shall risk their loss, and that the slaves he kept shall be awarded to the buyer, without him having to pay any supplement.... Article LV. Masters twenty years of age may free their slaves by any act toward the living or due to death, without their having to give just cause for their actions, nor do they require parental advice as long as they are minors of 25 years of age. Article LVI. The children who are declared to be sole legatees by their masters, or named as executors of their wills, or tutors of their children, shall be held and considered as freed slave... Article LVIII. We declare their freedom is granted in our islands if their place of birth was in our islands. We declare also that freed slaves shall not require our letters of naturalization to enjoy the advantages of our natural subjects in our kingdom, lands or country of obedience, even when they are born in foreign countries. Article LIX. We grant to freed slaves the same rights, privileges and immunities that are enjoyed by freeborn persons. We desire that they are deserving of this acquired freedom, and that this freedom gives them, as much for their person as for their property, the same happiness that natu- ral liberty has on our other subjects. Versailles, March 1685, the forty second year of our reign. Signed LOUIS and below the King Colbert, visa, Le Tellier. Read, posted and recorded at the sovereign council of the coast of Saint Domingue, kept at Petit Goave, 6 May 1687, Signed Moriceau. 158 V Lawyers' Arguments for Francisque... Paris, 1759 Who is Francisque and what is at stake for him in this 1759 trial in Paris, France? Describe the meaning and logistics of France's Freedom Principle insofar as Francisque's lawyers convey its meaning. What two main arguments do Francisque's lawyers put forth in support of his freedom? Lawyers' Argument for Francisque, of the Nation of India, Novice in the Roman Catholic Church, Defendant, against Sir Allain François Ignace Brignon, Calling Himself "Esquire," Appellant, Paris, France, 1759 Editor's Note In 1759, the Parlement of Paris ruled, for its first and last time, on the status of slaves in France. The case is peculiar in that the slave in question, Francisque, came not from the heart of France's slave empire in the Americas, but rather from its outpost in India, Pondichéry. The Parlement beard this case on appeal. The lower Admiralty Court had ruled in favor of the slave, ordering bis master, Sir Brignon, to pay Francisque 800 livres for eight years back wages, plus 200 livres in interest and damages for his imprisonment during the trial. This document is Francisque's lawyers' argument from that appeal. It was not unusual for lawyers to dis- tribute pamphlets summarizing their cases throughout Paris. These pamphlets were designed to stir up public opinion, and -unlike all other publications in France-they were not subject to royal censorship. FACTS Can an Indian, a native of Pondichéry under French rule, who has been subjected to the rigors of slavery from the age of eight years and since then enlightened to the Christian truths and devoted to their practice, can he, after ten years of residence in France, justifiably claim to have acquired the freedom that this monarchy offers? Can he legitimately believe himself to be freed from the yoke of servitude against a nomadic Frenchman who, without any intention of returning to the Indies, has for the same eight years lived in Paris? This is the interesting question that has pitted misery against opulence: a question that has already been decided in favor of the slaves of Amer- ica, for whom our sovereigns have pronounced laws. But it is a relatively new question with regard to Indians because, born free, nowhere in the archives of justice can be found any individual guid- ance regarding their emancipation in this kingdom. 159 Roots of Contemporary Issues France, this land where the privileges of humanity have for their fundamental principle the laws of nature, where the purest sentiment is the soul of the legislation, France is homeland of Sir Bri- gnon. He was born in the city of Saint Malo in northwestern France. Little favored by fortune, he felt a commendable desire to cross the seas. He was drawn to distant countries to find treasures that he had not discovered at his own hearth. By his own industry he made up for what he lacked in inheritance. If only his useful talents-which can only be honored-had remained untouched by the pride and arrogance of upstarts! Then he would not have to fight the natural and wise laws of his country today, Around the year 1747 or 1748, Sir Brignon was in Pondichéry in the East Indies and already pre- paring to return to France when he came up with an extravagant plan to introduce slavery to this free nation. Drunk with the pleasure of astonishing his compatriots' eyes with the riches he had acquired in his travels, he bought two young black Indians for the sum of five rupees each. Their first assignment was as decoration of a procession during his voyage to the too-celebrated capital of Portugal. Then, as he could extract no more useful service from them because they were so young, he sent them to his mother in Saint Malo. She carefully had them instructed in the Catho- lic faith and they were baptized. After two or three years, Sir Brignon returned to his homeland loaded with rather considerable goods to establish himself and live honorably. His ambition apparently satisfied (or at least not permitting him to undertake any further long-distance journeys), he came to establish himself in the capital, in the center of luxurious opulence. ... He bought an elevated and dominating plot [in Paris). There he built a kind of castle, laid out formal gardens, planted groves. In a word, nothing was spared to make a sumptuous residence. From 1750, when Sir Brignon established himself in this city, until 1757, he had in his service the two Indians. ... He claims that he always planned to send them back to the French colo- nies and, since their arrival in Saint Malo, he annually registered them with the Admiralty Clerk as the Code Noir requires of American merchants who bring slaves to France with the intention of returning them to the colonies. ... As will be shown, these registrations are insuffi- cient, irregular, and of no effect by themselves. ...At last, reason began to kindle within [the Indians]; the spark of natural liberty, the love of which is born in all men, soon made itself felt. Soon they sought to achieve the condition of their neighboring domestic servants. The condition of our valets appeared to them fortunate, com- pared to their own. They looked for other masters, masters that they could not leave if they were not treated well. It is well known that Indian Blacks, quite unlike the Negroes of Africa, are usually good domes- tics. Consequently, these two young men found new positions immediately. Two months passed since Francisque entered the service of Sir Mersent-who was completely satisfied with him- when he was suddenly abducted and sent to the Bicêtre prison by means of a King's Order, which Sir Brignon obtained under false pretenses. 