In the academic world of the 21st century, lots of topics are off limits for discussion, among them colonialism. For the Left, the only thing to be said about it is that it was exploitation of people of color by white oppressors. Disagree with that in the slightest and you’ll find yourself in deep trouble.
That’s what happened to Portland State University professor Bruce Gilley when he wrote an academic article a few years back in which he argued that colonial rule brought some benefits to natives. That set off a firestorm of protest. There was little counter-argument (although some), but overwhelmingly pure outrage from the academic Left.
Now, Gilley has written a book arguing that lands under German colonial rule enjoyed considerable benefits from it. On her Dissident Prof blog, Mary Grabar has posted a piece written by a former student of Gilley’s, Brandon Smith. Smith recounts the furor over Gilley’s initial article and then goes into the professor’s two books on colonialism, of which In Defense of German Colonialism is the more recent. He encourages resisting the “pressure toward concluding that colonialism is an undiscussable evil.”
As for the costs and benefits of colonialism, I don’t have a dog in the fight, but Smith nails the truth in saying that the case Gilley makes ought to be rationally discussed. It should be treated as an academic question where the contending sides respectfully make arguments and counter-arguments. Unfortunately, the academic Left won’t allow that.