The records the British Empire didn't want you to see - Audra A. Diptée

Explore the British policy called Operation Legacy, where the government hid incriminating documents from its former colonies.
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In 2009, five Kenyan people took a petition to the British Prime Minister. They claimed they endured human rights abuses in the 1950s, while Kenya was under British colonial rule, and demanded reparations. They had no documentary evidence that Britain sanctioned systems of torture- but thousands of secret files were waiting to be discovered. Audra Diptée digs into the Operation Legacy documents.
Lesson by Audra A. Diptée, directed by Hernando Bahamon.
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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Lex Azevedo, Michael Aquilina, Jason A Saslow, Yansong Li, Cristóbal Moenne, Dawn Jordan, Prasanth Mathialagan, Samuel Doerle, David Rosario, Dominik Kugelmann - they-them, Siamak Hajizadeh, Ryohky Araya, Mayank Kaul, Christophe Dessalles, Heather Slater, Sandra Tersluisen, Zhexi Shan, Bárbara Nazaré, Andrea Feliz, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora, Noel Situ, emily lam, Sid, Niccolò Frassetto, Mana, I'm here because of Knowledge Fight Facebook group., Linda Freedman, Edgardo Cuellar, Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Michael Burton, VIVIANA A GARCIA BESNE, The Vernon's, Olha Bahatiuk, Jesús Bíquez Talayero, Chels Raknrl, Sai Pranavi Jonnalagadda, Stuart Rice, Jing Chen, Vector-Dopamine math, Jasper Song, Giorgio Bugnatelli, Chardon, Eddy Trochez, OnlineBookClub.org, Eric Shear, Leith Salem, Omar Hicham and Adrian Rotaru.

[@TEDEd]

Content Warning: This video depicts racial violence, sexual violence, and trauma.

[@tribaounidadedonstania]

ok. thanks for the warning!

[@neutronstarandankylosaurus1478]

kay

[@yourarseismine1016]

*History

[@bobbydennis8333]

2023(Gregorian) “Respect and dignity.” Furthermore:

[@tiefensucht]

Warning: This warning could contain warnings.

[@Mrlonely-gs8th]

*_"The sun never set on the british empire, because even God couldn't trust the englishman in the dark"_*

[@geographyist]

This was said by the man Mr Shashi Tharoor when he was invited in Oxford to give a speech and he destroyed the entire UK in just few minutes 🙏😅

[@adamsrealm]

I'd rather you just focus your contempt on our government please, We hate the lying bastards as much as anyone else :/ A lot of us weren't alive when these things happened, and have zero wish for any of them to be repeated. Because it was wrong.

[@Mrlonely-gs8th]

@@adamsrealm Glad you accepted atleast. Many of you even deny the recorded history of what atrocities were committed to Indians and africans😐

[@berserker4773]

" We gave railways " Yeah in exchange for $45 trillion

[@adamsrealm]

@@Mrlonely-gs8th In all honesty I don't have enough information to form a fully informed opinion on this... I've only come across a few videos on this, and British media hasn't covered this much (if at all) But regardless, I'm strongly against mistreating people.

[@micahbush5397]

What's even more amazing is when documentary evidence of atrocities exists and is readily accessible, yet people still deny and minimize it.

[@azmainibnnasir9223]

not to mention, lecturing other countries as if they're the bastion of Christ himself.

[@khaliah7754]

Story of capitalism

[@micahbush5397]

@@khaliah7754 Well, capitalism is hardly unique in this regard, but I know what you mean; proponents of profit-driven enterprise usually stress the benefits while ignoring all the damage that was done in the process.

[@blazingfire_0712]

Cognitive dissonance. It’s stressful for the brain to comprehend that their country did this atrocities, which are a stark difference to the image they were taught that their brains just shut it out and continue to be subjected to the propaganda.

[@fsexplorer9727]

@@micahbush5397 No, literally every single imperialist country you can see has been capitalist during its period of imperialism. the British Empire, the French Empire, the Russian Empire, the German Empire, the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire, the American "Empire" (functions like one but is not literally one), and every other western European nation. Edit: I forgot to mention, but it was only after they left capitalism (the Soviet Union is the only example of this that wasn't destroyed by the CIA in every way imaginable) that the country mostly left imperialism.

[@paigewhitfield3624]

"Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.” An African proverb we, the descendants of Africans and Africans living in Africa today, have lived. Granted, I feel all minorities have lived this proverb in all parts of the world. This is why I'm so grateful, Ted-ED, that you bring these atrocities to light with your videos. Teaching billions of people the history of themselves and others.

[@mexicanopdb]

Kinda ironic that the British animal during colonization was the Lion

[@paigewhitfield3624]

@@mexicanopdb lol

[@xzlemin9569]

To be fair it's not even just minorities. The British people suffered greatly to people raiding their territories before England was even formed. It's just humans who are horrific to other humans. Once people get power they feel superior and it gets to people.

[@mrsentencename7334]

Who’s a Minority ?

[@paigewhitfield3624]

@mrsentencename7334 People of color in countries with people of European descent or in countries where culture is not featured as part of the mainstream culture.

[@abigailjoy8148]

One of the most disturbing things about this is that Britain was still fighting back about these atrocities as little as *ten years ago.* I wouldn't be surprised if this trial had taken place in the 60s or so, but the fact that this happened in 2010-2013 is frightening

[@matrinoxtm]

It’s the same government proud to have a monarchy in the 21st century

[@paleoph6168]

​​@@matrinoxtmtoo bad for Bhutan, Cambodia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, and Tonga then.

