Political Science 3205F/G Chapter : African - Rodney Chpt 5.docx
27 Jan 2013
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Colonialism was not merely a system of exploitation but one whose essential purpose was to repatriate the profits the profits to the so-called mother country. By any standards, labour was cheap in africa, and the amount of surplus extracted from the. Therefore, to some extend=t the employer was responsible for insuring the physical survival of the worker by giving him a living wage. The racist theory that the black man was inferior led to the conclusion that he deserved lower wages. Colonial governments discriminated against the employment of africans in senior categories; and, whenever it happened that a white and a black filled the same post, the white man was sure to be paid considerably more. Total wealth produced in congo in any given year during the colonial period, more than one third went out in the form of profits for big business and salaries for their expatriate staffs. Cash-crop peasants never had any capital of their own.