160 Roots of Inequality: Race and Racism On 4 February 1758, Mr. Collet, the king's attorney general (who donated his efforts without cost to this unfortunate as well as to his comrade André) presented a petition on behalf of these two Indians to the Admiralty Court. ... While waiting for the Admiralty Court to rule on the case, André disappeared, never to be heard from again. On June 16, 1758, the Admiralty Court ruled in Francisque's favor. Francisque's lawyers, Jolly de Fleury, De La Roue, and Collet, wanted the Parlament of Paris to sustain the Admiralty Court's ruling on several grounds. Beginning with natural law, they asserted that freedom is a "gift of nature" that can only be infringed upon by the laws of men. They then surveyed the wide prevalence of slavery in human history and attributed its gradual cessation in Europe to the expansion of Christianity. Turning to the debates surrounding the origins in the name "France" and reviewing the history of French kings offering protection to serfs and slaves as early as 1141 C.E., Francisque's lawyers offered the following argument Some, seeing in the term "France" the corruption of franche [i.e., "free") have thought that the name of the crown derives from the term Terre franche ["free land"). Others believe that it comes from the Teutonic word Frank, which, in its literal translation, means “free." Finally, others trace the word to two German words, Frein and Hans, which together mean “free heroes." All these ideas come together in the notion that the liberty that one breathes in these climates announces itself to all the nations because it is impossible to name this Monarchy without having the word "freedom" on one's lips. ... Two reflections are enough to destroy the arguments of Sir Brignon. (1) The laws comprising the Code Noir have nothing to do with Indians, a free people. They were only published for America and not the other countries where the trade of Negro slaves is tolerated. (2) Even supposing Fran- cisque were American or African, his slavery ceased the moment that he entered France because Sir Brignon failed to fulfill the formalities of the laws of 1716 and 1738. FIRST ARGUMENT The Indians are a free people. The yoke of slavery was never imposed upon them. Sir Brignon alludes to this fact in declaring that he bought Francisque from the child's mother. If this mother had not been free, she could not have sold her own son. Indians, educated in various admittedly-idolatrous sects, regulated by laws, submitted to mon- archs, rich by the fertility of their lands, perpetuated through an ancient system of kinship, have only needed the European nations for the purpose of cultivating their lands and regulating their cities, as they have done in America. If, by the color of their skin, the individuals born besides the Indus and the rivers that feed it bear some resemblance to the Negroes of Africa, they at least differ from them in that their noses are not so flat, their lips are not thick and protruding, and instead of the wooly frizzy down that covers the heads of Africans, they have long and beautiful hair, similar to that which decorates European heads. 161 Roots of Contemporary Issues Such is Francisque: It suffices to see him to be convinced that he was not born on the burning sands of Guinea or Senegal.... Disregarding his color, he looks more European than many Euro- peans, who need only black skin to appear African. ...Are there laws that authorize slavery for blacks? Yes, without a doubt there are. Can these laws be applied to Indians serving in countries other than America? Assuredly not. [The lawyers set forth a history of the introduction of slavery to the Americas, blaming the Spanish for the "cruel extermination" of the Native Americans.] But the East Indies must be distinguished from these newly populated lands, which are improp erly referred to as the "West Indies." The climates of the East Indies have been well known for many years, always populated and inhabited. Even the city of Pondichéry, Francisque's homeland, counts more than 120,000 citizens, of whom more than 100.000 are natives. The Indians of these countries know how to value the land, conduct commerce, build and maintain factories. And it has never occurred to any people to establish colonies there. All the nations of Europe neverthe- less participate in trade there. And while it is true that the slave trade was permitted in India, and particularly Pondichéry, where the establishment of our trading company is situated, as the laws of 1716 and 1738 were only promulgated for the good of commerce with America, it is certain that, in entering the kingdom, Francisque has acquired freedom that the constitutions of the state assure to all slaves who have the good fortune to be brought here. SECOND ARGUMENT Supposing that the laws concerning the slaves of America may be suspiciously applied to the Indians ... it is indisputable that Sir Brignon lost the right that he might have had over Francisque because of his failure to fulfill the requirements of the Code Noir. What do these formalities consist of? [The lawyers quoted "literal terms as they are prescribed by the Edit of October 1716 and by the Declaration of 15 December 1738" specifying what types of permissions slave- owners need to get, and from whom, to bring slaves into France.] What is the purpose of these formalities? It is perfectly clear that they suspend the effect of manumission which operates in the law by the slaves' simple crossing of the border into France. But manumission is only suspended for slaves from America, whose service is attached to some residence, and whose masters intend to return to the colonies so that these masters will not be obliged to purchase other slaves. ... Has Sir Brignon (who does not appear to have come from America) fulfilled these requirements? Not only does he not present any permission according to him, whether by a governor or by a commander, to bring or send the two slaves that he bought to France, but he is completely unable to present any declaration made by him to the clerk of the [Parisian] Table of Marble [Admiralty Court) upon the arrival of these slaves, despite having held them in Paris for nearly ten years. 