[@bigpapagorge9667]

@@matrinoxtm but the monarchy doesn’t actually rule anything..

[@mildlydispleased3221]

It would be political suicide for any British politicians to admit the true scale of atrocities. Rishi recently confirmed this in a recent PMQs

[@immkk1125]

​@@paleoph6168 kind of irrelevant ngl

[@bobwilson679]

The sad thing is all of the atrocities throughout history we will never know about because they have been too effectively covered up

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

When the British succeeded what God Himself cannot with the Moabites...

[@fernandaabreu5625]

So knowing about atrocities brings joy?

[@huhulalammm]

@@fernandaabreu5625 no. it helps to identify enemies and how to overcome them.

[@loki2240]

​@@huhulalammm - Also, reparations should be paid.

[@LEFT4BASS]

For real. So many of the great civilizations of the past were really bloodthirsty, oppressive, imperialist systems. Take Rome. While it’s undeniable that they had some great achievements, they were also an empire driven by blood, responsible for mass slaughters and innumerable atrocities. But history is written by the victor.

[@alexkaranja3443]

As a Kenyan the sad part is the fertile land mostly in the highlands is still held in some places by descendants of the colonialists.

[@CplusO2]

Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately that is also true here in Australia.

[@justinblin]

And look what Mugabe did to Zimbabwe when he took the land from descendants of white settlers

[@joshuadiale4034]

​@@justinblin what did he do?

[@HIFLY01]

@@joshuadiale4034 same thing that South Africa is doing. Removed them by force and hurt their country since they were the skilled farmers

[@Axelgear2006]

@@justinblin Mugabe's agricultural "reforms" were also horribly corrupt and tended to empower party allies at the expense of the common people, and were also tied to an enormous campaign of political isolation by the United States and Britain. You can't really exclude those details. But more than that, it doesn't really change the fact that colonizers stealing land impoverishes the local peoples, and that has to be corrected for *somehow*. Redistributing land is usually actually pretty effective for that.

[@fictionfan0]

Operation "Legacy" The "Honorable" East India Company Did the British Empire just have a thing for ironic names?

[@alexanderkowal5710]

It’s classic, like how North Korea’s official name is Democratic Republic of North Korea, if you put an adjective in your name it becomes indisputable, which is why MPs in the UK are call Right and Honourable

[@harshitbalaji1019]

The British as a people inherently lack qualities like honour and morality. This can be attributed to the fact that they descend from the most barbaric cultures on Earth

[@wren_.]

@@alexanderkowal5710 pretty much every country with the word democratic or republic in its title is almost guaranteed to be a country that is neither democratic nor republic

[@alexanderkowal5710]

@@wren_. it goes the same way w the ‘united’ states of America, ‘united’ kingdom, these couldn’t be further form the truth

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

​@@wren_. what are you talking about? There are many republics in the world.

[@v_fencer]

Yet people still can't understand why Queen Elizabeth wasn't so much celebrated in these countries deeply traumatized by British colonial rule...

[@zentravels22]

weak people are easy to gaslight 😮‍💨

[@gubgub3275]

She had nothing to do with any of this, monkey

[@mildlydispleased3221]

My grandparents are from Nigeria and South Africa and them, along with all of their friends adore the monarchy. Ethnic minorities both in Britain and in former colonies actually have a more favourable view on the monarchy than white British people where the view is generally indifference towards it.

[@immkk1125]

​@@mildlydispleased3221 cool. That's not the case of most people who experienced colonization at the hand of imperialism

[@thomashisted5984]

@@immkk1125 it is weird though. I've met many people in former colonies who admire the monarchy. I guess they had some view of the queen being a benevolent being seperate from the rest of the empire. IDK tho.

[@lisagriffin8221]

I’m Kenyan from the Kalenjin tribe and the British murdered our legendary leader, Koitalel Arap Samoei and kept his skull. We’ve been demanding for it to be returned for years

[@raph2k01]

Thank you for bringing even a minimal amount of light to these atrocities. This is one country, one region, of hundreds with similar stories. We need to do better; we need to cry and feel these horrors that were committed so we can never commit them again.

[@a.f.2330]

I agree, what shocks me the most still is the audacity with which some Brits tell me that my country (I'm from India - a nation previously colonized by Britain) got democracy because of them, without even being aware of what was done to my people. It's like we're supposed to be thankful for being exploited and murdered. They also say that they benevolently "left" our country, instead of the truth: they were driven out. This level of misinformation will just continue till their education system, which teaches them these lies, is modified to include the truth about Britain colonizing most of the world, and being directly responsible for many of the active conflicts around the world

[@cuongnguyenviet3417]

We never can, for all men are sinners. Not without God.

[@fsexplorer9727]

@@cuongnguyenviet3417 Yep, as such, we need to not only shift our global system from capitalism to communism, but also bring humanity on the path to Islam, for it is the true religion, unchanged and pure (did you know that every human advancement in morality aligns closer with Islamic beliefs, with the abolition of chattel slavery and only allowing war criminals, the fair treatment of prisoners, a systematic governmental solution to eliminate poverty and hunger, etc.)

[@cuongnguyenviet3417]

@@fsexplorer9727 I pray for you, my friend. For you have been fooled by false teaching of a false prophet. I know that you will be enraged, but I must state the truth.

