Over the past couple of years, the West stood by while millions of innocent Syrians were displaced by Assad’s brutal regime. What’s worse, Western countries have been supplying a steady stream of weapons to the Syrian regime, directly supporting the assault on its civilians. Our dealings with Syria and our failure to intervene have created refugee crisis, the likes of which the world has never seen before. But the reality is, this is nothing new – it is simply one more drop in the sea of blood left by the Western colonial capitalist war machine. The following is a small sample of the long list of crimes against humanity that the west is responsible for, which offers some insight into why the West is both so hated and so guilt-ridden.
The Crusades
White western Christians love to claim that Christianity is a peaceful religion, and that Islam is a religion of violence, however history tells a different story. A closely guarded secret is that Christians engaged in the most bloody and brutal religious conquest in history. During the almost 400 year crusades against the Islamic world, it is estimated that over five million Muslims were brutally murdered during the Christian killing spree that engulfed the middle east. One can’t help but draw parallels to our current involvement in the Middle East and our failure to take action when many Muslims face persecution from their own governments.
Slavery
The west loves to pride itself on being a multicultural and open society, but its past is far from inclusive and tolerant. For hundreds of years, Europe and America bought and sold African men and women as if they were property, often subjecting them to brutal working conditions and raping their women. The West’s legacy of slavery is shameful and its damage to the African-American community will take centuries to undo.
Imperialism
The Western tradition of conquest and imperialism dates back thousands of years. From the Greek Empire, to the Roman Empire, to the British Empire, almost every European country has taken part in this barbarism. During Europe’s imperialist reign, countries were subjected to brutal rule and humiliation by their masters, and trillions of dollars worth of resources were stolen, which is the source of the West’s current wealth and prosperity.
Systematic and Subconscious Racism
Today, the white patriarchy has moved into the shadows. It is too cowardly to rear its head in public; so it instead resorts to hidden forms of racism and exploitation that are just as (if not more) insidious than the legacy of slavery and colonialism. Minorities in America and Europe struggle to find jobs in white society, and when they do they are often mistreated and underpaid. While white society always provides another reason for their mistreatment of minorities, at a deeper subconscious level, maybe even unknown to them, their behavior is driven by the same racism that drove the crusades and slavery.
Conclusion
The trail of blood left by the Western white male patriarchy is long and deep, and the west has barely even begun to pay the reparations owed to the millions of people who have been victimized by its wrath. Paying back this debt will be a multi-generational, multi-century task, but a good place to start would be to open our hearts and borders and provide food, shelter and a decent standard of living to the millions of helpless Syrian refugees that are desperately seeking a new home. This is the very least that we can do, and while it may not be much, at least it’s a start.
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Thank you for the link to this very thoughtful piece. I agree that the white man has brought nothing but devastation to this planet. I am ashamed to be one. I’ve often thought about trying to change my appearance to look “less white” as I truly am embarrassed to go out in public.
I think the solution is to live a more tribal life, in touch with the earth, yet realize that a global government is needed to guide us to do the right thing.
One thing you could do is attend a couple of the black lives matter protests. Not only does this somewhat absolve you of your guilt, it also raises your social status and makes you part of the cool club.
White lives do not matter…at all.!
That type of insensitive sarcasm simply will not be tolerated on this accredited blog. That comment is incredibly distasteful and hurtful towards the black lives matter protestors, who are struggling with real and insidious forms of racism every day.
“The western tradition of conquest and imperialism dates back thousands of years. From the Greek Empire, to the Roman Empire, to the British Empire, almost every European country has taken part in this barbarism. During Europe’s imperialist reign, countries were subjected to brutal rule and humiliation by their masters, and trillions of dollars worth of resources were stolen, which is the source of the West’s current wealth and prosperity.”
Not true! i’m from europe, but my country never,ever attack or rob any other country, so be so kind and be specific, thx in advance …
Well, Belgium is now paying for its interference in the Middle East, its armed forces, drones, depleted uranium ordnance, disproportional responses, boots on the ground with disregard of civilian non-combatants, bombing of schools and hospitals.
No wonder the Mohammedans hate the Belgians so much!