Part 5- Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19

The colonial violence in the Congo was outrageous. I was sickened to hear of the horrors that they inflicted upon the native people. What stood out to me the most was the picture of the two young boys who's bodies were mutilated over the collection of rubber. Governed by King Leopold II of Belgium, villagers were forced into collecting rubber for the increased demand to supply the production of tires for bicycles and automobiles. The book talks about how the natives were "legally obligated for "statute labor'", this lasting until 1946. It's shocking that something this horrible was still relevant up until recently. Even more shocking is that this eventually lead to the introduction of HIV and AIDS. As if it were not horrible enough the abuses the natives were already experiencing. The disease made the transition from monkeys to humans because of how overcrowded and crazy the Congo cities were. This was just not concealed to this area, forced labor at this time was also seen in Indonesia with sugar and coffee and Mozambique with cotton cultivation.
Im sure that there are even more examples of forces labor and the abusive acts upon native people around the world. It is hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that this did not actually happen that long ago, and I'm sure that many of the countries are still feeling the effects of it.