[@thecamelchannel1467]

​@@a.f.2330 Right? I'm British and it's completely insane how some (but not as few as anyone would hope) people act, our history lessons focus on a bunch of medieval kings and not anything which is actually relevant to modern times, and when you know about the actual history it becomes intensely obvious why, and that the wilful ignorance goes all the way up

[@imanuj0]

The reason pyramids are in egypt is they were too heavy to carry to British museum

[@fictionfan0]

*aren't

[@chrisv2107]

​@fictionfan0, but they used the proper grammar?

[@fictionfan0]

@@chrisv2107 Sorry, read that wrong.

[@shannonnefra9738]

💀❤️‍🔥

[@harshitbalaji1019]

*Chor Bazaar. It means, the Thief's Hoard/Market

[@MuthoniMaina]

It's true that history is written by the victors, and this is especially evident in the case of the British Empire. The colonial narrative taught in history books focuses on the 3C's: civilization, Christianity, and commerce, but it fails to acknowledge the atrocities committed by the British Empire. When I read, "The British Gulag in Kenya" by Caroline Elkins, it opened my eyes to the extent of British torture and abuse. The book completely changed my perspective on the world and made me appreciate the importance of knowing one's history.

[@cothinker680]

If u had read more books you wouldn't need that book to know that colonists always come and violance happens the most popular one is arrival of Columbos in America

[@MuthoniMaina]

@Co thinker we did read books, but they were written in a specific way by design. Even when you read Elkins foreword, you'll realise just how carefully the things they did were hidden.

[@cothinker680]

@@MuthoniMaina the thing is what British did was indeed bad but at that time the strong dominate the weak ones everyone around the world were fighting against each other to be powerful I just think it's not British fault if they win the wars I mean British also ended slavery

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

​@@MuthoniMaina if history is written by the victors then Germanies atrocities in Africa would be far more known than the far more tame in complaints mau mau war

[@MuthoniMaina]

@WilliamTheBonquerer the Germans lost two world wars. After the first, they lost their colonies in Africa ... we are very aware of the atrocities committed by the Germans, its taught in our history books. Remember Africans fought in WW1 and WW2, both times against the Germans. Wiping out villages in Namibia, the Maji Maji rebellion in Tanganyika, we were made very aware, which is why the idea that concentration camps, torture and murder were a foreign concept, they covered their tracks ...

[@propaghosh3045]

To the people of Kenya, we hear you. As an Indian, not only was this painul to learn about beacuse of the brutalities but also because we have known and experienced EXACTLY what you all went through. They massacred our people and our culture to such extent that decades after independence we feel that pain. Lots of respect to those who never gave up fighting - both for Kenya and India and all those oppressed by the Empire.

[@justinamusyoka4986]

The independence was on paper,we are not yet free,we can not sit on high tables.Kenya 🇰🇪.

[@musical.theory]

​@@justinamusyoka4986How are you not free nowadays? In what ways?

[@justinamusyoka4986]

@@musical.theory Check Dr Arikana Chihombori the former AU representative to the UN,she talks in-depth about the African problems that come from the former colonizers.

[@Gustine22]

They did way worse things to indian they stole 45 trillion dollars from india

[@poulomi__hari]

The British did all sorts of twisted things with their prisoners. 117 days hunger strike of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev are well known, while the world doesnt know how much they were tortured and force-fed. I salute my mighty Indian revolutionaries who never gave up. No matter how hard the British tried, they couldn't break us.

[@jonathanbowen3640]

They did break you though , for a century.

[@hemant4906]

@@jonathanbowen3640 In the glorious history of the subcontinent stretching thousands of years, that's tiny. For as long as humanity has learned to settle, this region has been the center of the world. Along with china making half of the world's economy and people. On the other hand, they have been relevant for three centuries in the entirety of human history that too only because they looted resources and people from other places. Nothing in their borders. The thing with loot is, it ends. Let's see who's talking about that rock a few decades from now and just how many are talking about India. That island will (just like a few centuries before) become a forgotten rock. That's it's destiny.

[@oqo3310]

@@hemant4906 that's a bit of a stretch to say that the United kingdom will be forgotten in a couple centuries or that it only had been relevant for three centuries.

[@hemant4906]

@@oqo3310 Decades, not centuries. It has. Dive into global history before 3 centuries by any perspective of the world. Even from a European perspective, UK is just another country. At a global level, what's important is coastal area of today's China, the Indian subcontinent, north Africa. The turning point was discovery of the Americas which ironically was found when finding a way to India 😂. That gave Brits and other western Europeans silver and with that the ability to have a say in trade with the likes of China and India. Before that, they were irrelevant in global affairs. Earliest human settlements, dams, irrigation practices, writing methods, number system, languages, books on medicine, astronomy and philosophy all the way to the largest textile, spice trade, ammunition and many more things were all from here. The English history starts from the 5th century when people from today's netherlands and germany stepped on the island which is as old as the name India given by Greeks. It was already a full fledged civilisation trading with other places. UK already has faded into the distance. Who mentions it in global affairs? For what? Maybe as a junior partner to the US in the west but that too is TODAY. As US rivalry with China grows along with the likes of Germany and Japan investing in their military, I doubt UK would even be mentioned in that area even in the near future. (No one mentions this anyway) but their permanent seat at the UNSC might give them self assurance. With Russia and China in it and countries like India poised to be the growth engine of this century along with many other Asian countries. Let's see for how long that world war 2 era institution lasts.

