From: mafewor@erenj.bitnet (MOBAE)
Subject: Re: Ethiopia /non racist Italians, a joke!!
Followup-To: soc.culture.african
Organization: Exxon Research and Engineering, New Jersey
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 19:33:12 GMT

In article <19037.2b0538af@ecs.umass.edu>, kijak@ecs.umass.edu wrote:
> 
> In article <2844.2B014C36@catpe.alt.za>, Steve.Hayes@p5.f22.n7101.z5.fidonet.org (Steve Hayes) writes:
> > On <09 Nov 1992 20:53> kijak@ecs.umass.edu (5:7104/2) said to All :
> > 
> >  kue>As an African from Ethiopia I do not think the cause of our 
> >  kue>civil wars was the 
> >  kue>Italian Colonialism. Eventhough it is not the sole factor, 
> >  kue>British colonialism 
> >  kue>has done more damage & is closer to the source. I would like to 
> >  kue>remind you the 
> >  kue>main factor in our destiny is ourselves. We(Africans in 
> >  kue>general) should watch 
> >  kue>for the machinations of the colonizers & the venom they have 
> >  kue>left. What did we
> >  kue>do the last 30 years? If we are not wise enough to avoid their 
> >  kue>traps we should
> >  kue>not blame them. It is a cruel world, we have to fight to 
> >  kue>survive. 
> > 
> > Thanks very much for a very interesting posting. 
> > 
> > I recently met Dr Solomon Inquai, who is in South Africa as a consultant to 
> > the Southern African Institute for Distance Education. He was born in Eritrea, 
> > and said that he remembered the Italian colonists from his childhood. He said 
> > that they were not Fascists, and that they did not consider themselves 
> > superior to the Ethiopians (unlike British coilonists in other parts of 
> > Africa). He said they were ordinary working class people and got on well with 
> > the local people. It was only the top government officials who were Fascists. 
> > 
> Hey there I think you are twisting my posting to your own feelings. I was not
> saying the Italians were saints. The British were the unrivalled time bomb
> setters. The Italian racism is well documented in a book by an Eritrean
> Tekeste Negash , "Italian Colonialism in Eritrea" (I am not sure about the
> exact title,I can look for it if you want it) In a nutshell Tekeste was
> saying the Italian type of colonialism was the worst elsewhere.It can only
> be compared to Apartheid!! No intermarriage was allowed,there was a limit
> of 4 years of schooling,the city of Asmara was divided into native & Italian
> zones etc. The Italians were openly racist saying "the native is an inferior
> being!!" They may not be Fascists because some came long before Duce's rise 
> but they definitely considered themselves superior!! I will be coming back 
> with Tekeste Negash's book excerpts that are taken from documents in the Rome 
> Government archives. Ok!! 
> Araya


In my earlier posting titled "Ethiopia/Colonialism/civil war" I said that
colonialists came to Eritrea in all colors. It doesn't make sense to me at
all to say that the Italians were not Fascists. It is true that Asmara (the
capital of Eritrea) was segregated into zones. Eritreans were not allowed
to
go into the downtown area, at all. Sure, the Italians built roads,
railraods,
cinemas....But anybody who thinks they did this to be "nice" to the
Eritreans
is at best naive; otherwise they are distorting the truth.

None of the colonizers: Egyptians, Turkish, Italians, Ethiopians helped the
Eritrean people. Instead, they all made life harsh and very intolerable
making
Eritreans to be very determined people to get their INDEPENDENCE, at all
cost.
After more than 300(yes, 300)-years of colonization by different powers it
seems like soon Eritreans will have a say in their destiny.

Mobae
______
Opinions expressed above are mine, not of any party nor any organization.
______