Enfnts Terribles

We talked with assistant professor of history Dr. Benoît Henriet from the Free University of Brussels-VUB about former Belgian King Leopold II and everything he did during his leadership.

Who Was Leopold II?

Leopold II was the son of Leopold I, the very first king of Belgium. After his death, Leopold II took over and ruled Belgium from 1865 to 1909. At the end of the 19th century, a big conference was held in Berlin to divide the control of different parts of Africa between European governments. Leopold II received a personal colony of the same extent as the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Dr. Henriet elaborates, “The remarkable thing about Leopold II is that he was the private owner of the so-called Congo Free State. It wasn’t a Belgian colony, just his. At that time, it was very exceptional, and he was thus the only one to have a personal colony.”

Exploitation and Dehumanization

Seeing how much wealth the Congo Free State held, Leopold II started taking advantage of the abundance of raw materials in the country. What followed was a systematic exploitation of natural resources, especially rubber. This material grew naturally in the rainforest of Congo, which inhabitants were forced to collect.

“Many different strategies of forced labor were practiced to collect these resources by officials as well as different companies that were present. Workers were assembled by exercising violence like whipping people who didn’t want to cooperate. Inhabitants had no chance to flee, women were raped, and villages were plundered by soldiers and companies.”

Both state officials and companies were evaluated by the amount of rubber they would collect, so they started using extreme violence to gather more and more rubber, no matter the human cost. So, not only a system of systematic exploitation of natural resources was created, but also a system of extreme violence.

The Influence of Belgium’s Colonial Past Today

The colonial past of Belgium definitely has an impact on modern-day racism, “We sometimes feel like events of twenty years ago don’t impact our society anymore. The United States makes it clear that there is a continuity between slavery and the current state of black communities in America. The same goes for Belgium. These deeply rooted traumas of colonization have impacted the perception of African people. That isn’t only the case for Belgium, but for countries all across Europe and formerly colonized countries as well,” Dr. Henriet clarifies.

“Deeply rooted traumas of colonization have impacted

the perception of African people”

Even though the colonization of Congo still impacts racism in Belgium to this day, the Belgian Royal House has never really commented on the matter. “The Royal Family is very cautious when it comes to talking about Congo. Belgian experts explicitly asked the Royal House to react or apologize, but they always declined. Their official statement is that they don’t have any relationship with Congo since its independence in 1960. So it would be bizarre to give a speech about it,” Dr. Henriet adds.

Gone with the statues

Even though Leopold II murdered millions of Congolese citizens and used them as slaves, Belgium still has a lot of statues of him throughout the country. Dr. Henriet explains, “When he died in 1909, he was extremely unpopular. But in the decennia after his death, his honor was restored. He was a royal figure and a big pioneer in Belgian colonialism, but he was also a very ambitious architect. He was sometimes even called the Builder-King”

“When King Leopold II died in 1909,

he was extremely unpopular”

Since June 1, a petition has been circulating through Belgium to remove King Leopold II’s statues in Brussels. Initiative for the petition was taken by a group of Congolese youth in Belgium, inspired by the anti-racism protests in the United States. “Despite all the contempt he had for the Congolese people, Leopold II is still honored throughout Belgium. That’s why we ask the City of Brussels to remove every statue in honor of him,” says the petition. “Brussels has 118 residential areas that represent almost 200 nationalities. It’s the capital of Belgium and Europe, so these images no longer belong in Brussels nor in Belgium.”

“When the statues disappear, we will feel protected and safe in Belgium. We will feel welcomed and accepted because those statues represent bigotry, oppression, and hatred for too many people right now. By removing these statues we won’t be reminded as often about the terrible things he has done to our people. I think the statues should be kept in museums and not in public places,” Amadou says.

“Removing these statues is the start of ending racism. It will help us to know that we’re not here standing by ourselves but are being supported by others who acknowledge the past. Few people know the true history behind these statues of Leopold II. There’s a lack of education about Belgian history. The cruel things Leopold II has done are never taught in history classes, instead they are hidden and never spoken about. This should be the starting point for change.”

With the number of statues that are placed in Belgium, it’s basically a huge fuck you to people of color, especially black people. It sends a message of bigotry and blatant racism. Removing these statues isn’t removing history but acknowledging that King Leopold II should not be praised in any way.

Take action

Sign and share these petitions to remove the statues of Leopold II in Belgium; Brussels, Ekeren, Halle, Hasselt.

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Co-written by Janne Schellingen and Femke Lippens