Features|HistorySouth African activist uses history to highlight ongoing injusticeAn activist-turned-historian takes tourists through Cape Town’s painful colonial history, which still echoes through the city today.

Lucy Campbell, a historian in Cape Town, South Africa, conducts educational tours focusing on the impact of colonialism in the city. These tours cover significant historical sites including the Castle of Good Hope, a 17th-century fortress built by the settlers of the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

The Castle of Good Hope stands as a symbol of colonial violence and dispossession. Campbell highlights its historical significance as a site of execution and control, reflecting the VOC's establishment of a refreshment post between the Netherlands and the East. The fortress is currently managed by the South African military.

Campbell critiques city monuments and museums, such as the Slave Memorial in Church Square, for inadequately representing the history of enslaved people and Indigenous populations displaced during colonial times.

Campbell emphasizes the historical impact on the Khoi people, Indigenous herders who lost their land and livestock to European settlers. The Hessequa, a subgroup of the Khoi, were transformed from landowners to peasant workers under colonial rule. Land ownership disparities persist, with rights groups citing ongoing abuses against mixed-race agricultural workers.

In the city, Campbell identifies echoes of historical injustices, such as the plight of displaced Khoi people and the continued marginalization of non-white populations.

Campbell advocates for the decentralization of museums to make them more accessible to communities on the Cape Flats, where many descendants of the Khoi and enslaved people reside. She stresses the importance of museums reflecting the true history of colonialism and its impact on Indigenous and enslaved populations.

The tour includes a visit to a plaque dedicated to Krotoa, a Khoi woman known for her role as an interpreter and negotiator between the Dutch and the Khoi. Campbell critiques the plaque for not fully capturing Krotoa's historical significance and advocates for a more comprehensive representation of her contributions.

Campbell highlights the enduring influence of the VOC in Cape Town's economic structures. She points out the emblem of the VOC embedded in the cityscape as a reminder of the colonial exploitation that shaped the city's development.

The tour concludes at the Slave Lodge, a former housing facility for enslaved people from various regions. Campbell criticizes the museum for presenting a sanitized version of history, failing to adequately convey the suffering endured by enslaved individuals. She advocates for more authentic representations that acknowledge the voices and experiences of affected communities.

Campbell's tours aim to educate participants on the deep historical roots of contemporary social and economic inequalities in Cape Town, emphasizing the need for accurate historical representation and remembrance.

Based on reporting by Al Jazeera.