Book unpacks racial, tribal discrimination

YOUTHFUL author Rongarashe Masuku has penned a controversial book titled Deracialising the mind: Racism in the name of Patriotism, which seeks to unpack the source of racial and tribal discrimination that exists in the country.

The book traces the source of tribalism back to independence and touches on the controversial topic of Gukurahundi and why it was inevitable.

In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Masuku said the setting had three characters mimicking a parliamentary set-up, which starts from the critic of South Africa's notion of a rainbow nation. Masulu says the notion of a rainbow nation is a fallacy. He then did a critique of the Zimbabwe flag which he claims does not recognise the identity of the white minority.

"When we got our independence we said we wanted a country that believes in racial equality, but it is not there on our national flag. If we believed in racial equality from the onset, then to one who is discerning it comes as no surprise, as seizure of the white man's property seems to have emanated from the mantra of black majority and empowerment of black people, instead of empowerment of everyone," he said.

"I then moved to tribalism; is there anything to do with independence that is suggestive of Ndebele people? The Zimbabwean bird is derived from the Shona tribe, the name Zimbabwe was derived from the Great Zimbabwe State. Then the lighting of the flame, which is lit during Independence Day celebrations; that lighting of the flame is associated with the Rozvi people, so everything to do with independence seems to concentrated on one tribe. Where are the likes of Mqabuko (Joshua) Nkomo on our Independence notion?"

He said the book also discusses the nation's belief of tribal equality.

"In the book, I critique that if we really believed in tribal equality and condemned regionalism, why have provinces like Mashonaland and Matabeleland yet we are a nation that believes in tribal equality although our nation is demarcated on tribal basis," he said.

To the discerning, Gukurahundi was inevitable because from the onset, the Ndebele and white people were not included except in words and the massacres were as a result of fighting for tribal equality by the two marginalised groups."

In the book, Masuku suggests a new national flag, a new name for the nation that do not carry any connotations of tribalism or racism.

"The book suggests a new name for the country, Flame Lily, which has no connotations of tribalism or racism and a new design for the flag and national anthem as well as a new currency to eradicate the tribal and racial connotations that exist currently", he said.

Masuku said he was looking forward to publishing his next book, which he says is a continuation of the initial one titled True Meritocracy: A Non-Party State, which seeks to do away with the evils of a multi-party political State and another called Reforming the Land Reform Programme.

"I have written 21 books since 2014, I am unemployed and I only studied up to Advanced Level after which I could not further my studies due to financial problems, but I have used the past four years to write plays and poems on critical subjects like tribalism, racism, feminism and I also have written a science journal", he said.