[@CocoLazzer]

@@hemant4906 you seriously need to look at geopolitics

[@yutypatuti1744]

This burning of colonial documents reminds me of a common practice in George Orwell's novel 1984, where high-ranking officials order the burning of documents in the "memory hole," especially if they deemed those docs inconsistent with their present political aganda. “The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth," as Orwell puts it. It seems like they are doing what Orwell has warned after all.

[@BryantMitchell]

So much of our understanding of history relays on us on not remembering

[@Simp_Zone]

Or not caring about the truth

[@N_ei_L]

As someone whose grandmother was directly affected by these british colonists, I would like to say: No matter how much they tried to hide their atrocities. They will never fade, they will always be passed down in the painful recollections of families like mine all around the world. We will forgive, but never forget and we will not let anyone forget. Our histories cannot be destroyed by burning a few papers.

[@albertjose8879]

I haven’t forgived so… 😅😢

[@marissafremista9285]

@@albertjose8879so what

[@lampoilsalesman]

colonialism has been a bad thing since it's inception, a bad, wrong, terrible thing, man.

[@rcbrascan]

Now, it is replaced by military colonialism headed by the US with its 700+ military bases around the world.

[@jakubzov]

Wrong but obviously profitable

[@KnightsofGaming2016]

Man, as a Malaysian who was taught that the British gave us independence graciously, I am sort of surprised and not surprised at the same time. I already knew they colonised a lot of places and that there were good and bad things that they brought with them, but I didn't expect them to be so brutal towards the Kenyans. So much for a country that keeps preaching about being civil and democratic. Of course, I'm not gonna say we should hate the current generation of British people who weren't even involved in those incidents but they should also see the facts and not brush it off to the side.

[@0w784g]

Why do you give a KZbin video such credence? They aren't interested in facts - their foremost interest is "engagement". Views, clicks, comments...

[@cothinker680]

You also do know right British are the one that ended slavery rule when afrikaans were doing it graciously

[@drakko1635]

@@cothinker680 So?

[@cothinker680]

@@drakko1635 I'm telling fax here nothing to hurt your ego

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

The mau mau war was about land rights in Kenya, not about independence per day, Kenya was always going to be given independence and it didn't change the time frame

[@kaushiks8288]

This is just the tip of the iceberg....

[@NS-gr9cy]

exactly.

[@Writer_Productions_Map]

Wtf smegg

[@codyshi4743]

“The British are as cunning as the fox and as changeable as the weather and they are not ashamed of themselves…” -Sun Yat Sen (Founding Father of Modern China)

[@codyshi4743]

@Overwatch17 This is why Sun Yat Sen wants to replace imperial China with a new and strong Republican China, that can stand up to an imperialist power like Britain.

[@Remitonov]

His quote is certainly in line with the video's closing words. Britain didn't 'graciously' grant independence to its empire. It saw the writing on the wall, and performed damage control.

[@Schizz76]

damn... As a Malaysian (though not currently living there, BUT still within commonwealth grounds), I never heard of any crimes on this level commited by the British on us. Guess we're lucky?

[@itismethatguy]

They teach us about this in South Asia, but yeah not to this level at all

[@Peepshow789]

If you didnt hear about it it just means the coverup was successful

[@alexanderkowal5710]

Think this was during Kenya’s mao mao uprising, there were concentration camps and torture used on both sides, it was really horrific and no one in Britain knows about it, we aren’t taught about the British empire 1600 onwards in school

[@Schizz76]

@@Peepshow789 don't know... Primarily due to the fact that 1) history isn't really taught in the curriculum, and even the little that was beign taught has been squeezed to promote a 'malay only' take on history or so I've heard. 2) For me and perhaps other Chinese Malaysians, the possible crimes comitted in Malaya either didnt affect us, or was way more forgiving than the Japanese occupation, so it couldve been lookd past by Malaysians. 3) I didn't study history for long enough to get to that part. 4) It might not have happened at all in Malaya. The only crimes I've seen that the British comitted in Malaya was the Batang Kali Massacre during the Malayan emergency, but then again, this happened less due to colonial exploitation, but against communist sabotage. By the time of the Malayan Emergency, Malaysia was well on its way to independence. These are all just theories.

[@grapeshott]

Perhaps because u are taught about Japanese occupation instead?

[@josebonfim166]

Hope this channel does a video like this for the crimes Portugal commited against the colonies they once possessed. Being born there I was taught that Portugal was a great empire that was benevolent to their colonies and all the other falacies used to hide the true history but I know that is not true at all

[@alexanderkowal5710]

Tbf I know nothing about Portugal’s style of colonialism, it isn’t really talked about despite them having one of the worlds largest ever empires

[@Moonchild15225]

To be fair, while Portugal did commit attrocities it did so undemocratically, and when the people rebelled against their own dictators they did so with solidarity with the colonies also rebelling against the colonialist forces. It is an example of the fact that regular people have more in common than with each other.

[@alexanderkowal5710]

@@Moonchild15225 I think to call those countries democratic would be generous, in UK we have what we call a Tory democracy, where the newspapers, electoral system and economic system are heavily in favour of one party

[@Moonchild15225]

@@alexanderkowal5710 You are preaching to the choir here, I am an anti-capitalist socialist, I do not believe any capitalist country is democratic, but Portugal was considerably less so at the time.

