Continued……The so-called ‘Vacant Land’ theory asserts that European settlers arrived in what is now South Africa almost at the same time as Africans, who were (per the theory) still migrating from central Africa at that point. Therefore, according to these right-wingers, the two groups have equal claim to South Africa’s land.

This theory was also used by the apartheid regime to grab land from Black people, insisting that it didn’t belong to them in the first place. However, archaeological and historical evidence debunks such claims. For instance, artefacts discovered at the Mapungumbwe heritage site in the country’s north show that Bantu societies existed in South Africa as far back as the 9th century.

In this clip, African Stream’s Wambura Mwai explains why this Vacant Land theory could be making a comeback in South African right-wing social-media groups.

Video credit: British-Australian Community (YouTube)

Sources

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/empty-land-myth#:~:text=The%20Empty%20or%20Vacant%20Land,land%2Downership%20in%20the%20country.
https://theexpeditionproject.com/the-importance-of-mapungubwe/

Continued……

Sources

https://adst.org/2016/09/kleptocracy-and-anti-communism-when-mobutu-ruled-zaire

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-10-2025-0105_EN.html

https://www.britannica.com/place/Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo/Mobutus-regime

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization

https://www.hrw.org/legacy/worldreport/Africa-04.htm

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/2/blood-minerals-what-are-the-hidden-costs-of-the-eu-rwanda-supply-deal

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/01/30/dr-congo-conflict-why-is-the-eu-under-pressure-to-reconsider-its-minerals-partnership-with

https://congosiasa.blogspot.com/2011/11/selling-state-kinshasa-loses-up-to-55.html

https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/eu-and-us-slap-sanctions-top-dr-congo-officials

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/15/democratic-republic-congo-drc-eu-halt-imports-conflict-minerals-drc-campaigners-urge-eu

https://www.thetimes.com/world/africa/article/congo-the-fight-for-blood-minerals-found-in-every-mobile-ssm0phr80

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/02/17/eu-inaction-amidst-rwanda-backed-atrocities-eastern-dr-congo

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/ngos-file-suit-alleging-bnp-paribas-complicity-in-rwandan-genocide-idUSKBN19K1HR

https://www.reuters.com/technology/paris-prosecutor-closes-case-against-apple-over-congo-minerals-document-2025-02-27

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/15/democratic-republic-congo-drc-eu-halt-imports-conflict-minerals-drc-campaigners-urge-eu

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/15/democratic-republic-congo-drc-eu-halt-imports-conflict-minerals-drc-campaigners-urge-eu

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/02/24/eu-to-review-raw-materials-deal-with-rwanda-over-drc-conflict-top-diplomat

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/6/1/mining-giant-accused-of-war-crimes

BLACK OR WHITE? THE UGLY DOLL EXPERIMENT

In the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth Bancroft Clark (1914-2005) and his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-83), designed the ‘Doll Study’ to measure the psychological effects of US segregation on Black children. The focus groups featured Black children ages 3 to 7, whom the psychologists asked to pick between Black and white dolls, which were pretty or nice, and which looked most like them.

The study found most Black children overwhelmingly attributed positive traits to white dolls and negative ones to Black dolls, confirming for the psychologists that policies, such as segregation, shaped how Black children viewed themselves. The study’s results informed the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed segregation in public schools because it was unconstitutional.

However, racial policies continue to disproportionately affect Black people in the US through every stage of our lives.