Eldorado Posted March 21, 2021 #1 Share Posted March 21, 2021 After a year in which statues of enslavers and colonizers were toppled, defaced or taken down across Europe and the United States, France has decided to move in the opposite direction. The year 2021 is being hailed by many museums and institutions in the country as the “Year of Napoleon” to commemorate France’s biggest tyrant, an icon of white supremacy, Napoleon Bonaparte, who died 200 years ago on the island of Saint-Helena on May 5, 1821. Dozens of events are planned in his honor. The largest will happen this spring, when the Réunion des Musées Nationaux opens its Exposition Napoléon in Paris. As a Black woman of Haitian descent and a scholar of French colonialism, I find it particularly galling to see that France plans to celebrate the man who restored slavery to the French Caribbean, an architect of modern genocide, whose troops created gas chambers to kill my ancestors. Full article at the NY Times: Link 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Wellington Posted March 21, 2021 #2 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Napoleon is a French national hero. To date he is the only foreign dictator that Britain has given full state honours too when he died. He got a funeral procession through London before his body was handed over to the French. That was a mark of respect, to a true military genius. He invented the concept of `Fatherland` later copied by Germany in WW2 and laid the foundations later developed into fascism. Napoleons genocides are never mentioned, and he doesnt come under the same criticism as Hitler. His way of organising armies and aggressive warfare is still used today. The Germans moved away from using it to defeat in detail by developing it into blitz-screen. We have to remember that Napoleon existed long before the horrors and carnage of WW2. At a time when peoples views about race, nationalism, and empire, were quite a bit different than todays. Set in the appropriate context, we can see why he was loved by the French people, but now there are those horrified at what went on back then. I dont think he should be air-brushed out of the history books, he is a part of European history. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abramelin Posted March 21, 2021 #3 Share Posted March 21, 2021 For a second I thought that Eldorado is a Black woman of Haitian descent... 1 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 21, 2021 #4 Share Posted March 21, 2021 6 hours ago, Eldorado said: an icon of white supremacy Except he wasn't. He had a Black general, his mission was to free the serfs and he closed the Jewish ghettos and told the churches to knock off their anti-Semite ****. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperionxvii Posted March 21, 2021 #5 Share Posted March 21, 2021 He was actually a victim. He was very short. So by today's logic, he... oh wait, he was white, never mind! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperionxvii Posted March 21, 2021 #6 Share Posted March 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, Piney said: Except he wasn't. He had a Black general, his mission was to free the serfs and he closed the Jewish ghettos and told the churches to knock off their anti-Semite ****. Stop trying to apply reason and logic to the narrative! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz_Light_Year Posted March 21, 2021 #7 Share Posted March 21, 2021 1 minute ago, Hyperionxvii said: He was actually a victim. He was very short. So by today's logic, he... oh wait, he was white, never mind! He was actually average height for his time. He just surrounded himself with tall guards. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperionxvii Posted March 21, 2021 #8 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Just now, Buzz_Light_Year said: He was actually average height for his time. He just surrounded himself with tall guards. Ah, I see. Not sure why the short jokes then... 5'7" would be sort of short today in the USA for a male. But I was thinking he must have been like 5'0" from listening to the common folklore (I mean our own). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzz_Light_Year Posted March 21, 2021 #9 Share Posted March 21, 2021 6 minutes ago, Hyperionxvii said: Ah, I see. Not sure why the short jokes then Actually there is what they call The Napoleon Complex where short people are said to over compensate for their stature by being overly aggressive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_complex Quote The Napoleon complex is named after Napoleon, the first Emperor of the French. Common folklore supposes that Napoleon compensated for his lack of height by seeking power, war, and conquest. This view was fostered and encouraged by the British, who waged a propaganda campaign to diminish their enemy in print and art, during his life and after his death. In 1803, he was mocked in British newspapers as a short-tempered small man. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyperionxvii Posted March 21, 2021 #10 Share Posted March 21, 2021 2 minutes ago, Buzz_Light_Year said: Actually there is what they call The Napoleon Complex where short people are said to over compensate for their stature by being overly aggressive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_complex Right, I just learned more about that in 10 minutes than in all the rest of my life combined. Which just proves how pervasive these ideas can become. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldorado Posted March 21, 2021 Author #11 Share Posted March 21, 2021 The Law of 20 May 1802, a variation of the Napoleonic Code, had the express purpose of restoring slavery in Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, and was passed when Napoleon turned his attention to the French colonies in the peace that followed the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, which also restored Martinique to France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_20_May_1802 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 21, 2021 #12 Share Posted March 21, 2021 22 minutes ago, Eldorado said: The Law of 20 May 1802, a variation of the Napoleonic Code, had the express purpose of restoring slavery in Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, and was passed when Napoleon turned his attention to the French colonies in the peace that followed the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, which also restored Martinique to France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_20_May_1802 Being part of the system of the times doesn't make you a White supremacist. He still had a Haitian general. One of my mulatto ( Black/ Indian) ancestors was a slaver. It didn't make him one either. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eldorado Posted March 21, 2021 Author #13 Share Posted March 21, 2021 Just now, Piney said: Being part of the system of the times doesn't make you a White supremacist. He still had a Haitian general. One of my mulatto ( Black/ Indian) ancestors was a slaver. It didn't make him one either. Nobody said he was a white supremacist; rather that he has become an icon of white supremacists. There's a difference. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piney Posted March 21, 2021 #14 Share Posted March 21, 2021 4 minutes ago, Eldorado said: Nobody said he was a white supremacist; rather that he has become an icon of white supremacists. There's a difference. Not among the ones in the States. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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