[@alexanderkowal5710]

@@Moonchild15225 yes but in the UK it is ridiculously blatant, if you’re interested look at daily express and daily mail Wikipedia pages, the tories are more nobility than capitalists (also look at high tories if you want to laugh)

[@Axelgear2006]

I'd never heard of this. Thank you for bringing me closer to the history of my people so that I can understand how my ancestors affected the world.

[@shadowbeast232]

In kenyan education, we are taught how the British came in kenya from the start in 1896-1963, plus all the adventurous civilisations who came before the british e.g the Chinese,Arabs and portugués,so everyone in kenya knows the history of british in kenya,upto this day the horrors of the time are still in people's mind but we forgave you so I guess British are out on this one no need for you to carry the burden of your ancestors since we already have our independence

[@someweeb7547]

Just shows how important historians and the act of recording history is

[@MrAbhinaykumarsuraj]

just like Nazis, these Britishers should also be brought to justice. And they should held liable in the court of law.

[@dakota5921]

Didn't the Indian National Army ally itself with the Nazis?

[@qasimmir7117]

But most of not all are dead. Seeking to expose the truth is all that can be done.

[@vatsal7640]

Those "Britishers" aren't even alive today . Your English is almost as bad as your knowledge of history

[@charliefarmer4365]

@@qasimmir7117not just that - teach it as much as possible.

[@ChickenVeggi]

And then you have people Like Suela Braverman saying ‘I’m proud of the British Empire’ and ‘There is no need to apologise for actions of the British in its history’

[@albertjose8879]

She’s just a simp… I’m sure she couldn’t care less behind all the politics and stuff…

[@invictusforlife9116]

And it's ironic how often I find British people online ,bragging about how great and open minded they were, how they never practised racism and slavery . Even when they were told about the atrocities their grand parents and great great grandparents commited they feign ignorance .The worst part is they deny it and say it's been a long time and say don't overreact .If they can't own it up atleast don't deny what happened in history.

[@VivekPatel-ze6jy]

National myths never seem to die unfortunately. Even though there's so many non-white people in the UK who are descended from immigrants, the history is still obscured.

[@bolinsun9565]

What you expect them to do regarding "what their grand parents did", though

[@invictusforlife9116]

@@bolinsun9565 Acknowledge it and not brush it under a rug.

[@bolinsun9565]

@@invictusforlife9116 Every "descendant of colonizers" I've met did that; maybe you just shouldn't bring up this topic out of nowhere...

[@invictusforlife9116]

@@bolinsun9565 Experience of maximum people say something else.Their history book don't reflect any of that .Atleast teach it in history .You are saying keep quiet about what happened as they don't like to hear about it. Remember it's an extremely painful and dark past for many people from colonised countries.Bengal famine ,jallianwalla bagh massacre,etc are our open wounds wihout any formal apology even today by Britian . Will you say the same things to Jews? Don't bring it up and move on ?

[@tcjusttc5418]

Just Kenya? Bruh... thats just the tip

[@xck]

Ted-Ed never ceases to astound me with their videos. The information is grabbing, the videos are so shockingly concise yet so informative, and the narration and animation quality is always amazing. Kudos, and thanks for educating us all about this important topic :)

[@j.d.blitch5552]

I don't understand how people can possibly rationalize supporting the British monarchy

[@gubgub3275]

God save the king

[@qasimmir7117]

It’s a constitutional monarchy.

[@TheManHimself94]

I think it depends who. In Jamaica for example where the British monarch is head of state, due to colonialism, it would make more sense not to support it. However in the UK, the monarchy has lasted 1000+ years long, long before the horrors of colonialisation, and is an intrinsic part of British history and culture over the years. The monarchy in the UK is much more than just a relic of colonial times.

[@mmd488]

The UK education policy goes like: "Don't teach colonial history to our kids. Otherwise they will grow up to see their ancestors for who they really were."

[@jonathanbowen3640]

No one cares what their ancestors did. Why should they?

[@mmd488]

@@jonathanbowen3640 Imagine if the Germans and the Japanese thought like that.

[@jonathanbowen3640]

@@mmd488 They do!!

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

​@@jonathanbowen3640 I'm not familiar with the Japanese culture, but in Germany you find constant reminders of what the Nazism has done. It's quite literally impossible to grow up in Germany without being reminded constantly about World War 2.

[@mmd488]

@@AlejandroLZuvic Killing 6 million innocents just in the name of some made up belief system does justify being reminded constantly. Never mind the war imposed on the Europeans and the rest of the world.

[@santiagomakoszay5090]

This is such a harsh but important video to see. Hearing about all of the inhumane conditions people in colonies had to endure is heartbreaking 💔. I will never be able to justify the acts committed because of colonization!

[@johnparker2957]

As disturbing as this item is and there is no excuses for the treatment of colonial populations; every colonial country, Belgium, Germany, France etc and the USA’s treatment of native Americans were equally complicit in the abuses. This also extends to civilisations in South America, Africa and Asia that have disappeared in the annuls of time.

[@heristyono4755]

You might sin quietly, but in the end you're gonna have to pay for all your sins.

[@meawwow]

When will they teach this and much more to their students?

[@pedronogueira3421]

I am from a country that was an European colony and we learn about colonialism atrocities in school (specially because that has effects until present day). Now I live in Britain and I found bizarre that kids here learn almost nothing about colonialism in school.