162 Roots of Inequality: Race and Racism Moreover, Francisque has in his sack a certificate from the Clerk of this district, dated January 4, 1758, demonstrating that his former master never made any declaration Sir Brignon alleges in vain that he had been supplied by the Admiralty of Saint Malo with a decla- ration that he made upon his arrival at that port and that since that time he has renewed it every two years. Since when is it permitted to go around the specific regulations in the law?... Moreover, it is obvious that, if Sir Brignon has not fulfilled these formalities, it is because, having no intention of returning, possessing no permanent residence in the colonies, inclined to remain in Paris, he has regarded as useless and superfluous all the precautions that would make it possible to bring or send this slave back to his homeland, and in so doing, would at the same time give him his freedom, since India, from which he came from, is a free country. The remainder of the pamphlet addressed the objections of Sir Brignon's lawyers: The laws of some regions of France still recognize forms of servitude that are similar to slavery so it is not true that there are no slaves in France; Francisque is a minor and cannot claim bis own manumission; Francisque recognizes his owns statusas a slave, and as a slave, he cannot bring charges in a judicial court; Brignon always intended to send Francisque back to the colonies; Francisque cost Brignon a lot of money--wbo will reimburse the price of his merchandise? Francisque's lawyers responded that vestiges of ancient servitude (such as forms of serfdom) are not the same as slavery; Francisque does not need to be an adult to reclaim his free status; Francisque became free as soon as he arrived in France-he has been wrongfully denied the enjoyment of that free status and seeks to have it recog" nized; if Brignon sends Francisque back to his native India, rather than America, Francisque will be free upon arrival in his homeland; Brignon purchased Francisque for a mere five rupees-what is that in comparison with the value of freedom? The judges of the Parlement of Paris ruled in favor of Francisque's freedom, but the implications of the case were ambiguous for the vast majority of the slaves in the French colonies of America. Was Francisque freed because the court refused to acknowledge the laws of 1716 and 1738, which it had never registered? Or was he freed on the basis of race, that is, as a native of India, he was not covered by the Code Noir and therefore less appropriately suited to slavery? Since French judges never publicly state the rationales for their decisions (unlike, for example, the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court), there is no way to know what grounds they found the most compelling. However, the effect of the decision on future jurisprudence was telling. After Francisque won his freedom, the number of slaves suing for their freedom in the Paris Admiralty Court increased dramatically; all of them won their freedom However, in 1777, the French minister of the marine found a way to get around the Paris Parlement's objec- tions by instituting new legislation that completely omitted the word slave. The new Control of the Blacks law (Police des Noirs) probibited the entry of all "blacks, mulattoes, and other people of color" into France, regardless of their slave or free status, thus substituting race for class. 163 Ical nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply. 가 al ARTICLE 74 Members of the United Nations also agree that their policy in respect of the territories to which this Chapter applies, no less than in respect of their metropolitan areas, must be based on the general principle of good-neighbourliness, due account being taken of the interests and well-being of the rest of the world, in social, economic, and commercial matters. 3 HO CHI MINH Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam September 2, 1945 In 1941, the leader of the Communist party of Vietnam proposed that all groups involved in resisting the Japanese occupation form a united front, which took the name League for the Independence of Vietnam (Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi). It was usually referred to as the Viet Minh League. Nguyen Sinh Cung, better known by his nom de guerre, Ho Chi Minh, soon came to lead this organization. By the end of World War II, the Viet Minh League had gained control over large parts of northern Vietnam, where it began to establish local governments and oversee the redistribution of land to peasant farmers. On September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh read the following declaration in Ba Dinh Square, in the colonial From Ho Chi Minh, Selected Works (Hanoi: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1961), 3:17-21. 1945-1947: DECOLONIZATION BECOMES IMAGINABLE DECLARATION OF 50 capital of Hanoi (see Map 3, page 11). Tens of thousands of people wit- nessed this act, yet the tert itself also spoke directly to audiences far from Hanoi (see Document 4). Happiness tain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with cer- This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Indepen- dence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: "Men are born and remain free and have a right to live, to be happy and free. In the autumn na's territory to e French imperiali our country to t Thus, from th the French and The result was year, from Qua million of our French troops either fled or “protecting" our country On severa the French agreeing to terrorist act they massa Yen Bay an Notwith toward the nese putsc men to crc protected equal in rights." Those are undeniable truths. trary to the ideals of humanity and justice. Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted con- In the field of politics, they have deprived our people of every demo- cratic liberty. They have enforced inhuman laws; they have set up three distinct political regimes in the North, the Center and the South of Vietnam in order to wreck our national unity and prevent our people from being united. They have built more prisons than schools. They have mercilessly slain our patriots; they have drowned our uprisings in rivers of blood. They have fettered public opinion; they have fostered ignorance among our people. To weaken our race they have forced us to use opium and alcohol. In the field of economics, they have fleeced us the backbone, impoverished our people, and devastated our land. They have robbed us of our rice fields, our mines, our forests, and our raw materials. They have monopolized the issuing of bank-notes They have invented numerous unjustifiable taxes and reduced our people, especially our peasantry, to a state of extreme poverty. They have hampered the prospering of our national bourgeoisie; From French c After rose to Republi The nese an The Dai ha a cent Fathe chic place FC repre web all t and the export trade. they have mercilessly exploited our workers. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM 51 Creator and the pure vader sene th, all the possa 791 on the reman inte ас .al nch impersian ity, have vile have acadou e of every on up three dis ch of Vietnam In the autumn of 1940, when the Japanese Fascists violated Indochi- na's territory to establish new bases in their fight again French imperialists went down on their bended knees and handed over the Allies, the our country to them. Thus, from that date, our people were subjected to the double yoke of the French and the Japanese. Their sufferings and miseries increased. The result was that from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, from Quang Tri province to the North of Vietnam, more than two million of our fellow-citizens died from starvation. On March 9, the French troops were disarmed by the Japanese. The French colonialists either fled or surrendered showing that not only were they incapable of “protecting” us, but that, in the span of five years, they had twice sold our country to the Japanese. On several occasions before March 9, the Viet Minh League urged the French to ally themselves with it against the Japanese. Instead of agreeing to this proposal, the French colonialists so intensified