Why Was Leopold Considered Unjust
Another way Leopold’s actions were unjust was because of his use of slavery and racism. Leopold thought the Dutch were justified in using forced labor, as it was ‘”the only way to civilize and uplift these indolent and corrupt peoples”. This racial opinion reflected his own thinking about the African people. He once told a reporter: “’In dealing with a race composed of cannibals for thousands of years it is necessary to use methods which will best shake their idleness and make them realize the sanctity of work’. The people of the Congo were seen as “lazy” in his eyes because they didn’t want to be salves to his work. Trying to rebel against being starved to death and doing forced labor was interpreted as the people wasting his time. There was