Ricardolindo
Well-known member
- Location
- Portugal
As someone who read Davidson at a somewhat formative age, a fair of amount of Cabral and the odd writing by (Aristedes) Pereira since then, I have to disagree.
“Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn't trust the evidence of one's eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilizatrice.”
- Edward Said, Orientalism
Not being Portuguese, I must say I do think Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe should never have been part of Portugal at all, and would have been much better off as such. The United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands have overseas territories, and these are all* legacies of slavery and genocidal oppression.
* Yes, yes, the Falklands, St Pierre et Miquelon.
Both Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited when the Portuguese discovered them and there were no insugencies there during the Portuguese Colonial War.Sure, but as a Portuguese person it really isn't up to you. Self Determination is the only ethical option.