their terrorist activities against the Viet Minh members that before fleeing they massacred a great number of our political prisoners detained at Yen Bay and Cao Bang. Notwithstanding all this, our fellow-citizens have always manifested toward the French a tolerant and humane attitude. Even after the Japa- nese putsch of March 1945, the Viet Minh League helped many French- men to cross the frontier, rescued some of them from Japanese jails, and protected French lives and property. From the autumn of 1940, our country had in fact ceased to be a French colony and had become a Japanese possession. After the Japanese had surrendered to the Allies, our whole people rose to regain our national sovereignty and to found the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The truth is that we have wrested our independence from the Japa- nese and not from the French. The French have fled, the Japanese have capitulated, Emperor Bao Dai has abdicated. Our people have broken the chains which for nearly a century have fettered them and have won independence for the Fatherland. Our people at the same time have overthrown the monar- chic regime that has reigned supreme for dozens of centuries. In its place has been established the present Democratic Republic. For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government, representing the whole Vietnamese people, declare that from now on we break off all relations of a colonial character with France; we repeal all the international obligation that France has so far subscribed to on ople from bei ave merck vers of blood ered ignite and alcube the bachi ur forests of banko d reduced verte / bouge 52 1945-1947: DECOLONIZATION BECOMES IMAGINABLE behalf of Vietnam and we abolish all the special rights the French have unlawfully acquired in our Fatherland. The whole Vietnamese people, animated by a common purpose, are determined to fight to the bitter end against any attempt by the French colonialists to reconquer their country. We are convinced that the Allied nations which at (the 1943 “Big Three” meeting between Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Frank- lin Roosevelt in) Tehran and [in signing the 1945 United Nations Charter in] San Francisco have acknowledged the principles of self- determination and equality of nations, will not refuse to acknowledge the independence of Vietnam. A people who have courageously opposed French domination for more than eight years, a people who have fought side by side with the Allies against the Fascists during these last years, such a people must be free and independent. For these reasons, we, members of the Provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, solemnly declare to the world that Vietnam has the right to be a free and independent country—and in fact is so already. The entire Vietnamese people are determined to mobi- lize all their physical and mental strength, to sacrifice their lives and property in order to safeguard their independence and liberty. 4 An Appeal of the Vietnamese Bishops in Favor of the Independence of Their Country September 23, 1945 TI u rast resort, may have On September 23, 1945, soon after Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnamese independence in Hanoi (see Document 3), four Roman Catholic bishops of Vietnamese origin put their names on this public letter to Pope Pius XII. On November 4, 1945, as French troops moved to reassert control over their nation's Southeast Asian colonies, the same men published the “Message of the Four Vietnamese Bishops to the Christians of the toata Roof De-II-heghurt to achieve Freedom, even if force destroys them and the world. We are determined to be free. We want education. We want the right omy and independence, so far and no further than it is possible in this to earn a decent living; the right to express our thoughts and emotions, to adopt and create forms of beauty. We demand for Black Africa auton- "One World” for groups and peoples to rule themselves subject to inevi- table world unity and federation. We are not ashamed to have been an age-long patient people. We continue willingly to sacrifice and strive. But we are unwilling to starve any longer while doing the world's drudgery, in order to support by our poverty and ignorance a false aristocracy and a discarded imperialism. We condemn the monopoly of capital and the rule of private wealth and industry for private profit alone. We welcome economic democracy as the only real democracy. Therefore, we shall complain, appeal and arraign. We will make the world listen to the facts of our condition. We will fight in every way we can for freedom, democracy and social betterment. 6 UNESCO The Statement on Race July 1950 In addition to questions of political sovereignty, debates around racism and its role in colonialism influenced all episodes of decolonization in the years after World War II . In 1949, some one hundred scientists and social scientists were called together under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) From UNESCO, Four Statements on the Race Question (Paris: UNESCO, 1969), 30, 32-35. DEFINING NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS pl th i 56 with the goal of synthesizing a clear statement about the science of "race that could shape public discussions. In this task, they received advice and assistance from diplomats, politicians, and bureaucrats associated with UNESCO. Their statement, published in 1950, was clear in its rejection of many previous presumptions about the concept of race, and almost immediately it sparked substantial controversy, on both political and scientific grounds. Less than a year after its publication, UNESCO published a revised version of the statement, which included more input from biologists and physical anthropologists. The original 1950 version, however, had far more popular impact and is excerpted here. Note the role that scientific authority plays in its claims. Consider also the tension in the text between asserting respect for differences among various groups and making claims of sameness. Interestingly, the entire text is structured as a point- by-point (though tacit) rebuttal of Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). 1. Scientists have reached general agreement in recognising that mankind is one that all men belong to the same species, homo sapiens. It is further generally agreed among scientists that all men are prob- ably derived from the same common stock; and that such differences as exist between different groups of mankind are due to the operation of evolutionary factors of differentiation such as isolation, the drift and random fixation of the material particles which control heredity (the genes), changes in the structure of these particles, hybridisation, and natural selection. In these ways groups have arisen of varying stabil- ity and degree of differentiation which have been classified in different ways for different purposes. 