Bygone “grandeur”

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of African Countries French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited the heads of State of the former French colonies and the army officers to the military parade of July 14 along the Champs-Élysées. U.S. President Barack Obama invited 115 young people from 46 African countries, representing the continent’s future, to join him for a meeting in the White House. France – and Europe as a whole – seems unable to overcome its colonial past. The invitation to celebrate it in Paris with those leaders who by traditionally had strong ties with France’s establishment, and with the troops that bring to mind memories of African soldiers in French battlefields, exemplifies the type of relationship that has been preserved with the former Colonizing power and with those States whose independence dates back to half a century ago. At the same time, European closed-border policy, the tragedies experienced by so many young people in their strive to reach Europe, the drastic visa control enforced also on students and elites fuel delusions along with the idea that Europe is unconcerned about Africa. On the other hand, the reception offered by Obama, who is also of African origin, who leads a Country where immigration is a strong concrete reality, characterized by a one-hour-long meeting with young African leaders, is a sign that America grants major importance to Africa and is concerned about its future: “The future is what you make it”, Obama said. “And so if you keep dreaming and keep working and keep learning and don’t give up, then I’m confident that your countries and the entire continent and the entire world will be better for it”. In his speech – a criticism of the evolution of many African Countries from the 1960s to today – President Obama underlined political and economic liberties: this demands combating corruption, for the freedom of the press, for democracy, civil peace and peace with neighboring Countries. Notably, Obama recommended the young to develop their Country differently. “Back in the 1960s, when your grandparents, great-grandparents were obtaining independence, fighting for independence, the first leaders, they all said they were for democracy. And then what ends up happening is you’ve been in power for a while and you say, well, I must be such a good ruler that it is for the benefit of the people that I need to stay here. And so then you start changing the laws, or you start intimidating and jailing opponents. And pretty soon, young people just like yourself — full of hope and promise — end up becoming exactly what they fought against”. Quoting from Gandhi, the U.S. President remarked: “one of the things that I think everybody here has to really internalize is the notion that you have to be the change that you seek”. Obama’s speech, which focuses on the future, is demanding. His famous “Yes We can”, finds in Africa, among Africa youth, a strong echo. Certainly, his African origins, his personal background, the history of his Country, which wasn’t amongst Africa’s colonizing States, grant him the freedom of speech which probably no European leader, especially French or English, is entitled to have. But most of all, he understood that Africa cannot be abandoned. His glance from the White House is far-reaching while the French glance over the Champs-Élysées is rather marked by nostalgia for the bygone grandeur, and by the present fears related to immigration.