During the election debates of 2012, Newt Gingrich (of Tiffany celebrity fame) mentioned something about Barack Obama having inherited an anti-colonial worldview. He made it sound as if Obama was against apple pie and motherhood and predatory banking and Jim Crow.

Suddenly, anti-colonialism became a dirty word in Republican circles. The main landmark movement of the 20th century that liberated hundreds of millions of colored people from European bondage became a dirty word. Even Democrats were too embarrassed or afraid to defend it, you’d think they were being asked to admit that they were liberals. So much for the anti-colonial heritage of Jefferson, Henry, Franklin, Washington and others.

They were anti-colonialists. Unless the Republicans are against anti-colonialism only by non-whites. Which they have proven to be in the past few years. Now this derision of anti-colonialism has been repeated among the Republicans in more recent months. Would they insert it in their platform in 2016? It is not far-fetched. They have done dumber things in the past, and yet they have continued to win elections. Which tells us something about the push and pull between popular will and political money. Guess who is winning.

P.S. for the next campaign: was slavery as bad as history books and films claim?
Cheers

Mohammed Haider Ghuloum                          
[email protected]