To allege that there is nothing good that came out of colonialism is at best disingenuous and at worst arrant stupidity. Colonialism ended tribal wars and established nation states. The Union of SA was created by an act of colonial legislation, a quintessential example of the good colonialism brought. Cities such as Pretoria, Cape Town and Johannesburg are products of colonialism, not to mention universities and infrastructure. It is embarrassing for any black person to brand colonialism as crass or totally evil if he unashamedly speaks English — a colonial language. The ordinary black man in Africa was better off under colonialism than under black rule. For instance, the standard of living of ordinary Zimbabweans (kleptocratic elite excluded) has regressed to that of the 1950s. Colonialism, just like any "ism" — capitalism, socialism or communism — is far from perfect, but to say that there was nothing good about colonialism is a denial of facts, symptomatic of dishonest, hypocriti...

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