2. From the biological standpoint, the species homo sapiens is made up of a number of populations, each one of which differs from the others in the frequency of one or more genes. Such genes, responsible for the hereditary differences between men, are always few when compared to the whole genetic constitution of man and to the vast number of genes common to all human beings regardless of the population to which they belong. This means that the likenesses among men are far greater than their differences. 10. The scientific material available to us at present does not justify the conclusion that inherited genetic differences are a major factor in ciated with its rejection advice and THE STATEMENT ON RACE 57 d almost cal and revised gists and had far scientific xt between eing a point- apf (My ing that sapiens re prob- erences eration producing the differences between the cultures and cultural achieve- ments of different peoples or groups. It does indicate, however, that the history of the cultural experience which each group has undergone is the major factor in explaining such differences. The one trait which above all others has been at a premium in the evolution of men's men- tal characters (characteristics) has been educability, plasticity. This is a trait which all human beings possess. It is indeed, a species character of homo sapiens. 11. So far as temperament is concerned, there is no definite evidence that there exist inborn differences between human groups. There is evi- dence that whatever group differences of the kind there might be are greatly overridden by the individual differences, and by the differences springing from environmental factors. 12. As for personality and character, these may be considered race- less. In every human group a rich variety of personality and character types will be found, and there is no reason for believing that any human group is richer than any other in these respects. 13. With respect to race mixture, the evidence points unequivo- cally to the fact that this has been going on from the earliest times. Indeed, one of the chief processes of race formation and race extinc- tion or absorption is by means of hybridisation between races or ethnic groups. Furthermore, no convincing evidence has been adduced that race mixture of itself produces biologically bad effects. Statements that human hybrids frequently show undesirable traits, both physically and mentally, physical disharmonies and mental degeneracies, are not sup- ported by the facts. There is, therefore, no biological justification for prohibiting intermarriage between persons of different ethnic groups. 14. The biological fact of race and the myth of "race" should be dis- tinguished. For all practical social purposes "race" is not so much a bio- logical phenomenon as a social myth. The myth of “race" has created an enormous amount of human and social damage. In recent years it has taken a heavy toll in human lives and caused untold suffering. It still pre- vents the normal development of millions of human beings and deprives civilisation of the effective co-operation of productive minds. The bio- logical differences between ethnic groups should be disregarded from the standpoint of social acceptance and social action. The unity of man- kind from both the biological and social viewpoints is the main thing. To recognise this and to act accordingly is the first requirement of modern man. It is but to recognise what a great biologist wrote in 1875: “As man advances in civilisation, and small tribes are united into larger com- ift and y (the n, and stabil Ferent made hers - the d to nes Hey nan fy in munities, the simplest reason would tell each individual that he ought 58 e. All nor comm recipr biolog ethni cal o bein Lastly, biol hood; for n drives are being who with his fe and man brother's main, be millenniums plainly exhibit. Original Prof. Prof DEFINING NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS to extend his social instincts and sympathies to all the members of the same nation, though personally unknown to him. This point being once reached, there is only an artificial barrier to prevent his sympathies Charles Darwin in The Descent of Man (2nd ed., 1875, pp. 187-8). And, extending to the men of all nations and races." These are the words of indeed, the whole of human history shows that a co-operative spirit is tendencies. If this were not so we should not see the growth of integra- not only natural to men, but more deeply rooted than any self-seeking tion and organisation of his communities which the centuries and the 15. We now have to consider the bearing of these statements on the problem of human equality. It must be asserted with the utmost emphasis that equality as an ethical principle in no way depends upon the assertion that human beings are in fact equal in endowment. Obvi- ously individuals in all ethnic groups vary greatly among themselves in endowment. Nevertheless, the characteristics in which human groups differ from one another are often exaggerated and used as a basis for questioning the validity of equality in the ethical sense. For this pur- pose we have thought it worthwhile to set out in a formal manner what is at present scientifically established concerning individual and group differences. In matters of race, the only characteristics which anthropolo- gists can effectively use as a basis for classifications are physical and physiological b. According to present knowledge there is no proof that the groups of mankind differ in their innate mental characteristics, whether in respect of intelligence or temperament. The scien- tific evidence indicates that the range of mental capacities in all ethnic groups is much the same. Historical and sociological studies support the view that genetic differences are not of importance in determining the social and cultural differences between different groups of Homo sapiens, and that the social and cultural changes in different groups have, in the main, been independent of changes in inborn con- stitution. Vast social changes have occurred which were not in any way connected with changes in racial type. d. There is no evidence that race mixture as such produces bad results from the biological point of view. The social results of race mixture whether for good or ill are to be traced to social factors. Prof Pro Pro Dr. Pro Pr a. Text Prof Dob Wil Ste: C. THE STATEMENT ON RACE 59 e. f All normal human beings are capable of learning to share in a common life, to understand the nature of mutual service and reciprocity, and to respect social obligations and contracts. Such biological differences as exist between members of different ethnic groups have no relevance to problems of social and politi- cal organisation, moral life and communication between human beings. Lastly, biological studies lend support to the ethic of universal brother- hood; for man is born with drives toward co-operation, and unless these drives are satisfied, men and nations alike fall ill. Man is born a social being who can reach his fullest development only through interaction with his fellows. The denial at any point of this social bond between men and man brings with it disintegration. In this sense, every man is his brother's keeper. For every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main, because he is involved in mankind. Original statement drafted at UNESCO House, Paris, by the following