Bash the colonialists when they ask for independence and you stand to lose resources. Call them racists. Take their land. Promise the local people justice. Recolonize the resources after the local people have been wiped out. Call yourself a hero in history books.

Derek,

I don’t claim to be a foreign policy expert or someone who has a formal background in political sicence so please bear with me. I am referering mainly with regard to what is happening and has happened in Zimbabwe. From what I can tell at this point in time many other parts of Africa also appear to be a part of the same equation. There seems to be a very strong renewed push into Africa by Western interests at present. I am very happy to see that it looks as though the suffering of many local people could potentially be coming to and end. However, the deceptions involved in getting up to this point are sickening to me and the role that natural resources, yet again, appears to be playing seems questionable.

Regarding racism, as someone who has lived both in Africa until 1980 and the United States since, I can honestly say that, while racism exists everywhere, I have never seen it manifested as sharply as what I have in the southern United States today. In my opinion a lot of the racial issues seem to stem from ignorance about history. That being said, periodicals such as Time magazine have worked in the past toward branding all white Africans as racists in order to further foregin policy adgendas such as the move to aid Mugabe’s ascent to power in Zimbabwe under President Jimmy Carter. I beleive that this type of one sided propaganda does a lot of harm to innocent people, even if it is capable of bringing progress to causes which may require the backing of public opinion.

Basically, my overall point is that not all of the white Rhodesians who were branded as racists by foreign policy makers such as Kissinger were hatemongering animals. Many white Rhodesians worked very hard to try and improve the quality of life in Rhodesia for both blacks and whites. I feel that the media in the late 1960’s and onward has been used as a tool to misinform people in places such as the United States of the real situation in Rhodesia.

Regarding colonization, I am not justifying anything that Rhodes did towards the original colonization in Rhodesia. I honestly think that some of the methods he used to gain land and resources were disgusting and are evidence of the atrocious lengths that man will go to when greed is a factor. However, the fact remains that at the time of unilateral independence in Rhodesia the country was quite productive and the standard of living for all, black and white, was improving. Unlike the early history of United States, black farm workers in Rhodesia were not slaves. They were paid a salary and provided with housing and education and permitted to move about freely if the opportunity to further themselves should arise.

Despite some of the quotes taken from Ian Smith regarding the impossibility of black rule in Rhodeisa I feel that there most likely would have been an continued gradual incorporation of blacks into the governement of Rhodesia over time had things simply been left alone by outside meddlers. The consequences of taking an organized government with first world structure and simply handing it over to a tribal people who tended to have had a very war-like and nomadic existance as well as who had had only been taught to read and write within the past 100 years seems utterly ridiculous. I am by no means saying that whites are superior to blacks, I am saying that you would have to be an idiot to simply hand over the keys of parliment to a traditional chief who does not have a background in law and expect things to run smoothly without someone there to foster in experience. Time looks to have been the only solution in bringing native blacks up to speed with regard to the workings of the type of government established in Rhodesia. I do not know of a way to finish a PhD in 1 year, do you?

Perhaps Rhodesia’s declaration of unilateral independece played a large role in bringing about the disinformation tactics which resulted in most tf the world perceiving white Rhodesians to be on the verge of promoting a “race” war. If Rhodesia had remained independent it is interesting to ponder how this might have affected the ownership of natural resources inside the country and just what exactly Britain stood to lose.

I am not exactly an expert on what happened with FDR and Churchill but whatever it was only leaves me to conclude that it apparently lead to a period in which there was either a concerted effort to kill off local people in Africa or the situation has been grossly mishandled throughout a transition period. When Kissinger spoke of his African solution years ago did he warn that millions would die in order to achieve it or was the plan of action simply mishandled due to sheer incompetance?

At this point in time I have conluded that Mugabe has been nothing more than a puppet of Western powers who seek to maintain longer term control of mineral exploitation and land use through remote financial control. It looks to me as though an independent Rhodesia might have permitted this. The only other explanation that I can find as to why Mugabe’s reign of terror would have gone on for so long is that the powers who originally backed him and then looked away for nearly thrity years are guilty of gross negligence and lack of concern for human life. I find it hard to belive that people could possibly be so stupid. I wish England well when the history books are revised yet again. The mines will likely become dry at some point in the future and perhaps then Zimbabwe may know real peace.

Derek,

I appreciate your feedback and while I am far from perfect I really do not have a problem accepting people of other colors to myself. In fact knowing what the black people of Zimbabwe have been going through for the past twenty or so years has been heartwrenching to me as I really had some good freinds there who, by the way, were black.

None of us can choose where or to whom we are born and I understand this completely. I really do not feel that white people are superior to any other races. I do feel that it would have been a bit much to expect the people of Zimbabwe to simply jump in and run things without some guidance in the type of government that had been established in Rhodesia. Do you think that we are all at equal points in the road of life with regard to learning and understanding concepts, ideas or wisdom regarding individual issues or practices? I do not. However, I also do not think that this makes me a bigot. I feel that we can all learn from one another if we are willing to listen and not let greed overtake our ambitious natures.

