Deny the British empire's crimes? No, we ignore them
The myth of the civilized English colonialism still believed a true story
by most people. When evidence is found and presented of distortions, they are
ignored. Moreover the British Government has even destroyed prove of misbehavior.
Caroline Elking, a professor at Harvard, has found that during the Kikuyu revolt in
Kenia in the 1950s prisoners were killed and tortured systematically. She has written
a book about it that won a prize but was for the rest ignored.
This is one example of how British people deal with their colonial past.
Comment
by Anne Marieke
I always wondered how countries like England and the Netherlands can be so
selective in remembering their history. They feel like they can judge other
countries but don’t reflect on their own past.
Balkenende said we should be proud of the VOC mentality. It is true they
earned a lot of money but so many people had to suffer because of that.
This article says that not only dictators write their own history, most
countries do.
I agree, the selectiveness of remembrance is really amazing. In Dutch history class, so little attention is paid to all the colonial atrocities committed by the Dutch in Indonesia. Instead, we always hear what the Germans have done to us.
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