There's a scene in the film The Eyes of War where Colin Farrell's character says something to the effect that anywhere that's fucked up in the world today, you can bet that either the French or the British were there. Given that the French or the British were more or less everywhere, if I was a bookie, I'd offer very short odds on that bet. But it raises the thorny issue of the legacy of colonialism; and anyone so inclined could even go into the question of whose legacy is the worst.
I am not so inclined - the question is far too complicated, and riven with passionate opinions from both colonisers and colonised. But having recently spent a couple of years in Mayotte, I recently watched a documentary called Mayotte - la Dernière Colonie?
The documentary gave a good description of the process that led from Mayotte being part of Comoros in 1975 (itself a French colony at the time) to now being France's 101st département (whilst the rest of Comoros is independent). But what intrigued me most was the question mark in the title - there's a doubt whether Mayotte is really a colony. Officially, of course, it's not - no country these days boasts of having an empire. So the French, cunningly, call it a DOM instead - Département d'Outre Mer (Overseas Department). And many French people will take offence or dismiss you out of hand if you if you go round saying their DOMs are colonies.
Have you ever been annoyed because you can't take your dog inside a shop? Well, now you have the solution - call it a cat.
Fortunately, I'm not the only person to think this way. There are even some French people who agree...
Magali strolled away. None of these people was unpleasant. But put them together, hand them the keys to what, after all, was a colony, and a collective identity emerged. It wasn’t one she was eager to be part of. (from chapter 4 of Perfume Island which is set in Mayotte).
Learn more here about Perfume Island, second in the Magali Rousseau mystery series. Available for a limited time only at $0.99