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Democratic Republic Of Congo Essay

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The Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo was The Belgian Congo from 1885-1960. These 75 years of colonization brought slavery and terror reigned upon the Congolese people. My people. Congo’s wealth, their rubber trees, were brutally extracted under the rule of King Leopold II of Belgium, and then exported to fuel industrial growth in the 19th and 20th century. My people, who were under direct rule (a central government that governed an entire nation), were sick and tired of being controlled by Leopold and rebellions broke out. They stopped paying taxes, stopped following colonial laws, and stopped acknowledging colonial officials. Beginning in the 1950’s, various social groups in Congo began to unite and called for …show more content…

I recently spoke to a man who had both of his hands cut off by Belgian officials because he “did not meet his daily amount” of extracting rubber from the rubber trees. His name is Fabrice Mudiay and he’s 63 years old.

I began, bluntly, by asking “Can you tell me about what happened to your hands?”

Hesitantly he responded. “I was 6 years old, and at that time the colonization was coming to an end, and it was getting close to the end of the day. I realized I didn’t have enough rubber in my pile so, with integrity, I went to an official to ask for an extension. He took me, to where I thought at the time was the head official, but instead, he took me to a tree stump and told me to hold out my hands. The rest is history.”

“And how did you manage to get through that time?”

“I pray. Everyday. We are very religious people, and although I lost my wife, and only son to the Belgians, I knew my people and I would get through it eventually.” There was so much hurt in his voice, and it’s surprising to know that these acts of inhumanity were carried out every

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