What this series reports, about the tragedies committed by colonial powers and their agents, is one hundred percent true (the blanket biased statements about Europe and its history notwithstanding). It is one hundred percent true that George Washington was a land speculator and that Leopold II was a murderous monster. It is true that the United States was created as a colonial power--I would even argue that colonialism is WHY the War of Independence took place.
The problem present in this documentary is that it's trying to present two issues as one. White supremacy wasn't borne out of European culture, it was borne out of capitalism; that is, the deliberate exploitation of people and their homes. The worst of the capitalists of the time were the monarchs of Europe, and they used their religion and their race to exploit and murder and torture indigenous peoples and tear up their homes for resources.
But we point the collective finger of blame at Europe at our own peril. Exploitation didn't begin with Europe, exploitation predates Europe. Exploitation is as old as civilization itself. If we ignore the exploitation throughout human history, we miss the suffering of most of humanity. If we ignore the evils of capitalism, we might miss the genocides being committed by China or Ethiopia/Eritrea or Turkey today.
The problem present in this documentary is that it's trying to present two issues as one. White supremacy wasn't borne out of European culture, it was borne out of capitalism; that is, the deliberate exploitation of people and their homes. The worst of the capitalists of the time were the monarchs of Europe, and they used their religion and their race to exploit and murder and torture indigenous peoples and tear up their homes for resources.
But we point the collective finger of blame at Europe at our own peril. Exploitation didn't begin with Europe, exploitation predates Europe. Exploitation is as old as civilization itself. If we ignore the exploitation throughout human history, we miss the suffering of most of humanity. If we ignore the evils of capitalism, we might miss the genocides being committed by China or Ethiopia/Eritrea or Turkey today.