The Language of Colonization
Words matter.
Post-colonial is defined as “occurring or existing after the end of colonial rule.” This is not to be confused with the unhyphenated version of the word, “postcolonialism,” which is defined as “the historical period or state of affairs representing the aftermath of Western colonialism.” Although the word is constructed using the prefix “post,” it does not argue that the effects of colonialism are over. Instead, it concerns itself with understanding how Western colonization shaped the unbalanced dynamics of world power.
Those effects are visible today within our own student body. The way we speak, dress, eat and understand the world is based on a Western, or more specifically, white understanding of the world, even though many of us are not racially white or of a white ethnic background. USC has made strides to diversify its student body demographics, but the school is still predominantly white. This is not to say USC is responsible for colonization around the world, but rather that it is structured in such a way that it reflects colonialism.
Postcolonial theory is one way in which we can dissect USC, but the word is prone to misinterpretation. There are words that better describe the issue of colonialism today, such as neocolonialism.
The word neocolonialism is created by adding the Greek prefix neos, meaning “new,” to colonialism. Neocolonialism means new colonialism, but the definition isn’t so simple. Neocolonialism argues that colonizer countries use economic, cultural and political pressures to control countries, especially those that used to be under their colonial rule. This word is more active in its attempt to define modern colonialism when compared to postcolonialism but does not hit the issue square on its head.
So why fix something that isn’t broken? Colonialism is the perfect word for describing colonialism today.
Colonialism is defined as “the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.” Colonialism used to be entirely state-sponsored, such as when the crown of France colonized Haiti, but colonialism now is state-sponsored and corporate-led. Much of the labor exploitation, promotion of white ideologies such as beauty standards and occupation of land is done by corporations.
Modern companies employ similar methods to 16th century colonizers. For instance, the United Fruit Company’s political and economic control of Central America in the 20th century has shaped issues in countries such as Honduras and Guatemala.
USC has not been and remains to be immune or separate from colonialism. If colonialism is a body, then racism is its arms and legs, and capitalism is its torso. Colonialism runs on racism to keep capitalism afloat.
Racism developed alongside colonialism. Its existence is not residue, but instead proof of the continued existence of colonialism. It is not simply physical but also metaphysical and includes the dissemination of ideologies that often present themselves in physical forms like the patriarchy.
USC has struggled to deal with its racism stemming from both its faculty and itself as an institution. In 2020, they removed the name of former USC President Rufus B. von KleinSmid, supporter of eugenics, from the now named Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International and Public Affairs. However, the school did not change the name of Cromwell Field, named after Dean Cromwell, who was anti-Semitic and racist.
Changing the names of buildings is only symbolic, though. Other changes can be more effective in furthering the school’s proximity with whiteness.
More telling of the racism within USC than the names of its buildings, and even more importantly, is its student demographics. The population of Hispanic students at the school totaled 15.6% for the 2021-22 school year. Let’s be diligent in remembering that Hispanic is an ethnicity and not a race, meaning that the school’s whiteness is not exclusive to its sole categorization of “white.” The population of Black students for the same school year totaled 5.8%, an abysmally low number. To no one’s surprise, the largest population in the 2021-22 school year was the white population, totaling 27.3%.
The demographics for faculty are even less diverse. White people make up 64% of the faculty at USC. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will impart a white view of the world onto their students, during my time at USC, professors have not been the most diligent in using the works of academics of color who promote worldviews outside of whiteness in their classes.
In talking about colonialism, we cannot ignore its role with gentrification. Pushing Black and brown people out of their neighborhoods is only morally possible because of the worldview that colonialism has proliferated. It depends upon the mindset that white people deserve land, that land is for their taking, and the Black and brown people living on it should make way for them. It is manifest destiny repackaged. Colonialism is what has made racism morally acceptable in white spaces and colonialism is what continues to make it thrive.
Neocolonialism and postcolonialism are words that we should honor because of the academics who dedicated time to deconstructing the unbalanced systems of power that affected all people of color, but Black and brown people more intensely. But from now on, let’s call it what it is. There is no need for new words to describe the modern sociopolitical world. The word colonialism has already done that for us.
Words matter.