Congo State Atrocities Summary

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In the early 1990s, Congo was considered a Free State; it was independent and had its own government ran by King Leopold. An article from the New York Times was written on January 3rd of 1902, and it contained information on the state of the Congo Free State at that current time. It starts off by saying Congo was a disgrace to civilization. The article goes on to tell of the tragedies that have taken place. Continuously, Congo is referred to as a disgrace. Therefore, the New York Times article “Congo State Atrocities” reveals a racial ideology through the language used throughout the article and by the events that were described. Captain Guy Burrows retired from Congo’s government and spoke to the New York Times about the state of being of Congo. He spoke about the horrible scenes he witnessed and of how the whites only wanted the rubber. First, he mentions how the Free State Government agreed with an American missionary to hand rifles to …show more content…
Furthermore, the Belgian officials reprimand the natives of Congo as if they were subordinates. Cutting the hands and ears off of the villagers just because they could not pay their taxes does not show equality. High aggression and brutality was used towards the natives; this was shown by the removal of the ears and hands, the lashing of the women, and the handing over of the natives to cannibal tribes. Furthermore, the government was taking the rubber from the Congo natives and using it for the monopolization of rubber industries which is indicating that only the Belgians could manage the creation of the rubber industry. When there was a need for action to be shown against the rubber monopoly, only minor officials were reproached. The behavior of King Leopold towards the Belgian rubber companies was very