Out of the Shadow of Colonialism

Abstract

The 15^th-century Renaissance lifted Europe from the medieval to the modern era, helping the continent to develop industrially and economically through the spread of knowledge in art, music, literature, religion, politics, and every other field. With the new-found knowledge Europeans ventured abroad to Asia, Africa, America, and the South Seas. They colonized countries and continents, denigrating the native populations by distorting history and making claims like Christianity is a Western religion and they are a “White” race. This paper delves into history and mythology to show, with the support of the views of superior minds, that the imperialists’ claims were spurious and self-serving, made to hide their rapacious desire for the resources of their colonies. Though European colonization ended long ago in most parts of the world, its detrimental effects still linger. Hence, history must be related honestly and truthfully to remove the vestiges of colonialism from our minds and from our language. Then we can realize the multicultural nature of the world, where contributions of all people are acknowledged and respected.