[@jksupergamer]

Now

[@arcticlaw9198]

Even if they did there would be wayyyy too many atrocities to cover

[@thecamelchannel1467]

As a British person, I'd love to know the answer to this too, but unfortunately one can only hope

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

The answer is simple, everyone in power is horrible and they will always cover up, that's how politics is done since forever And if you think this is not happening in all our countries right now, you are still blind

[@ericlee5515]

People often attribute human rights abuses to autocracies like the Soviet Union and China. However, their issues were on a national level. The atrocities committed by western democratic empires were on a word-wide scale and far more brutal and inhumane.

[@michaeldavid2553]

Sorry, the UK has never been a democracy, but an oligarchy, with a tight control over the extremely obedient Brits. As demonstrated with Brexit, when this extremely submissive population voted against its own interest to preserve the oligarchs' right to evade taxes and launder money.

[@davidbowie5023]

Russia and China were actually colonial empires. Just because they did not travel by sea does not mean their neighbours are safe.

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

​@@michaeldavid2553 wtf lmao, you think the "oligarchs" had an interest in BREXIT happening XD. Utterly delusional

[@tuongtang8974]

​@@michaeldavid2553 Pure bs idiocy right there

[@michaeldavid2553]

@@tuongtang8974 Thank you for demonstrating my point. Brexiteers and worshippers of the yuk are incapable of arguing.

[@Snowman_44]

So many countries have history books on the British. I wonder what British history books teach their students...

[@RealUlrichLeland]

Most mainstream British historians are still pretty critical of the empire. William Dalrymple is a popular example. As for the general public you're much more likely to find someone whose attitude to the empire is apathetic rather than sympathetic. Profits from the empire were predominantly concentrated among the elite, so most working class people didn't see much tangible benefits from it and weren't particularly cognisant of its extent. The settlers who had the most direct experience with the empire all either stayed or left all the colonies decades ago, with the exception of Hong Kong. My Grandad was born and raised in colonial India until the age of 11, but he never spoke of it much and viewed it as in the past. For most the only independence conflict within living memory is the troubles, and even though it was only 20 years ago most people don't carry any strong feelings about that conflict and would be completely unconcerned if Irish unification happened peacefully.

[@tastes-like-straberries]

in this history books, there is squat.

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

Although British people nowadays feels apathy about the Empire, the actual formal education they received in the subject is very limited.

[@TheOldBlackShuckyDog]

Well they’re not exactly difficult to find…

[@only_fair23]

Nothing much really, our history curriculum was mostly on the pre Columbian North Americans, Victorian Britain (where the empire was never once mentioned), WW2 and the wild west. I'm guessing it's because of the Demographics of my class, though.

[@dobbysurfs]

Ironic that the British used to call the people in colonised lands barbarians when it's the opposite

[@Danskadreng]

You act like the colonized people were angels, I can assure you most humans back then were barbaric compared to present time western standards.

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

How are the British more barbaric? Have you even seen post and pre colonial Africa

[@mugikuyu9403]

@@williamthebonquerer9181 Yes, the British were far more brutal than natives. You pretend that spears and swords can do half as much damage as guns, that makes you stoopid.

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

@@mugikuyu9403 Africans had guns from European contact in the 16th century

[@mugikuyu9403]

@@williamthebonquerer9181 Whoch Africans? On the coast? Africa is not the west coast. 99% of Africans were not trading with European empires so they had no weapons. Those that did on the west coast used them to conquer others but that didn’t change the fact that the vast majority of Africans didn’t have access to guns. And the British were far more barbaric even without guns in the Americas and Australia. Africans, as far as we know, have never genocided or enslaved an entire race which is what the British did. So your claim that post and pre-colonial africa was somehow more violent than the British empire is nonsense. I implore you to read about the punishments enacted on slayves in the carribean and which include things like forcing one slayve to sh*t in the mouth of another. It’s truly barbaric and inhumane.

[@NguyenPham-to9ip]

The British Empire? With dubious and unethical practices? Oh noooooo! Completely unexpected.

[@DaxXx988]

Great! Now do a few on Spain, France, Netherlands...

[@Simp_Zone]

Hey guys I found the brit!

[@schmidt776]

Belgium

[@maryqueenagdalipe7413]

Thank you for this enlightening story, and all the Kenyans that fought for history and justice for their people. God bless their homeland and each these individuals.

[@akashkumbhar9082]

If you see two fish fighting in water, you can be sure an Englishman passed by five minutes ago

[@user-yk5vc8kx6f]

Britain was nothing without its colonies...even today...Torries and the opposition are clueless to even run their Island country. But what is there among most Brits is pride ...which is ironic cuz the amount of wealth Empire collected could have made their richer than America. I don't know where this pride comes from maybe its their unresolved post colonial hangover in 21st century.

[@qasimmir7117]

Yes, we don’t know what to do with ourselves in the modern world apart from sort out finances for companies and countries. I am proud of Britain for its technological innovation over the centuries some even today. But it came at a cost, not just in money…

[@vatsal7640]

If it was nothing then it wouldn't have colonised so many other countries. You're talking as if colonisation was some kind of luck and only European countries were doing it. And pride about the British empire isn't even a thing amount young British people. The only thing I agree with you is that Tories and other parties are completely sh#t.

[@nileshprakash8753]

As an Indian, I relate to this deeply. These people created such a big divide in cultures that had co-existed for years that it will probably never be fixed.

[@dakota5921]

By co-exist you mean constantly conquered and committed war crimes against each other for thousands of years?

[@yj9032]

😂who told you that cultures coexisted peacefully? Go read some history.

