Gregory Ser
Prof. L
English 162W
20 April 2015
Colonialism
History has been part of the general education system every year for the first 12 years of
schooling for anyone like myself. Throughout grammar school, middle school, high school and
now in college, the historical concept of colonialism, also referred to as imperialism, has made
its presence quite often. Colonialism is a practice of one country going into another and using it
for labor, land, and any other profitable economic industry. Nowhere else at any point of my life
has a friend or family member ever mentioned colonialism besides at school. For me, I have no
personal relation or contact with this policy, what I do have is an insight acquired through years
of learning and research on the topic. Through observations I believe most people see
colonialism as a negative practice, that it only negatively affects the people under the stronger
countries regime. I feel that although it does oppress people, it benefits the larger part of the
community, bringing new intellect, and modern language to the people ready to accept it.
Although colonialism oppresses various people by denying them their personal identity, it
does also benefit those of the population who are eager to learn. This can be seen true when
countries would force their new “colonies” to learn the language of the dominant country. Before
the invasion of the foreign country the inhabitants of the region spoke and learned their own
language that has always existed. This gave them an identity associated with their region and
their family, it is personal to them because when compared to the world it specifies them to their
homeland. Ngugi wa Thiong’O depicts this exact scenario in his novel, Dreams in a Time of War,
when after the British take over the education system in his Kenyan town, the government-
sanctioned district board forces his school, Manguo, to teach English to its students. Although
Ser1
Thiong’O lost some part of his identity associated with learning his language, it also opens him
to the outside world; later in life allowing him to communicate with innumerable amounts of
people and even write a novel in English. Depending what side of the coin you look out, the
effects of colonialism could be quite different.
As mentioned before, colonialism is a practice taken by one country to plunder resources
from a smaller and weaker country. During the first half of the twentieth century Kenya was
encompassed by British rule, at home, in school, and at work, one aspect or another of daily life
was affected by colonialism. This led to natives losing their land and going from employers to
employees for a foreigner. To settle controversy over what was morally acceptable, Britain would
claim the colony in the name of God, saying they were benefiting the people in Kenya by
spreading to them their Roman Catholic religion. The education systems, the police, even the
Ser2
