human zoos for Western spectators

""There were several human zoos or "colonial exhibitions" in Belgium, Germany, France, the US and other western countries at the time, exhibiting Africans and other non-western peoples. These helped to convince the European public opinion of the necessity of colonisation. Exhibiting Africans as animals, uncivilised, primitive and animistic made it seem justifiable to colonise them. It was also a source of entertainment for the European of the time to see how "backward" Africans were.""