One can of course argue that racial divisions like Apartheid in South Africa or segregation in Rhodesia have their own oppressive social effects beyond the financial. There's also the argument that only "white colonists" ever benefited from the infrastructure they built (which is actually untrue, wherever white colonists were established, everything from water access to roads to medical care improved for everyone).

However, I think it's fair to ask if these nations were experiencing growth and prosperity under white governance, or if things were relatively the same. We're not supposed to talk about it – We're only supposed to say "colonialism bad". I don't care about that, I just want to know what the realities are.

In the process I came across an interesting video featuring a black South African man who presented the race issue and the South Africa issue in a way that was simple but it brought impressive clarity. In summary he said:

"Africans are forever chasing the white man."