The statue of Leopold II, in honor of killing over 10 million Africans in Congo
"Why should a statue be built for King Leopold II after
he slaughtered ten million Africans in the Congo if there isn't one for Adolf
Hitler, who killed six million Jews?" Joel Savage is curious. Particularly
about King Leopold II of Belgium, the subject draws attention to a notable
discrepancy in how past leaders and governments accountable for mass atrocities
are honoring and celebrating their crimes in contemporary times.
Following World War II, the German government renamed
streets and squares that bore Adolf Hitler's name as part of the denazification
process. The goal of this endeavor was to demolish the Nazi regime's propaganda
and emblems, which had methodically captured public areas in honor of Hitler
and other Nazi leaders as soon as they came to power in 1933. People are deeply
troubled by Hitler's murder of more than six million Jews.
Other reasons for renaming were to disassociate the nation
from the philosophy and horrors of the Nazi era, as well as to eliminate the
personality cult that surrounded Hitler. More significantly, the changes were
implemented by the German government because it regarded humanity. Therefore,
Belgium needs to explain to the world why there is a statue for someone who
killed ten million Africans. This illustrates the country’s complicated
colonial heritage.
On the other hand, from 1885 until 1908, King Leopold II of
Belgium ruled the Congo Free State as a personal colony. He was responsible for
a brutal regime that exploited the area for rubber and ivory through severe
violence and forced labor. Malnutrition, disease, forced labor, and mutilation,
including the widespread amputation of hands as a punishment for failing to
reach rubber quotas, are estimated to have killed between 10 and 20 million
Africans.
Leopold II was never held accountable for his crimes, in
spite of this. When international outrage grew, he was forced to relinquish
control of the Congo to the Belgian government in 1908, but he remained a
respected monarch in Belgium until he died in 1909. The US and Western Europe denounced the
atrocities of Hitler but not Leopold II, because the victims were Black
Africans, but Hitler targeted white Europeans.
More importantly, Western historical narratives have often
downplayed or ignored slavery, apartheid, and colonial crimes due to
deep-seated racism. The Nuremberg Trials ensured that Nazi crimes were publicly
confronted, whereas colonial atrocities were largely suppressed or minimized by
European powers. Despite the public awareness of Leopold II and protests calling
for the removal of statues and the renaming of public spaces, the Belgian
government and the royal family have refused to act.
Throughout Belgium, there are memorials commemorating the
violent history of the insane monarch and streets bearing his name. Remarkably,
the Belgian government is not threatened by these street names and pictures of
sculptures. However, because I am an African writer residing in Belgium, the
Belgian government considers my pieces to be dangerous. As a result, they have
been working with Google to continuously undermine my site, "Juskosave's
Ghana," for years.
For instance, the majority of my writings criticizing the
Belgian government and the royal family for encouraging criminal activity have
been taken from search engines, and several of my article URLs have been
changed to 404 errors. My blog used to receive up to 10,000 daily readers
because of its excellent content. Today, 100 reads have been registered as a
result of the blog's visibility being reduced and users' access being denied.
This callous act against humanity committed by the
Belgian government compelled me to visit the Stuivenberg Hospital to look into
the peculiar circumstances surrounding the deaths of Africans receiving
treatment there. After my investigations, I discovered that despite the
hospital's improvements, foreigners were still afraid to visit. The hospital
has been closed down permanently since 2023.
Reference: My Name Is Joel Savage: Why I Am The Most
Hated Journalist In Belgium.
I would not have understood that American and European media
are paid to disseminate misleading information about man-made diseases against
the African continent if I hadn't been in Europe. In 2008, activist Théophile
de Giraud painted a statue of Leopold II in Brussels crimson, arguing that
Belgium needs to exhibit self-criticism similar to what Russia and Germany did
with Hitler and Stalin.
Since its reopening in 2018, the Royal Museum of Africa in
Tervuren has amassed over 180,000 objects from the Congo, many of which were
taken during Leopold's reign. Despite Leopold II's involvement in the deaths of
an estimated 10 to 20 million Africans, the existence of sculptures honoring
him reflects a historical heritage that has often praised colonial leaders
while concealing the full extent of their atrocities.
As I have repeatedly stated, the African continent will
not beg the Belgian government to demolish Leopold's crime-supporting statues
or to show respect for Africans. Those statues will be taken down either before
or after I pass away, once Belgium's economy starts to decline and its
relationship with the Black Continent has waned. We saw it happen today in
France, after its former colonies, including Burkina Faso, cut ties with its
former colonial master.
I will remind Belgium of one of the quotes of the president
they murdered, Patrice Lumumba: “The day will come when history will speak. But
it will not be the history that will be taught in Brussels, Paris, Washington,
or the United Nations. It will be the history that is taught in countries that
have won freedom from colonialism and its puppet regimes. Africa will write its
own history, and in both north and south it will be a history of glory and
dignity.”