experts: Prof. Ernest Beaglehole (New Zealand); Professor Juan Comas (Mexico); Professor L. A. Costa Pinto (Brazil); Professor Franklin Frazier (United States of America); Professor Morris Ginsberg (United Kingdom); Dr. Humayun Kabir (India); Professor Claude Lévi-Strauss (France); Professor Ashley Montagu (United States of America) (rapporteur). Text revised by Professor Ashley Montagu, after criticism submitted by Professors Hadley Cantril, E. G. Conklin, Gunnar Dahlberg, Theodosius Dobzhansky, L. C. Dunn, Donald Hager, Julian S. Huxley, Otto Klineberg, Wilbert Moore, H. J. Muller, Gunnar Myrdal, Joseph Needham, Curt Stern. enchanted with free enterprise that heat boiling they have clearly not taken note that underdeveloped countries of the into democratic capitalism. It might console us, if we want to see this as feudal type can slide much more easily into a Communist regime than clear proof that capitalism has gone much farther down the road, but the fact remains the same. And should it cast its bright glow over the first world, perhaps the latter, even if any reaction of human solidarity were and fierce, toward life. Because that third world, ignored, exploited, and absent, might begin to recognize a slow and irresistible thrust, humble despised, like the Third Estate, wants to be something, too. 8 FIRST AFRO-ASIAN CONFERENCE Final Communiqué April 24, 1955 In 1955, the first Afro-Asian Conference, known as the Bandung Con- ference for the city in which it was held, brought together the leaders of twenty-nine countries in the recently independent Republic of Indonesia (see Map 3, page 11). The man who had led his country's violent struggle against the Dutch, Ahmed Sukarno, invited leaders of recently decolo- nized independent states, such as India, the Philippines, and Pakistan, as well as representatives of states that had recently cast off Western domina- tion, notably the People's Republic of China and Egypt, to discuss what united them and how they could influence world events. The conference also welcomed leaders and representatives of groups fighting for inde- pendence and against colonialism. The Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN), in particular, garnered enormous attention and support at Bandung From Foreign Policy of India: Texts of Documents, 1947–64 (New Delhi: Lok Sabha Secre- tariat, 1966), 525-31. FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ 63 onservatives ence, it saps master the mination, so end in itself, tries of the -egime than The Final Communiqué of the conference was remarkable for its forthright and critical assessment of the history and continuing existence of Western overseas colonialism. Diplomatic formulas did little to soften the verbal blows. While economic cooperation was a key element of the document, the following excerpts highlight the areas that received the most attention at the time--for example, the continuing effects of colonial rule in the Arab world and in Africa, particularly North Africa. see this as oad, but the ver the first darity were 1st, humble bloited, and g Con- The Asian-African Conference, convened upon the invitation of the Prime Ministers of Burma, Ceylon, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, met in Bandung from the 18th to the 24th April, 1955. In addition to the sponsoring countries the following 24 countries participated in the Conference: 1. Afghanistan 2. Cambodia 3. People's Republic of China 4. Egypt 5. Ethiopia 6. Gold Coast 7. Iran 8. Iraq 9. Japan 10. Jordan 11. Laos 12. Lebanon 13. Liberia 14. Libya 15. Nepal 16. Philippines 17. Saudi Arabia 18. Sudan 19. Syria 20. Thailand 21. Turkey ders of donesia it struggle ecolo- kistan, as domina- s what ference inde- ation apport at bha Secre- DEFINING NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS 64 Democratic Republic of Vietnam 23. State of Vietnam 24. Yemen The Asian-African Conference considered problems of common inter means by which their people could achieve fuller economic, cultural and est and concern to countries of Asia and Africa and discussed ways and 3. It was not groups of natic ence viewed the African countr sality, the Cor tion should be Side by si tion the cour with others. the promoti political cooperation. ... Cultural Cooperation Human R 1. The damental United N Rights as nations. self-dete the Unit the rigt requisi 2. I of raci ernme parts 1. The Asian-African Conference was convinced that among the most powerful means of promoting understanding among nations is the development of cultural cooperation. Asia and Africa have been the cradle of great religions and civilizations, which have enriched other cultures and civilizations while themselves being enriched in the pro cess. Thus the cultures of Asia and Africa are based on spiritual and universal foundations. Unfortunately contacts among Asian and African countries were interrupted during the past centuries. The peoples of Asia and Africa are now animated by a keen and sincere desire to renew their old cultural contacts and develop new ones in the context of the modern world. All participating Governments at the Conference reiter- ated their determination to work for closer cultural cooperation. 2. The Asian-African Conference took note of the fact that the exis- tence of colonialism in many parts of Asia and Africa, in whatever form it may be, not only prevents cultural cooperation but also suppresses the national cultures of the people. Some colonial powers have denied to their dependent peoples basic rights in the sphere of education and culture, which hampers the development of their personality and also prevents cultural intercourse with other Asian and African peoples. This is particularly true in the case of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, where the basic right of the people to study their own language and culture has been suppressed. Similar discrimination has been practiced against Afri- can and coloured people in some parts of the Continent of Africa. The Conference felt that these policies amount to a denial of the fundamental rights of man, impede cultural advancement in this region and also ham- per cultural cooperation on the wider international plane. The Confer- ence condemned such a denial of fundamental rights in the sphere of education and culture in some parts of Asia and Africa by this and other forms of cultural suppression. In particular, the Conference condemned rights its w victi. Indi tain to e tric dal P racialism as a means of cultural suppression. T FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ 65 groups non inter- ways and tural and 3. It was not from any sense of exclusiveness or rivalry with other of nations and other civilizations and cultures that the Confer- ence viewed the development of cultural cooperation among Asian and African countries. True to the age-old tradition of tolerance and univer- sality, the Conference believed that Asian and African cultural coopera- tion should be developed in the larger context of world cooperation. Side by side with the development of Asian-African cultural coopera- tion the countries of Asia and Africa desire to develop cultural contacts with others. This would enrich their own culture and would also help in the promotion of world peace and understanding. ... long the ations is been the ed other the pro- tual and African oples of o renew t of the e reiter- he exis er form Dresses denied Human Rights and Self-Determination 1. The Asian-African Conference declared its full support of the fun- damental principles of Human Rights as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and took note of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. The Conference declared its full support of the principle of self-determination of peoples and nations as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and took note of the United Nations resolutions on the rights of peoples and nations to self-determination, which is a pre- requisite of the full enjoyment of all fundamental Human Rights. 