This Belgian colonialist exhibition stemmed from the time of King Leopold II and his brutal dictatorship in the Congo. From there, he created a ‘Colonial Section’ of expeditions, taking hundreds to Tervuren (Belgium) so that investors in his colonial plunder could see firsthand the kind of slaves he had in the Congo colonial project and thus garner more support for his exploitation.

Leopold II even kidnapped some Black slaves and kept them as pets in his own home, where he built them houses of straw and mud, using them for entertainment when visitors came, as if they were exotic animals.

No fewer than 267 Congolese were forcibly taken to Belgium and exhibited to the public like animals in a zoo. At least seven of them died, including an eight-month-old baby, Juste Bonaventure Langa, who perished during the 1958 colonial exhibition.

Far from being an isolated case, human zoos became widespread in Europe, in countries like Germany, Belgium, Spain, and France, from the colonial era onward.

This appalling colonial spectacle was part of a veritable slave industry, where people were treated as pets. This is the West that lectures us on civilization and human rights—we’re talking about 60 years ago, not two centuries ago.

Source -> https://xcancel.com/DaniMayakovski/status/2046156341832540312#m