‘ALIENS DID IT!’ A RACIST CONSPIRACY

The colonisation of Africa did not only target our resources and political systems - it also went for minds. The colonialists went to great lengths to control not only how we perceive ourselves but also how the rest of the world perceives Africa. They portrayed it as a place that lacked any form of civilisation before the colonisers stepped on our shores. The only problem with this theory is that the continent is awash with many ancient, pre-colonial African civilisations, as shown by the pyramids in the north of the continent, the Great Zimbabwe Monument and the legendary city of Timbuktu, among other marvels. To explain away this glaring refutation of the colonialists’ presumed civilisational superiority, they came up with an even more racist solution, suggesting that these African wonders are the work of aliens and not the local African people. African Stream's Clinton Nzala examines this ridiculous theory.