Have Belizeans Broken Free From Colonial Thought; Belize @41 Public Lecture

The University of Belize hosted its Belize at forty-one lecture this afternoon at the Jaguar Auditorium in Belmopan. The event was held under the theme, “Belize Finally Breaking the Chains of Colonial Thought at 41”. One speaker, Doctor Christopher DeShield, an assistant professor at the University of Belize, asked the question, have Belizeans broken free from colonial thought? Here is what he had to say on that.

Dr. Christopher DeShield, Assistant Professor, U.B.

Christopher DeShield

“As to the premise, have we broken free from colonial thought? At present, the answer is a borrowing no. but this is not as a lament. The question is somewhat naive. You don’t go through three hundred years of plunder and poverty, and squallier and neglect and simply and righteously declare yourself free of all consequence and culpability. Further, and this is hard for me, and a challenge for those who throws about decolonization. Our own cultural identities are bound up with colonial history that I wonder if absolute decolonization isn’t a form of autoimmune disorder. Our modern nation is born out of colonialism. To excise it is must be painful. So no, just as those thinkers of post colonialism and decolonization insist, these legacies of colonization persist to the present day, structures that enable exploitation remain. They must be dismantled. So, the question is how our education system provides learners with the tool to provide this dismantling. How do we then rebuild and support attempts to reimaging more life affirming future. I take this to be a challenge for myself and colleagues. To what extent in our spheres of influence are we achieving these goals?