Racism - A Short History - George M Fredrickson.pdf - WNLibrary

THREE Climax and Retreat
gained legitimacy from being arguably consistent with the
relationships between black and white that were being
forged in Africa during the high point of Western imperial
penetration and domination.
Germany’s belated overseas imperialism differed from
that of England, France, or even the United States in the
blatancy of the racism expressed by German soldiers and
settlers toward the people they were subjugating. Among
the European colonies in Africa in the early twentieth century,
only the German dependencies banned intermarriage
between whites and nonwhites, including Christian “halfcastes.”
In 1905 such marriages were banned in South-West
Africa, and two years later both spouses in the unions that
had been sanctified and considered legal before 1905 were
deprived of civil and political rights. In the same colony, the
Germans also committed genocide against the rebellious
Herero tribe, reducing its numbers from 60,000–80,000 in
1904 to 16,000 in 1905. The survivors had escaped what was
meant to be a total annihilation by fleeing from German
territory. According to the general who gave the order,
“The Negro is not bound by any treaty but only by brute
force.” Another group that was the target of genocidal policies
in South-West Africa were the Nama, the only surviving
relatively pure-blooded descendants of the Khoikhoi or
“Hottentots” who had occupied most of southern Africa
before the great Bantu migration. According to historian
Helmut Bley, “Not only did the German official deliberately
intend to wipe out the Nama race, but the majority of the
settlers believed that the Nama were useless in the widest
sense of the term, and that there was no further point in
preserving the race.” 21
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