2. The Asian-African Conference deplored the policies and practices of racial segregation and discrimination, which form the basis of gov- ernment and human relations in large regions of Africa and in other parts of the world. Such conduct is not only a gross violation of human rights, but also a denial of the dignity of man. The Conference extended its warm sympathy and support for the courageous stand taken by the victims of raciai discrimination, especially by the peoples of African and Indian and Pakistani origin in South Africa; applauded all those who sus- tain their cause; reaffirmed the determination of Asian-African peoples to eradicate every trace of racialism that might exist in their own coun- tries; and pledged to use its full moral influence to guard against the danger of falling victims to the same evil in their struggle to eradicate it. on and ad also s. This where re has st Afri a. The mental ham- onfer Problems of Dependent Peoples 1. The Asian-African Conference discussed the problems of depen- dent peoples and colonialism and the evils arising from the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation and exploitation. The Conference is agreed: ere of other mned 66 DEFINING NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS a. c. In declaring that colonialism in all its manifestations is an evil which should speedily be brought to an end; b. In affirming that the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and cooperation; In declaring its support of the cause of freedom and indepen- dence for all such peoples, and d. In calling upon the powers concerned to grant freedom and independence to such peoples. 2. In view of the unsettled situation in North Africa and of the persisting denial to the peoples of North Africa of their right to self- determination, the Asian-African Conference declared its support of the rights of the people of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia to self- determination and independence and urged the French Government to bring about a peaceful settlement of the issue without delay. Other Problems 1. In view of the existing tension in the Middle East, caused by the situation in Palestine and of the danger of that tension to world peace, the Asian-African Conference declared its support of the rights of the Arab people of Palestine and called for the implementation of the United Nations Resolutions on Palestine and the achievement of the peaceful settlement of the Palestine question. ... ... The Asian-African Conference recommended that the Five Spon- soring Countries consider the convening of the next meeting of the Con- ference, in consultation with the participating countries. BANDUNG, 24 April, 1955 jugation, undamental ed Nations 9 ce and RICHARD WRIGHT ndepen The Color Curtain: A Report on the Bandung Conference 1956 mand nd of the ht to self- support a to self- nment to by the a peace, s of the United eaceful The African American writer Richard Wright was one of the many independent observers who went to Indonesia to cover the Bandung Conference of 1955 (see Document 8). In The Color Curtain, published shortly after the conference, Wright reported on this unprecedented gathering of anticolonial leaders. In Bandung, as he famously wrote, "the despised, the insulted, the hurt, the dispossessed ... the underdogs of the human race were meeting.” The conference gave the so-called third world a voice and a face and set the stage for the emergence of a group that called itself the Non-Aligned Movement. While many of the states in attendance were firmly on one side or the other of the U.S.-Soviet cold war, states such as India, Indonesia, and Egypt were actively looking to formulate their own approach to world politics. Several years later, when the Chinese Communist government broke with the Soviet Union, the idea that it might be possible to avoid alignment received new impetus. Still, many observers viewed nonalignment as more threatening to the West than to the Soviets and their allies. Wright, who had come to international prominence with the publica- tion of his controversial novel Native Son in 1940, left the United States for France in 1949. His decision to go into exile was driven by his anger at both the racist climate he saw in his homeland and the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA). A former member of the party, he quit partly because he believed that it, among other flaws, neither took racism seriously nor understood how racism shaped politics. Wright went to Bandung with much excitement, hoping to see how other people of color were charting their own paths. As this excerpt reveals, however, he left with more-mixed feelings. In particular, as the last line suggests, he warned of the attraction that communism might have for anticolonial- ists if the West ignored them, a temptation he embodies in the person of Chinese prime minister Zhou Enlai. Spon- e Con- 1955 From Richard Wright, Black Power: Three Books from Exile (New York: Harper Peren- nial, 2008), 540-42,593. 67 DEFINING NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS 68 "Religi rostrum to deliver the opening address. ... world. TE the globe And "Alme colonial Suka ties in as I sat Bandu tional demo. them. turbu It men cal vi thea At last Sukarno, President of the Republic of Indonesia, mounted the he moved slowly, deliberately. He spoke in English with a slight accent; He was a small man, tan of face, and with a pair of dark, deep-set eyes, he knew words and how to use them, and you realized at once that this man had done nothing all his life but utilize words to capture the atten tion and loyalties of others. From the very outset, he sounded the notes of race and religion, strong, defiant; before he had uttered more than a hundred syllables, he declared: "This is the first international conference of colored peoples in the history of mankind!"