[@gajendrasinghchouhan7877]

​@@yj9032 it's fine as long as our people do it :D, no one remembers the atrocities done by maurya in Kalinga, we get serials showing how "prideful and great" mauryan were while slaughtering an entire culture just to get more coastline :😊

[@vatsal7640]

Uhh.. No, they aren't fixed cause of your politicians.

[@vatsal7640]

@@gajendrasinghchouhan7877 exactly!!!! It's fine when blacks and browns do attrocities but bad when whites do it

[@hansolobutimdead]

Let's wonder what documents were successfullly erased

[@blondie2535]

What you are doing is amazing. Keep going.

[@mayanksingh0044]

to any Kenyan watching this, love and support from India, as former british colony we can understand ur pain and on top of that the audacity of English and so called free developed western world to lecture and preach you about how benevolent and good the british Colonialism was

[@vatsal7640]

Nobody needs your love and support. Indians were kicked out of Kenya for supporting the British empire. Don't act superior and victim at the same time.

[@hamentaschen]

"The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli."

[@sketchyskies8531]

This is crazy interesting. I’m glad I got to learn something new

[@rockingthemike]

amazing piece by dr. diptee! i regret not taking her courses in my history undergrad. i had the opportunity to speak with her a few times casually, and she is not only passionate and knowledgeable of her field, but incredibly approachable.

[@EnaGaluega]

That's just one former colony. In the pacific Islands we have similar stories under the British and then the New Zealand administration.

[@abdullahishaq4174]

Thats horrible south asians have similar stories they hurt us all around the world and they should pay for it

[@bnobriga2]

That settlement is less than 4,000 pounds per person, that is insultingly low. Thanks for this video though, I never knew about this.

[@manuelka15]

It is! and payed with a meager fraction of what they once stole.

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

£4,000 in Kenya is a lot of money 😊

[@bnobriga2]

@@williamthebonquerer9181 I think you're missing the point

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

@@bnobriga2 no I'm not, given due to destruction of evidence there is literally no way to know if these people were actually victimised and not just rent seekers and given Kenya's far lower cost of living that's perfectly reasonable.

[@bnobriga2]

@@williamthebonquerer9181 You have such a warped sense of the world and justice, so glad you aren't a judge or anything important.

[@Smbdy_not_significant]

Why am I not Surprised...???

[@chandhu023]

Salute to the ted ed team who had the guts to make this video 👏

[@theWZZA]

The truth will always see the light of day, despite the efforts of people in power to cover it up.

[@mohitmadad2179]

Do a video on the Bengal famine which was caused by the British Raj in India.

[@loszhor]

Why would people keep documents like that just laying around for years!?

[@dewardvide]

THANK YOU FOR THIS!

[@technodestination4763]

People from these countries and especially their governments still have the audacity to lecture world about Human Rights

[@gravel7614]

People have a right to do that. Governments don't really have that right but they should still.

[@only_fair23]

​@@gravel7614 Why do people have the rights if they are still reaping the benefits?

[@vatsal7640]

And african kings and asians do ???

[@vatsal7640]

@@only_fair23 what benefits??? Dude you seriously think every white person back then was a colonizer

[@only_fair23]

@@vatsal7640 Every white person in the US, yes. You realise the US took immigrants from all over Europe only before the 1960s, when it opened up to the rest. That's not even including all the Aid, trade and protection the US offers most of europe.

[@caroskaffee3052]

"Those who don't know about history are doomed to repeat it"

[@Umarsaurabh]

Thankyou Ted-ed for making this video

[@hiimjustin8826]

I've never heard someone describe British independence as benevolent. That must be some European narrative we don't hear on this side of the Atlantic

[@michaelowino228]

Good video.

[@davidbowie5023]

We in Ireland also want the justice too. Still remember how Britain divided Ireland. Britain needs to pay.

[@qasimmir7117]

How?

[@millionaireno1382]

Nah we will keep the north if that's alright.

[@michelletran2637]

I can't believe this is the first time I'm hearing about these atrocities in Kenya.

[@lesterjack9122]

1, In a power struggle as unbalanced as colonialism in Kenya, not even for a second do I believe that the Kenyans ought to count on the benevolence and graciousness of their colonist if they want to achieve freedom and independence. 2, Why didn't the britisch government destory all the pertinent files already? Were these kept as souvenir despite the risk of being exposed?

[@neh1234]

Because it's impossible to destroy every evidence. It assumes that there aren't any entities interested in having written records of an entire country condoning violation of human rights. Willing to bet America, Russia and China have a good chunk of those missing documents.

[@adityamishrasc2579]

They also didn't return artefacts stolen from India.

[@Simp_Zone]

If the brits were forced to return all they stole from the cultures they destroyed, they'd be bankrupt in a day.

[@Mary-J-OK]

Though it makes me cry and feel sick to my stomach, I know how important it is to learn about the atrocities committed by those who run the country I was born in. How shameful to call the operation 'Legacy'. We know what the real legacy the British have left around the world.

[@navarromiranda6666]

Por favor hablen del actual imperio estadounidense y todos los males que han traído al mundo.

[@DPranavVaidik]

Even if they paid $1 million to each of the claimants, it's still not enough!! The only irony is that the British at any point were even considered benevolent empire!! Even if it's a myth, I never thought that was possible

[@thecamelchannel1467]

gotta save some money for all the other people who suffered human rights abuses, I guess... the suppression of history here is surprisingly strong

[@williamthebonquerer9181]

£4,000 in Kenya is a lot of money

[@audradiptee1477]

After lawyers fees, and then dividing the funds among the over 5,000 people involved in the case, each individual received less than £5,000 each.

