Idi Amin

[molly bloom]

I'm very grateful to Amin for expelling Ugandan Asians. He immeasurably improved urban living in the United Kingdom with new shops, restaurants and cinemas and some lovely hard working people.

Tanzania and Kenya also expelled citizens of Indian descent.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by molly bloom
I'm very grateful to Amin for expelling Ugandan Asians. He immeasurably improved urban living in the United Kingdom with new shops, restaurants and cinemas and some lovely hard working people.

Tanzania and Kenya also expelled citizens of Indian descent.

Ahh, the wonders of racism. tra la, tra la!

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Zkribbler

Ahh, the wonders of racism. tra la, tra la!

America didn't do too badly out of Nazi anti-semitism either.

Mind you, neither did the Brits. I've just started reading a book on the refugees from Nazi Germany who contributed immeasurably to British cultural life pre- and post- WWII, called 'The Hitler Emigres':

This is the story of those Central Europeans, many of them Jewish, who escaped the shadow of Nazism, found refuge in Britain and made a lasting mark on the nation's intellectual and cultural life. The book features portraits of some of Britain's most celebrated artists, architects, musicians, choreographers, film makers, historians, philosophers, scientists, writers, broadcasters and publishers, all woven into the wider context of British cultural history from the 1930s to the 21st century.

http://www.historybookshop.com/book-template.asp?isbn=0701168803

Next weekend is Open House Weekend in London where the lasting contributions to the built environment by many of those emigres can be viewed for free by the public:

Open House London - 'Architecture in the Flesh'
15-16 September 2007
Open House is an architecture education charity committed to raising the standard of London's built environment. To do this we develop innovative programmes for the public, young people, and decision- makers, encouraging them to connect and engage with their local surroundings.

Open House London Annual Event is our highest-profile public initiative, inviting people to experience, explore, and understand architecture, design and the built environment. As London’s largest architecture festival, each September over 600 buildings new and old all over London celebrate design excellence by opening their doors at no charge to the public, all within 48 hours!

Londoners are given direct access to the teams that design, construct, conserve and regenerate their environment. Alongside this are special programmes, activities and publications...

http://www.openhouse.org.uk/london/home.html

Erno Goldfinger's 2, Willow Road:

[Dr Strangelove]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Idi Amin

Originally posted by germanos


Where the indians threated differently in British colonial times?

Where they given preferential treatment by the colonial administration in comparison to the indiginous black population?

Where they thus victim to the 'cheats' the colonial administration allowed them? Probably 'cheats' along the line of 'devide and conquer'?

I believe that the large proportion of the Indians who emigrated to other parts of the British empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries were from the business class. They had a long tradition of running businesses and when they settled in various parts of the empire they immediately began founding commercial establishments. In many of these areas natives were still living in tribal reservations or working on plantations, while the British owned the plantations or took the cushy government jobs. British culture in these ares was often anachronistically aristocratic, business and "trades" were looked down on. When independence came the plantations eventually folded and the government jobs got doled out to natives who were in good with the new ruling party, which often continued the old imperial culture looking down on mere business. The Indians were positioned to make ever increasing gains in the commercial sectors of these countries and they did so indeed. Eventually the native governors came to the realisation that they had neglected to take control of one of the very cornerstones of power in their countries - commerce. That's when the natives began resenting the Indians.

Whether or not favoritism towards the Indians gave them an advantage over the natives is a more complex question. In many of these areas Indians had first been brought in to do manual labor. In the Caribbean they were actually brought in to replace slaves. At the time they entered these area then the Indians were no better off than the natives. The British however had no force to hold the Indians down and the Indians had the culture and training to take up positions in the economy other than those intended, thus thwarting the British. Prior to independence the natives OTOH often preferred to revert to tribal life, after all in the face of white prejudice it's not like the alternatives were very appealing. It's likely that just prior to independence the British were generally a bit less prejudiced against the Indians than the native blacks. Nevertheless I think the main factors giving the Indians an edge in business in Africa were culture and training.