Between 850 BCE and 1600 CE, great civilizations thrived in Africa, yet few non-Africans have learned about them. While some may be familiar with the achievements of ancient Egypt, most of our knowledge of African history is tainted by the legacy of colonialism, racism and prejudice. As Europeans engaged in the scramble for Africa between the 17th and 19th centuries CE, they established systems that disrupted the oral traditions that preserved Africa's history, and they created their own narratives that justified their occupation of Africa's lands and their enslavement of its people. To reinforce these narratives, some European historians and archaeologists ignored or manipulated the evidence of great African civilizations all around them. Their goal was to uncover proof of a lost white tribe whose time in Africa pre-dated the existence of black Africans, thus, establishing their rightful claim to the territories they were colonizing. The legacy of these endeavours is a series of stereotypes and misunderstandings about the continent and its people, including the erroneous belief that Africans have no history.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1429/the-impact-of-prejudice-on-the-history-of-great-zi/.