[@-----Alcatraz------]

The powerful will never face justice

[@jaanusristi8649]

@Alcatraz the British isn’t so powerful now plus all empires rise to fall one day let’s hope they fall while paying for their sins

[@bryancastro8152]

ikr

[@balpreetsingh6834]

Britishers ended slavery from Africa. Then, started using Indian bonded labour.

[@aminshams8121]

British people must be embarrassed for living under such unwise and unjust democracy. As an Afghan, I have read a lot about British war crimes in Afghanistan.

[@rozitasulaiman2923]

It feels surreal being this early, but I'm not complaining, awesome video as always.

[@ellekayeightfour]

Although the atrocities are obviously atrocious, it is interesting that the structure of government (ie. independence of the courts and current political freedoms) allow such historic negatives to be revealed today. Were Britain like other authoritarian governments in the world, the courts would never have allowed any negative information to come to light (and probably would have sought to destroy all remaining evidence).

[@adilmohammed6897]

except the UK government actively refused to reveal the existence of such documents until they were forced to in 10 years ago

[@ellekayeightfour]

@@adilmohammed6897 That is the point. The courts are truly independent enough to be able to force the government to release these documents. Compared to places where the courts are a sham and just another pawn of the ruler.

[@gryphonbotha1880]

@@adilmohammed6897 And that's the thing. They could be forced to. _By their own courts_. I'd love it if courts more consistently ruled against massive corporations or even their own governments for the sake of actual justice for human beings at the grassroots level.

[@only_fair23]

Any examples of courts destroying evidence? Or is that just propaganda?

[@benjaminlieberman3932]

British Government: I hate to say it but it looks like the system you're searching for doesn't exist. Kenyans: Impossible. Perhaps the archives are incomplete. British Government: If an item doesn't appear in our records, it does not exist.

[@savageantelope3306]

It's a shame but also good that this is just now seemingly coming to light

[@xxxgreyhookkickjxxx3295]

I don’t think many people were under an illusion that British colonialism was benevolent before these files. A major reason behind McMillan’s “winds of change” speech in 1960 was because the British population thought the authorities were too oppressive of the local population. These files I suppose confirmed those suspicions to be true

[@ZxZ239]

Nothing can surprise me from the action of the biggest drug trader in the world. What else?

[@hennnerz]

Any chance to do a video on epilepsy for us suffering with seizures?

[@SometimesCompitent]

It’s no coincidence that George Orwell wrote 1984 just when this was starting. He knew a lot about the rewriting of history.

[@Climbingandtech]

The most alarming thing about this is that it is not mentioned what so ever not in Britain or in mainstream media.

[@amgm1996]

Everyday is a good day to call out imperialism!

[@midimusicforever]

Good thing that it's out in the open now at least!

[@jacobzaranyika9334]

Relatable!

[@illyasvielemiya9059]

Every country or government would love to keep their image good. Having those document incriminate them as human right abuser will make them look bad. It is logical thing to do as a organization body, but heartless for a human.

[@deadsoulvamp]

Bri-ish colony were not that far from Adolf.

[@anirudh7463]

And brits still thing that British empire was a good thing for other countries because they "provided" them with "infrastucture".

[@vatsal7640]

Haven't heard anyone say it. So nope!!

[@theletterd7288]

Why can Lyrebirds mimic sounds? It’s really fascinating but how do they do it?

[@deleted-something]

That is crazy....

[@vsurfinbirdv]

Ok. Now do the Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese and Japanese empires.

[@tausifchowdhury8180]

​@Overwatch17 Okay first things first India and Indonesia don't even come close. As for Russia and Arabia, they were and are under constant dictatorship. Turkey is a developed nation and is also a part of Europe. Whereas the countries of France, Germany, Netherlands, Britain etc. Committed war crimes through public support. I live in the Indian subcontinent and a few km from my home is a historic place where swanky British women and "Gentle" men would frequent. There was a sign on the door yhat said " No dogs or Indians allowed" . The things that they did during the time they werw preaching about democracy and rights were more draconian than what Mughal India or Medieval Arabia were committing. But we must look past hate and find forgiveness. My grandfather's entire family were ruined by the British yet he still found British people nice. We must look beyond our shortcomings while acknowledging them . We must

[@BN.ja05]

Typical british behavior: deflect the accusations and reflect your wrogdoings onto others. Don't you know people that don't learn from their history are bound to repeat it?

[@dharmakaurkhalsa3923]

Sooner or later Truth finds it's way to emerge. The waiting time for that to occur thankfully is getting shorter and shorter!....

[@navdipattwal3188]

Then there's what they did to Bangladesh after the war - just ANOTHER one of the single most horrific atrocities committed under British rule killing ~3 million. Humanity needs to reflect and reset

[@bvillafuerte765]

You should make videos about the good, neutral and bad things made by empires.

[@Piratewaffle43]

Ah, good old Britain.

[@bhavyapal]

They were so good at these cover-ups that most people in these countries don't even know what their ancestors have to go through

[@Luke_05]

Omg wth, I am shocked, I never knew any of this

[@cleanerben9636]

Amazing. I wish this would have happened for the victims of the Yalta conference too. Instead Nikolai Tolstoy received the largest fine in history because it was making a Lord look bad and the last time an MP brought it up in Parliament he was told "we don't discuss history here".