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Zimbabwe: Race Should Not Be an Issue
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The Zimbabwe Guardian (London)
OPINION
30 April 2008
Posted to the web 1 May 2008
Nancy Nyamhunga
AN ERSTWHILE colleague of mine sends me a petition which was on the Aavaz website for me to sign.
As I went through the comments section, I noted that the few people who brought the subject of Zimbabwe's "catastrophic" condition appeared to be all white. Under normal circumstances, it is not something that would raise eyebrows, but having been born and bred in Zimbabwe, something didn't sound right here.
Forgive me - I'm one of those people who do not subscribe to the "Political Correctness" school of thought for obvious reasons, chief among them being that this kind of thought favours temporary cosmetic solutions on the expense of frank talk, painful as it may prove to be, but sustainable.
Karen Poole from South Africa wrote, in her own words, "We must take action to stop further suffering of the people in Zimbabwe".
Cecile Trijssenaar, in UK added, "It is not too late to act now before the rape, attacks, takes over's, intimidation and withholding of food take hold."
Sarah Hills from the UK said, "As an African abroad who has been horrified for a very long time at the brutality of Mugabe's regime......"
There were other similar comments from seemingly white Zimbabweans expressing similar concerns on this website. Reading from the sugar-coated comments, someone who have never lived in Zimbabwe can easily be fooled into believing these "Zimbabweans" supposedly sense of empathy towards the suffering of the majority of native Zimbabweans who happen to be black.
It is unfortunate and very regrettable that a worthy genuine cause fight for democracy has been hijacked to a cause that has pitted white against black but in a very subtle way. You really need to be a little smarter upstairs to grasp this ugly inconvenient truth.
The majority of Zimbabwe's white community still live in the Rhodesian era up to this very day. They will not mix with blacks. They have their own social clubs, schools and will reside in certain specific areas where the likelihood of having a black neighbour is close to zero percent. They will accept a black person if he/she comes into their lives as a servant, a maid, a gardener or a poor farm worker.
I attended Lord Malvern High School from the mid 80's, and as the number of black students rose, white children were leaving. When I started my first job in the early 90's, I was reasonably paid that I decided to move from my parents' house from the ghetto to an apartment in The Avenues. As more and more blacks moved into the area, the white community began to flee, moving further to expensive places like Borrowdale, Chisipite, etc.
As most Zimbabwean black intellectuals and business people started to penetrate into these elite places, most Zimbabwean white communities decided to seek "sanctuary" from far away areas like farms. Most of our white farmers decided to stay permanently on "their farms" just as a way of getting away from the black community whose presence they believed lowered their standard of living.
It was only after their sanctuaries were taken away from them, either through the Land Reform programme or through invasions that they finally found there was nowhere to run to anymore. Most decided to relocate to the western world - where the laws are even harsher when it comes to racial discrimination. It is these tough laws which put every human being as an equal partner which most of our white communities cannot stand.
Whilst most black Zimbabweans have managed to adapt to their new lives in their host countries, it is a bitter pill to swallow for our white Zimbabweans. There is no black maid, no black 'garden boy', no black farm worker, no cruising on a private yacht on the shores of Kariba.
The rules of the game in the western world are quite different from those in Zimbabwe.
Whilst it was not a secret that most white farmers broke immigration rules by importing illegal foreign nationals from Malawi, Mozambique etc, for exploitation on their farms, far much worse exploitation than the so-called sweat shops in Asia, with impunity. In the UK it is a serious crime which very few people would even dare to try. Ask Chris McGreal the Guardian correspondent, about the living conditions of black farm workers in Zimbabwe under white farmers.
Some members of the white Zimbabwean community even confided to McGreal that the reason for their participation in the opposition politics was that they wanted to "get" Mugabe.
Despite the fact that football is the most popular game on this planet - (I stand to be corrected on this one), I don't remember seeing a sizeable number of our white community attending football matches, they probably prefer to support European clubs because they have a large number of players who are white. They have been quite noticeable in attending cricket matches, but not until the almost all-white team was dissolved--which probably explains the noise behind Zimbabwe cricket - it is now mostly black.
It is no surprise that even on most Zimbabwean online papers; we rarely read contributions made by our white communities. They write to foreign papers, a clear indication of the existence of the notorious "Berlin Wall" between white and black in Zimbabwe.
