this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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True story of British Empire (hexbear.net)
submitted 3 weeks ago by yogthos@lemmygrad.ml to c/memes@hexbear.net
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[–] Andrzej3K@hexbear.net 38 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

No shade on the op, but the focus on the things the British stole kinda undermines the gravity of what they did. E.g. they didn't just take your diamonds, they relocated your entire village to the diamond mine and forced your children to work down there. No shade as I say, it's just you see British liberals come out with this stuff all the time, and there's this undertone of "weren't we naughty tee hee"

[–] miz@hexbear.net 22 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

this is making me think of the monochrome picture of the Congolese man sitting staring at the severed hands (and feet maybe I can't remember) of his daughter. those were Belgians I guess but

[–] Erika3sis@hexbear.net 22 points 3 weeks ago

Nsala of Wala in the Nsongo District (Abir Concession) is a photograph published by Edmund Dene Morel in his book King Leopold's Rule in Africa, in 1904.[1] The image depicts a Congolese man named Nsala examining the severed foot and hand of his five-year-old daughter, Boali. The photograph was taken by Alice Seeley Harris,[2] the wife of a missionary, in the village of Baringa on 14 May 1904. It was subsequently employed as a tool in the media campaign against the inhumane situation in the Congo Free State, which was largely characterised by rubber exploitation.

It is part of the Harris Papers, a collection owned by Anti-Slavery International.[3][4]

It is an unforgettable image.

[–] Evilsandwichman@hexbear.net 13 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, honestly it's hard to remember the horrors inflicted on the people themselves when memeing like this; no shade whatsoever on the OP, but one does end up forgetting the horrors inflicted on people

[–] yogthos@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago

For sure, the exploitation that underpins the extraction is the real story.