Workplace Inclusion in Europe: Historical Justice or Imperialist Rebranding?

Historical Atrocities & Selective Amnesia

When you search for the history of colonial violence, the results show an unsettling pattern: millions of Congolese killed and mutilated by a Belgian king (whose name, unfortunately, I cannot bring myself to recall, considering him unworthy of my time). A British prime minister, infamous for his disregard for basic decency, but celebrated on British banknotes, dismissed Indians as a “beastly people” with a "beastly religion"—he is also credited with orchestrating a famine that killed millions of Indians-a tactic borrowed from Britain’s Irish Potato Famine playbook, which killed 1 million and forced 2 million to flee. Fewer know of the 1917–1919 Iranian famine, a calculated move to control oil routes that starved 8–10 million Iranians.

These are not relics of history. They are blueprints for today’s imperialism:

• Iraq: The 2003 U.S./UK invasion, justified by lies about WMDs, killed 300,000+ civilians.
• Yemen: A Saudi-led coalition, armed by the U.S. and UK, bombed schools and hospitals for a decade, creating the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
• Congo: Western tech giants like Apple, Tesla, and Intel profit from cobalt mined by Congolese children earning $2/day.

 These victims—especially those from former colonies—were overwhelmingly people of colour. Their suffering, erased from Eurocentric history books, paved the way for today’s neo-imperialism: a world where survivors flee to their tormentors’ nations because their homelands—still shackled by debt, resource theft, and Western-backed coups—are never allowed to recover.

For these people, the hope is that the era of brutal racism and colonialism is behind them. The rising visibility of people of colour in Western nations—leading major corporations, even becoming heads of state—may seem like a sign of progress. But is it really a sign of change, or merely a façade?

The Illusion of Inclusion

Corporate Europe’s “diversity” charade hides a grim truth:

• Tokenism: Only 1.5% of UK executives are Black, despite Black people comprising 4% of the population.
• Precarity: Migrants from bombed nations like Syria and Libya—countries destabilized by NATO—make up 76% of Europe’s gig economy, trapped in Uber cars and Deliveroo uniforms with no pensions or sick pay.
• Case in point: After 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, HSBC pledged £1.3m for “racial justice” while financing oil projects displacing Ogoni communities in Nigeria. Unilever, touting its “Fairtrade” label, faces lawsuits for paying Kenyan tea pickers $1/day under lethal working conditions.
• This is not progress—it is colonialism repackaged.

This inclusion serves a dual purpose for Western powers. Firstly, it is necessary for the stability of these societies to cultivate “useful” citizens from diverse backgrounds. Secondly, it allows for the recruitment of a new generation of workers—immigrants who have been displaced and destabilized by the same Western powers. After all, a willing labour force is far more advantageous than an unwilling one.

From Imperialism to Occupation: Racism’s New Uniform

Over the past two decades, Western military interventions have led to the deaths of millions of brown and black people, from Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Afghanistan to Yemen and Palestine. Western powers continue to play an active role in the genocide of Palestinians, while in Yemen, after nearly a decade of illegal bombardment, they have resumed their aggression against one of the poorest nations on Earth.

So, when people claim that racism is a thing of the past, they are overlooking the ongoing reality. The exploitation, subjugation, and dehumanization of non-white people continues—not only in the past but in the present, under the guise of progress and inclusion.

Workplace “equality” in London and Brussels means hiring Brown faces to greenwash genocide.

The Call to Action: Dismantle the Mask

1. Boycott Complicit Corporations:
   • Pressure Amazon, which partners with Israel’s Project Nimbus to surveil Gaza.
   • Divest from BlackRock, the largest investor in weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin.
2. Amplify Grassroots Movements:
   • Support #BoycottPuma for its sponsorship of Israel’s football teams.
   • Join Congo Is Not For Sale, demanding tech giants end child labour.
3. Demand Reparations, Not Resumes:
   • France returned twenty-six stolen artifacts to Benin in 2021—a start. Push for landback and resource repatriation. 

Conclusion: Progress or Performance?

When a Black CEO oversees drone strikes in Yemen or a Brown executive markets blood-soaked cobalt, that’s not diversity—it is racism 2.0. True justice begins when we stop mistaking window dressing for revolution and start dismantling systems that equate “inclusion” with assimilation into empire.

“They dress colonialism in a rainbow logo. We see the noose beneath.”