You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you
free (John 8:32)
The following speech was given by Jules Renkin, Governor
of Kinshasa to the first group of missionaries journeying to the Congo
in 1883. The speech was published in a Belgium newspaper in Kinshasa
in 1951. No doubt this practice became widespread.
" Reverend Father and dear Compatriots: the task I ask you to accomplish
is very delicate and demands much tact and diplomacy. Fathers you are
going to preach the Gospel, but your preaching must be inspired by first,
the interest of the Belgium State. The main goal of your mission in
the Congo is not to teach the Negro the knowledge of God, because they
already know Him. They talk and commit themselves to their God. They
know that killing; stealing; adultery and blasphemy are not good. Let’s
have the courage to admit this fact so your won’t teach them the
things they already know. Your role essentially will be to easily facilitate
the task of the administrative and industrial personnel. This is to
say, you will interpret the Gospel in a way to protect and serve the
interest of Belgium, in that part of the world.
To do so, you will see that our savages be not interested in the riches
that their soil possesses, in order that they will not want them, thus
they be not involved in murderous competition with us and dream to
live
a luxurious lifestyle. Your knowledge of the scriptures will help us
to use special texts that recommend the infidels love poverty such
as, “The Beatitudes”, "Blessed are the poor for theirs is
the Kingdom”, “It’s hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven”. You will do all that you can to cause the Negro to
fear being rich in order that he may go to Heaven. From time to time
you can keep them from rebelling and keep them in fear that you will
use violence. You will teach them to endure anything, even when they
are insulted and beaten by your compatriots/administratives. You will
teach that whoever uses violence is not a child of God.
You will cause them to follow the Saints who turned the other cheek.
You will take them away from anything and act that procures then the
courage to confront us. I’m alluding myself here to their magic,
ie. Ju-Ju, Voodoo. They should feel like abandoning their Ju-Ju and
you will do your best to take them away at the same time. Your action
will be essentially on the younger people that they might not rebel.
If the commandments of the father are not conducive to the parents,
the child should learn to obey what the missionary teaches him because
he is the father of his soul. We must force them into submission and
obedience.
Dear compatriots, these are some of the principles you must apply; you
will find many more in the book that will be given to you at the end
of the session. “Teach the Gospel to the Negroes in an African
Style”, in order that they are kept submissive to the white
colonist. They should not rebel against the injustices done to them
by the colonist. Make them always meditate on “Blessed be those
who weep/cry for theirs in the kingdom of Heaven”. Convert the
Blacks always with a whip. Keep their wives in submission for nine months
so they work for you graciously. Require of them an offering of recognition
to you; goats, chickens, eggs, each time you visit their village. Avoid
by all means the Blacks becoming rich. Cause them to sing each and every
day “it’s impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven”. Make them pay tithes each Sunday for church. Utilize
this money that is for the poor, for our own business investments.
Institute a system of confession which will make you good detectives
in order to denounce/put down every Black which has a spirit of rebellion
against the system. Teach the Negroes that their statues and idols
are
works of the devil, confiscate them and fill up our museums with them.
Teach the Negro to forget about their heroes in order to worship and
give praise to ours. Don’t give a seat to a Negro when he comes
to see you, at most give him a cigarette. Don’t invite him to
break bread with you, even if he gave you a chicken every time you
went to
see him. Consider all Blacks as little children and required them to
refer to you as father. My dear compatriots, if you apply to the letter,
all this, the interest of Belgium in the Congo will be protected for
centuries. I thank you."
Jules Renkin – Governor of Kinshasa, Congo
1883 (Translated from French)
At the Berlin Conference in 1884-5 various European powers completed their territorial division of Africa!!!