I never said that I wished for blacks to remain without rights. You, like so many others, seem very mistaken about my views and it is truly unfortunate that you seem so willing to judge me based on a few paragraphs rather than spend the time to get to know me as someone who has knowledge to offer based on firsthand experiences. In my time I have found that people are usually afraid of what they do not understand and Dereck, you are living proof of this in that rather than take the time to think about what I have to say you would rather dismiss me as a fanatical anti-western racist which is the fartherst thing from the truth.

Yes, I do have my own biases and prefereneces in life with regard to ideas but hatred based on skin color or the want to opress people is not a part of me. Yes, I do think that the systems we have in the West are imperfect and could be improved but I am not concerened with their destruction as I feel that they are better than those available in many other parts of the world.

Please feel free to learn your history from textbooks and not actual survivors of events. I am sure you will be able to sleep well knowing that the world is all unicorns and candy canes, cut and dry, black and white with no in betweens or complex issues that require time and effort to understand an an open mind which does not find itself overwhelmed by generalizations.

Yes, the idea about Mugabe’s role in Zimbawe is hard to comprehend. I realize this 100%. I’m sure it probably sounds far out to many people especially given his statements throughout the years. It is pure speculation on my behalf and I in no way know this to be true but it is what I have concluded as a potential possibility based on the way that things have played out. I may be wrong and I do not like to think that this is the way that the world works but people do ugly things for power and resources. I’m sure that you yourself if yo were to be honest could admit that “Western” people are among them. I am not really looking to balme anyone or extrot some kind of repayment for suffering. What I am intersted in uncovering the truth about the way that the world really works, beneath the lies and disinformation.

There are many things that I appreciate about the West and the freedom to examine concepts and think and express oneself without restrictions or censorship is among them. If you are offended by candor then you have the choice to cover your ears. Best wishes in your studies and I truly hope that you achieve wisdom, understanding and tolerance someday.

Derek,

Good grief man, this thread sounds like what I imagine the United Nations showings to be like at present - nonproductive and full of dehumanization. OK, I will do my best from here on not to write you off as someone who is not willing to go above and beyond the norm of viewing individuals as stereotypes and that is really all that I expect from you. You are correct in that I really don’t know too much about you and your efforts at this point in time. Perhaps you might be better able to understand me from what I am about to say.

I am currently dealing with learning to forgive. If you have visited my blog then you can see that I have attempted to post about issues that I feel shed some insight into the truth about Zimbabwe. I may not have presented things in a very freindly way and have tended to harp on some about why leaders from the West appear to have looked the other way for so long while corruption and destruction ensued. From what I can tell the more recent history in Zimbabwe (past 3 decades) has been very painful for a lot of people. I am not attempting to justify the way that things were before black rule but I am questioning the way that a transition has been accomplished. That being said, my writing is an incomplete work at this point.

Destabilization, death and disease are difficult things to deal with for most people and on some occasions I have had to vent a lot of frustration and feelings of helplessness about the situation in Zimbabwe in my writing. I recognize that some policy making types might see an end to situations as a way to justify the means but I am also of the opinion that while today is here already there is simply no guarantee that tomorrow will ever come. In other words, killing people or letting them suffer horribly today so that others may live tomorrow is not a preferable way to accomplish changes in my opinion. Some might feel that I am being shortsighted and that this is just the way that things are proven to work. I do not know all of the answers.

Regardless, as I mentioned above, I am willing to forgive who or whatever has been involved in dealing death and destruction for so long in Zimbabwe. It is difficult and I have had to work through the way that things have unfolded while reading through the lines of history texts, newspapers and even a few BBC productions. However, a new day does look to be dawning in the region. Even though I am confident that many who may have played roles in promoting attrocites will go unpunished and perhaps even find themselves living comfortably into the future, I am very glad to see that it looks as though the situation will be improving with reagrd to the ordinary man on the street (or in the bush) there. Maybe this is all that really matters.

If you want to be “done” with me that is fine. I am not owed anything. I am sure that your time is valuable as you look to have impeccable academic and professional credentials. I may not speak in fancy rhetoric or have a doctorate but, nonetheless, I have tried to follow along with what you have said and give you something of substance to ponder. There must be thousands of other mukiwas out there who understand at least some of where I am coming from anyway. Painting us all with a broad brush as racists might have justified a movement for the benefit of those having another color skin but it seems to do very little for humanity overall when you realize that people are people and we all have something potentially worthwhile to offer as individuals. Just like my writing, I am an unfinished project now seeking to move on to chapters which can reclaim things through the stability that only peace, love and understanding can offer. Here’s to a productive and fruitful future.

Cheers