Frederick Cooper’s Africa since 1940 focuses on the transition from colonialism to modern day Africa. It attempts to explain how the history of Africa has contributed to the current state of the African continent. Some argue that colonialism’s impact has completely shaped the history of Africa and has made Africa what it is today. Others argue that Africa has greatly changed since that era and the state of the continent today is not a result of colonialism. Frederick Cooper’s argument is that neither of these assumptions are completely true. The history of Africa is more complicated than that. The present state of Africa has been affected in part by the colonization of the continent but also in part by the separate events and history
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One example Cooper uses that displays the complexity of African history and current events is the situation in Rwanda at the end of the twentieth century. From the outside, the genocide in Rwanda seemed to stem from a tribal conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi people; however, this was not the case. The conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi actually stems from when the country was under Belgian rule. Belgian officials viewed the Tutsi people as more civilized and thus excluded the Hutu from political positions. The Hutu people began to resent the Tutsi people. They also required that everyone carry identification cards, a tactic that would be seen about one hundred years later in what is now referred to as the Rwandan Genocide. When the country gained independence in 1962, the Hutu feared that the Tutsi would try to gain complete control over the country and the Tutsi people feared becoming the minority group (Cooper, 2002, p. 7-8). From here, the situation spiraled into a civil conflict that resulted in unnecessary bloodshed. Government officials utilized propaganda to create an atmosphere of hatred (Cooper, 2002, p. 191). This is an example of a situation where European involvement started a conflict that the Rwandan government let spiral out of control. One
One example Cooper uses that displays the complexity of African history and current events is the situation in Rwanda at the end of the twentieth century. From the outside, the genocide in Rwanda seemed to stem from a tribal conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi people; however, this was not the case. The conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi actually stems from when the country was under Belgian rule. Belgian officials viewed the Tutsi people as more civilized and thus excluded the Hutu from political positions. The Hutu people began to resent the Tutsi people. They also required that everyone carry identification cards, a tactic that would be seen about one hundred years later in what is now referred to as the Rwandan Genocide. When the country gained independence in 1962, the Hutu feared that the Tutsi would try to gain complete control over the country and the Tutsi people feared becoming the minority group (Cooper, 2002, p. 7-8). From here, the situation spiraled into a civil conflict that resulted in unnecessary bloodshed. Government officials utilized propaganda to create an atmosphere of hatred (Cooper, 2002, p. 191). This is an example of a situation where European involvement started a conflict that the Rwandan government let spiral out of control. One