Opinion / Blogs
Can a white person be an African!
29 Jul 2011 at 13:59hrs | Views
BBC-HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur talks to one of the few white farmers who resisted Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's violent land reform program. Evicted Zimbabwean farmer Ben Freeth talked of his love for farm invaders that beat him and his in-laws to 'death'.
Pressed by Sackur if he regretted staying while other white farmers and their families left for other countries, Ben replied:
"No, I didn't fun enough. While I was lying on the ground I remember saying to god 'if it's my time, I said I am ready, but if you still got things for me down here, then, then I am ready'".
"And very shortly after that, the verse that I have found most difficult that Jesus said in a sermon on the mount, which is love your enemies and bless those who persecute you came into my heart… it was something that physical had happened.
Ben Freeth after attack by Zanu Pf farm invaders in 2008
"I reached out and I was all bound very tightly and I had badly fractured skull, I had lots (of) broken ribs and things like that. I reached out to the people that were surrounding me in the darkness and I said 'may the Lord Jesus bless you' and touched their feet and I had this supernatural love to the people that were doing the terrible things to us, which resulted in my father inlaw's loss", Ben Freeth told Sackur.
He talked of his supernatural hope of a better future in Zimbabwe despite losing material possessions but hopes for a future where white Africans will recognised equally as black africans.
"I believe the future will show us to be just as black Americans and now considered Americans, just as white Americans also considered as Americans. We as white Africans will also eventually be considered to be Africans in the same way as black people, but the battle is going on,"concluded Ben Freeth who is full of strong spiritual belief that Zimbabwe has a better future ahead.
Ben Freeth earlier blamed inaction by the society for deliberately turning a blind eye at a time Mugabe was murdering people in Matebeleland and said if good men do nothing, evil will prevail.
"You go back to Gukurahundi in the early 80's when 20 000 civilians were murdered and no one knew about it. I believe very strongly that was wrong and it allowed so many thousand more people to get murdered as a result,"said Ben.
Full interview on BBC HARD TALK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012p6yh
Pressed by Sackur if he regretted staying while other white farmers and their families left for other countries, Ben replied:
"No, I didn't fun enough. While I was lying on the ground I remember saying to god 'if it's my time, I said I am ready, but if you still got things for me down here, then, then I am ready'".
"And very shortly after that, the verse that I have found most difficult that Jesus said in a sermon on the mount, which is love your enemies and bless those who persecute you came into my heart… it was something that physical had happened.
Ben Freeth after attack by Zanu Pf farm invaders in 2008
"I reached out and I was all bound very tightly and I had badly fractured skull, I had lots (of) broken ribs and things like that. I reached out to the people that were surrounding me in the darkness and I said 'may the Lord Jesus bless you' and touched their feet and I had this supernatural love to the people that were doing the terrible things to us, which resulted in my father inlaw's loss", Ben Freeth told Sackur.
"I believe the future will show us to be just as black Americans and now considered Americans, just as white Americans also considered as Americans. We as white Africans will also eventually be considered to be Africans in the same way as black people, but the battle is going on,"concluded Ben Freeth who is full of strong spiritual belief that Zimbabwe has a better future ahead.
Ben Freeth earlier blamed inaction by the society for deliberately turning a blind eye at a time Mugabe was murdering people in Matebeleland and said if good men do nothing, evil will prevail.
"You go back to Gukurahundi in the early 80's when 20 000 civilians were murdered and no one knew about it. I believe very strongly that was wrong and it allowed so many thousand more people to get murdered as a result,"said Ben.
Full interview on BBC HARD TALK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012p6yh
Source - zimeye
All articles and letters published on Bulawayo24 have been independently written by members of Bulawayo24's community. The views of users published on Bulawayo24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Bulawayo24. Bulawayo24 editors also reserve the right to edit or delete any and all comments received.
