Fire this man immediately
Simukai Chigudu is associate professor of African politics at the University of Oxford
In modern Britain, colonialism has transcended its historical epoch. It exists in the present as a kind of nostalgia for the country's hegemony on the world stage, while fuelling nationalism, buttressing white supremacy and generating anxieties about immigration and cultural change.
The argument against colonialism is nationalism and anxiety about immigration.
If no one was worried about Them Foreign coming over and running our country then there wouldn't be an argument against colonialism, would there?
And the thing is a professor at Oxford is supposed to be able to reason through such points……
As educators, I think part of our professional mandate is to constantly improve equality, diversity and inclusion among students and colleagues.
Actually, some of us think that an important part of the job is to think.
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31 thoughts on "Fire this man immediately"
philip May 25, 2021 at 2:37 pm
… colonialism has transcended its historical epoch. It exists in the present …
Colonialism is thus a state of mind. A deluded one, to be sure.
Diogenes May 25, 2021 at 2:40 pm
Personally I spend every hour of every day reflecting on the greatness of the British Empire. Not. He must have done a lot of detailed research to come up with that finding. In fact, just about the only time I do think about the Empire is when some moronic academic makes the accusation that I obsess about it
Tim Worstall May 25, 2021 at 2:44 pm
What's lovely about the bloke is that he trained as a doctor, practised in the NHS, moved on to population studies and epidemiology and only then moved onto the race gravy train.
Andrew C May 25, 2021 at 2:47 pm
'People are often scared to talk about race in the UK' Says the BBC.
Getting it right but probably not for the reasons they think.
"…constantly improve equality, diversity and inclusion among students and colleagues."
That last point. Inclusion. Inclusion of everyone who thinks the way they do.
"Different opinions have no place in an inclusive culture" Has probably been said by one of these people without a second thought about what they are saying.
Ottokring May 25, 2021 at 3:07 pm
Colonialism was about supremacy over the bloody French.
Twat.
Flubber May 25, 2021 at 3:27 pm
Can't we simply deport the race commies?
Starting with that hairy bitch Ash Sarkar..
Grikath May 25, 2021 at 3:51 pm
"Simukai Chigudu (born 1986) is an Associate Professor of African Politics at the University of Oxford. His work considers the social and political mechanisms that give rise to inequality in Africa."
Isn't he forgetting the very definite attitude his African Brethren in Africa have about who should be on Top and what to do with the losers?
And have demonstrated this immediately once "Whitey" buggered off or got booted out over the past decades?
Ohwait… Those are the questions you aren't supposed to ask….
Sam Vara May 25, 2021 at 3:52 pm
Those anxieties about immigration and cultural change which are fuelled by colonialism are so last century.
My anxieties are fuelled by rape gangs, gun crime, muggings, religious intolerance, and dodgy ideas about women and gays.
But I'll let you get on, Prof.
BraveFart May 25, 2021 at 4:01 pm
Even more unforgivable, this "academic" splits an infinitive.
jgh May 25, 2021 at 4:30 pm
Who are the people telling brown people in hot countries how to live their lives? Not westerners on the right. It's the western woke SJWs who insist on telling johnny African to stop popping out babies and trying to move beyond scraping food out of the dirt.
Adrian May 25, 2021 at 4:32 pm
I've never met anyone British with nostalgia for the Empire. There's the occasional Aussie, Kiwi or Indian of a generation who still hankers for the good old days. But no Brits. They might be out there but it is an eccentricity.
Theophrastus (2066) May 25, 2021 at 4:55 pm
I should have micro-aggressively wished him Happy Empire Day (May 24th). Next year, perhaps. I might even get a visit from Plod.
Van_Patten May 25, 2021 at 4:55 pm
I'd have to agree with the headline Tim – What value this 'academic' is adding to the department is certainly questionable. If he has spent six years (At least) at public expense trying to get a statue removed then I'd question whether we don't need to defund the entire faculty. Let them try and get private funding, even from the Silicon Valley types for this kind of 'crusade'.
Jonathan May 25, 2021 at 5:53 pm
Is African. Lives in a White country. Complains about colonialism….
@ Diogeges:
Personally I spend every hour of every day reflecting on the greatness of the British Empire.
The only person I've ever met who was nostalgic for Empire was a guy from Sierra Leone who told me that he wished the Brits would come back and take over because at least they treated everyone equally under the law. Something the current regime didn't do; your treatment depended on which tribe you belonged to and how much you afford to could bribe the Police and Courts…
Stonyground May 25, 2021 at 6:12 pm
"…at least they treated everyone equally under the law."
We don't even do that here nowadays.
Mark May 25, 2021 at 7:41 pm
Everybody, it seems, obsesses about the British empire except the white British. I'm certainly not ashamed of it (before anybody says, I know it was far from perfect), and to anybody who says that I should be, one simple question: Compared to which other empire, past or current?
Why does pretty well all criticism of this country seem to come down to "you haven't got an empire anymore" or "dreaming of/wanting to reinstate it", That was essentially 4 years of remaniac rhetoric (and its still full steam ahead).
I'm not ashamed, but an awful lot of people around the world seem to be envious. Their problem, not mine.
