Zimbabwe Dbq Essay

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The memory of Great Zimbabwe significantly evolved over time from initially being remembered as a European created society, to being recognized as an African achievement. The change was influenced by politics and government rules, challenging racist and unfair assumptions from Europeans, and reinterpretation of architecture and how it contributes to African heritage. The influence of politics shaped the perception of Great Zimbabwe, from earlier colonial explorations’ attempts to dominate the native African history to African leaders fighting against colonialism. In Document E, Paul Sinclair tells us “the government was pressuring them to withhold certain information,” such as textbooks, displays, and other artifacts. He also expressed that …show more content…

The assumptions of Great Zimbabwe limited the recognition that Great Zimbabwe and native Africans received. Colonial narratives are filled with racist biases. The Europeans refused to believe Africans built such societies and instead created lies to cover the truth. In Document C, Theodore Bent says that it wasn't the Africans who built Zimbabwe, instead it was “a northern race coming from Arabia.” These assumptions hurt African history and also suggest that Africans were inferior to other countries and cultures. Carl Mauch further perpetrated these assumptions when he states “All natives admit they. were capable.” He also says it could “only have been built by whites” and “only a civilized nation must have lived here”. This denies African capabilities and also perpetuates the false narrative that Africans were followers of other societies, rather than leaders and creators of their own. Racial stereotyping is also a major issue in these reports. The only reason that the archaeologists are behind these assumptions is the fact that black people aren't civilized and intelligent enough to create something like this. Carl Mauch also says “all” when referring to native Africans admitting their capabilities. He provides no evidence of the native Africans saying this, and it is also very unlikely he asked all the native Africans in the area their capabilities. These statements reflect the early racist European assumptions about Great Zimbabwe. However, archaeologists also discovered evidence to challenge these assumptions. Paul Sinclairs discoveries of “Ming China” in Document E provide evidence that there were, in fact, advanced trade routes and craftsmanship in Africa. All of these racist assumptions provided by Theodore and Carl distorted the narrative and memory of Great Zimbabwe, but now, the memory of Great Zimbabwe is evolving with new

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