... And why had they now come together? Sukarno said: “... We are living in a world of fear. The life of man today is cor- roded and made bitter by fear. Fear of the future, fear of the hydrogen bomb, fear of ideologies. Perhaps this fear is a greater danger than the danger itself, because it is fear which drives men to act foolishly, to act thoughtlessly, to act dangerously. ... And do not think that the oceans and the seas will protect us. The food we eat, the water that we drink, yes, even the very air that we breathe can be contaminated by poisons originating from thousands of miles away. And it could be that, even if we ourselves escaped lightly, the unborn generations of our children would bear on their distorted bodies the marks of our failure to control the forces which have been released on the world." What strength had Sukarno and Asian and African leaders like him? He was frank about it. He said: "For many generations our peoples have been the voiceless ones in the world. We have been the unregarded, the peoples for whom decisions were made by others whose interests were paramount, the peoples who lived in poverty and humiliation. ... What can we do? The peoples of Asia and Africa wield little physical power. Even our eco- nomic strength is dispersed and slight. We cannot indulge in power poli- tics. ... Our statesmen, by and large, are not backed up with serried (closed) ranks of jet bombers." He then defined the strength of this gathering of the leaders of the poor and backward nations as: "We, the peoples of Asia and Africa, 1,400,000,000 strong, far more than half of the population of the world, we can mobilize what I have called the Moral Violence of Nations in favor of peace.... And where was this moral violence coming from? Sukarno knew to what he was appealing, for he said: to g ther ago hac wh af ing an fe re a inted the THE COLOR CURTAIN: A REPORT ON THE BANDUNG CONFERENC set eyes, taccente, that this he atten de notes e than a s in the is cor- drogen can the to act oceans drink, isons ven if ldren ontrol “Religion is of dominating importance particularly in this part of the world. There are perhaps more religions here than in other regions of the globe. ... Our countries were the birthplace of religions.” And what bound these diverse peoples together? Sukarno said: "Almost all of us have ties to common experience, the experience of colonialism." Sukarno was appealing to race and religion; they were the only reali- ties in the lives of the men before him that he could appeal to. And, as I sat listening, I began to sense a deep and organic relation here in Bandung between race and religion, two of the most powerful and irra- tional forces in human nature. Sukarno was not evoking these twin demons; he was not trying to create them; he was trying to organize them. ... The reality of race and religion was there, swollen, sensitive, turbulent. ... It was no accident that most of the delegates were deeply religious men representing governments and vast populations steeped in mysti- cal visions of life. Asian and African populations had been subjugated on the assumption that they were in some way biologically inferior and unfit to govern themselves, and the white Western world that had shackled them had either given them a Christian religion or else had made them agonizingly conscious of their old, traditional religions to which they had had to cling under conditions of imperialist rule. Those of them who had been converted to Christianity had been taught to hope for a freedom and social justice which the white Western world had teas- ingly withheld. Thus, a racial consciousness, evoked by the attitudes and practices of the West, had slowly blended with a defensive religious feeling; here, in Bandung, the two had combined into one: a racial and religious system of identification manifesting itself in an emotional nation- alism which was now leaping state boundaries and melting and merging, one into the other.... The results of the deliberations of the delegates at Bandung would be, of course, addressed to the people and the statesmen of the Western powers, for it was the moral notions-or lack of them- of those pow- ers that were in question here; it had been against the dominance of those powers that these delegates and their populations had struggled so long. After two days of torrid public speaking and four days of discus- sions in closed sessions, the Asian-African Conference issued a com- muniqué. It was a sober document, brief and to the point; yet it did not hesitate to lash out, in terse legal prose, at racial injustice and colonial exploitation him? ones hom the "The eco- Doli fied the ore ve to 70 DEFINING NEW INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS I repeat and underline that the document was addressed to the West. to the moral prepossessions of the West. It was my belief that the de egates at Bandung, for the most part, though bitter, looked and hoped toward the West.... The West, in my opinion, must be big enough, generous enough, to accept and understand that bitterness. The Ban dung communiqué was no appeal, in terms of sentiment or ideology, to Communism. Instead, it carried exalted overtones of the stern dignity of ancient and proud peoples who yearned to rise and play again a role in human affairs. It was also my conviction that, if this call went unheeded, ignored, and if these men, as they will, should meet again, their appeal would be different. ... IN SUM, BANDUNG WAS THE LAST CALL OF WESTERNIZED ASIANS TO THE MORAL CONSCIENCE OF THE WEST! If the West spurns this call, what will happen? I don't know. ... But remember that Mr. Chou En-lai stands there, waiting, patient, with no record of racial practices behind him. ... He will listen. 10 JOSEPH KIRIRA AND JOSIAH KARIUKI Song of Africa (Kenyan Song) 1957 The immediate aftermath of independence saw efforts in many decolo- nized countries to preserve as much information about the anticolonial struggle as possible. This was particularly true in places such as Kenya, where harsh repression of such activities had rendered primary sources rare (see Map 2, page 5). In much of the colonized world as well, the vast majority of people were illiterate and thus unable to express them- selves in writing. Traditionally, historians focus on primary source evidence that was written at the time the events in question took place. In an effort to recover voices that might be lost to history, oral historians seek to use subsequent interviews and testimonials to obtain information about how people understood what they lived through. This is one o
Purchase answer to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Explanation & Answer

Find attached

Lastname1
Name
Professor
Institutional Affiliation
Date
Colonialism of Africa and Asia
The Asian and African countries faced most part of the colonialism from the western and
European countries. The colonial masters imposed their cultures, religion, practices and
education to the people corrupting their ways. The Asian and African continents which share the
fact that their societies are guided by strong religious and cultural beliefs were opposed to other
religions being imposed on them.
The “Code Noir” which was written for the king of France in 1687 for the American
French Islands entailed laws that were imposed on slaves and their master at that time. The
French had received reports from their colonies in America and they showed how independent
their actions and conduct were to the Roman Catholic...


Anonymous
Awesome! Perfect study aid.

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4

Similar Content

Related Tags