The daytime heist at the Louvre has caused a global frenzy. French officials are calling it an “attack,” although no one was hurt. The four thieves? They’re being called an “organized gang.” The irony of it all is that museums around the world house artifacts that they stole from us.
In 2021, after 130 years, France returned 26 treasures they stole from Benin. They ransacked a royal palace in the mighty Kingdom of Dahomey in 1892 before making the country a French colony. That sounds a lot like organized gang activity.
Ninety percent of African artifacts are held outside the continent. Europe has most of them. The Rosetta Stone, an Egyptian stone slab from 196 B.C.E., was “discovered” by the French in 1799, stolen by the British two years later, and has been held at the British Museum since 1802.
In April 2024, the British finally decided to return 32 gold and silver artifacts stolen from Ghana’s Asante king over 150 years ago. Laughably, the British Museum Act 1963 prohibits the removal of artifacts, so the Asante treasures will be loaned to Ghana for six years and then returned to the British Museum. Make it make sense.
Europeans spent centuries pillaging the Black world, so the Louvre heist might just be karma. Don’t be fooled, though. Our history can never be erased. Share this story and help keep it alive.