It is a shame really.
The solution in Zimbabwe lies in the word "reform". Most people appear to be of the mistaken belief that if President Mugabe goes, and then Zimbabwe will go back to the Rhodesian era of patronage on the basis of skin colour. That is wishful thinking. If anything, a new breed of young black Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, now know how to assert their place in society. They now know their rights, courtesy of their exposure to the outside world.
Our white community must reform, accept to live side by side with a black neighbour in peace, even inviting each other for tea, making turns to collect each other's kids from school, allow the kids to mix, and generally reforming their minds from Rhodesian to a new Zimbabwean which is inclusive , which sees no colour of skin.
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Relying on big brother, US/UK to come and "get" Mugabe in the hope of restoring privileges based on skin colour alone is not sustainable. Mugabe may have his faults, but his policies resonate with the majority of black Zimbabweans, even those in the opposition politics. It is therefore wise not to expect much in terms of policy reversals, especially on the land issue, but rather focus on moving on and rebuilding new lives even in a post Mugabe-era.
I am really tired of zanu and its propaganda. This article and this paper "The Zimbabwe Guardian (London)" smells of the same rhetoric that i have read from the herald and was hoping i would not have to be subjected to outside of zim. Ofcourse whites in zim led a life that was privileged and did not incooperate the majority blacks. However, that has nothing to do with the current suffering that mugabe and zanu are subjecting its citizens too.
GIVE ME A BREAK MAN!!! I am black too, but at this moment i am just praying for the old... [Read Full Text]
I thank God that there are whites concerned about the blight of blacks in their country - or a country they are concerned about. This writer obviously has no sympathy for her fellow blacks. I don't actually believe that but think she is paid only if she can produce propaganga for the ZANU-PF machine. At home like the rest of us she is cursing the Government when she has to skip bread and make a stew of a few leaves from the garden. I bet you feel great about your job. I pray you get a concience before the next... [Read Full Text]
"You really need to be a little smarter upstairs to grasp this ugly inconvenient truth."
Like you?
"The majority of Zimbabwe's white community still live in the Rhodesian era up to this very day. They will not mix with blacks. They have their own social clubs, schools and will reside in certain specific areas where the likelihood of having a black neighbour is close to zero percent. They will accept a black person if he/she comes into their lives as a servant, a maid, a gardener or a poor farm worker."
This must be a record. You just managed to... [Read Full Text]
"You really need to be a little smarter upstairs to grasp this ugly inconvenient truth."
Like you?
"The majority of Zimbabwe's white community still live in the Rhodesian era up to this very day. They will not mix with blacks. They have their own social clubs, schools and will reside in certain specific areas where the likelihood of having a black neighbour is close to zero percent. They will accept a black person if he/she comes into their lives as a servant, a maid, a gardener or a poor farm worker."
This must be a record. You just managed to... [Read Full Text]
You have to be a little smarter upstairs, a poltically correct assession that beats reality. The reality is that most white Rhodesians are so closed minded and ultimately the lost tribes of Europe. They do not mix well with the majority. It is always I'm the "bass" and you are the servants. Some who immigrated to Zambia found it very difficult with the locals and most of the farmers who migrated to Zambia just could not make it. As usual they blamed everybody around town. I met some in London and was introduced by a Briton to meet this white... [Read Full Text]
Was he a man or a woman? I can't tell from all the confusion in your fictional story. You met, a "very miserable WOMAN who could not fit, in and worse missed HIS black maids"? Really phiri if your going to make something up make it plausable.
Nancy, I wonder how many white Zimbabweans you actually know. This kind of mentality coming from you is Rhodesian. By which I mean you sound like you have a big chip on your shoulder. This is the 21st Century and I find it incredible you should even care what the white community thinks, we make up less than 1% of the population. Sure there is some bitterness, as generations of hard work have been destroyed by certain political pawns, but this is not exclusive to the white community. Many people have lost more than farms and businesses in our current... [Read Full Text]
All africans out there... there is no way racism can just go away. It will be with us for years to come - this is a hard fact.
Definately Race is an issue.. that is the reason why the Zim crisis is being reported worldwide whilst some crises are being swept under the carpet because whites are not involved.
Africans just work up ... the western funded NGO's are misleading you big time!
If you want race issues to go away then how about telling the Herald to stop blaming the whites for every problem in Zim?
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