Race grift. Its blacknip to them. Once they've had a sniff, that's it!
bloke in spain May 25, 2021 at 7:42 pm
Please, please, gentlemen. Have some respect for your new colonial masters in these comments.
Roué le Jour May 25, 2021 at 11:09 pm
I'm not nostalgic for the British Empire, I'm nostalgic for the Romans. Go to Africa, toss Bigman M'Bongo in to the wood chipper, get the wogs organised, tribute, produce and slaves FOR THE GLORY OF ROME!
Flubber May 26, 2021 at 3:38 am
I lold when I read that the King of the Zulus wanted the whites back in charge of South Africa, even if it meant Apartheid, because the ANC were such cunts.
wat dabney May 26, 2021 at 5:03 am
The whole wasn't-European-colonialism-terrible schtick perpetuated by troughing, professional racists such as Simukai Chigudu can only be credible if the now-self-governing African countries had become beacons of freedom and prosperity.
'Look', he could say, 'look what they were missing out on.'
The fact that most African countries are the shit-holes of the world after so many decades of self-rule completely invalidates their argument.
They're left with the the purely racist position that black people suffering poverty and oppression under corrupt black governments and dictators is inherently preferable to peace and two-car families under whitey.
Boganboy May 26, 2021 at 6:12 am
Well, well. Racist colonialist is whining that the horrid white locals are guilty of anti-colonialism.
ken May 26, 2021 at 6:40 am
@wat dabney
There are some factors for which the West is responsible – the colonial borders are somewhat arbitary and things might have worked out better if countries had been more in line with tribal groupings (the relative success of Botswana and the preponderance of the Tswana is an example). The provision of aid has led to rent seeking behaviour and government sectors that are overly large relative to the productive capacity of the country. The really terrible advice from development economists (import substitution strategies in the early post independence days). The inspiration for so many independence movements being idiotic Marxists or socialists also a major problem. (Kind of a western issue)
It's also true that South Korea had a similar GDP per capita to Ghana in 1960 – around $1,000 (in constant 2010 US$). Korea today has $29K and Ghana is on under $2K.
Thailand and Kenya in 1960 around $500, today Thailand is $6.5K, Kenya is $1.2K.
The Philippines and Cote d'Ivoire were around $1,000, today Philippines is $3.3K and Cote d'Ivoire is $1.7K
Underperforming the Philippines is really pretty pathetic.
Roué le Jour May 26, 2021 at 7:30 am
the colonial borders are somewhat arbitary
A somewhat tired excuse in my opinion. You don't see the Swiss or the Belgians going for each other with machetes.
Mark May 26, 2021 at 8:12 am
If you want make comparisons with Korea, some mention of its treatment at the hands of its former colonial masters would perhaps be pertinent. And don't forget that Korea was laid waste pretty well from one end to the other by war. Not sure how many former African colonies this applies to.
Korea has had its share of corrupt rulers too.
They don't like the Japanese certainly but their way of getting back at them is to match them industrially, economically etc.
Is black Africa even capable of formulating the concept?
There really is no excuse for black Africa's backwardness apart from black Africans themselves. We should not be telling them otherwise.
Ottokring May 26, 2021 at 8:31 am
RlJ to be fair the Belgian tribes do hate each other, just because they are ( relatively) sensible doesn't mean that violence is not an option.
Some Swiss explained to me why their tribes don't fight: it is because dirty great mountains are in the way and one has to travel specifically to another tribal zone to be offended by them.
Jonathan May 26, 2021 at 9:42 am
@ Ken:
…the colonial borders are somewhat arbitary and things might have worked out better if countries had been more in line with tribal groupings…
It's funny to me that the anti-Whites who bring up the fact that different tribes can't get along in the same country also seem to be the people who insist that diversity is a strength.
@Roue de jour
Borders settled over time. And even in Europe, a big source of tension was (is) remains ethnic groups in neighbouring countries – Alsace-Lorraine, the ongoing issues in the Balkans and central Europe, in the 19th century there was the Schleswig-Holstein question.
It appears that some of the old borders in Africa are being resolved – the partition of Sudan, the independence of Eritrea, and the effective partition of Somalia. Ethiopia may fracture still further with the current war.
To be fair, Korea was a nation state pre-colonisation – although with some regional rivalries. Imperial Japan did industrialize, but mainly the North. Another comparison might be to Malaysia, which went from 1.3K to 12.5K between 1960 and 2019 and which collected some disparate peoples together.
Chris Miller May 26, 2021 at 11:25 am
It might have been possible to draw up a post-colonial map of Africa divided by tribe, but there would have been enclaves and exclaves all other the shop. And the history of those tribes hasn't been one of living peacefully side-by-side with settled borders.
"To be fair Korea was a nation state…."
Indeed it was. Malaysia has shown signs of genuine development (and that too was under the Japanese boot).
The question is not why these countries have advanced, but why black africa hasn't, and shows no real signs of being able to.
"Colonialism" just won't do anymore. Or if it's the excuse, reference should be made to the current Chinese colonialism rather than the generations expired British, French, Dutch or whoever.
The whole thing is an Occam's razor free zone, but for race grifters to feed it can be nothing else.
apodijfadfp May 27, 2021 at 5:20 am
Leftists: "It's racist to make assumptions about people based on skin color or national origin."
Also Leftists: "People with different skin color or national origin have different ideas."