Opinion / Columnist
Die hard Rhodies unrepentant
12 Nov 2015 at 09:51hrs | Views
It dies hard among the Rhodesian incorrigible vagrants that Zimbabwe is no longer a colony and it can never be again. This week and in some few days to come a number of white Zimbabweans here and in the Diaspora will remember and celebrate the Universal Declaration of Independence (UDI).
The UDI, was a brain child of Ian Smith, the last Rhodesian Prime Minister. When we recall Ian Smith, we see an image of a white racist leader. He was part of the whole British colonial system bent on suppressing Africans. An attentive examination of the existing political landscape shows that the man left a legacy of division and oppression.
Smith is remembered in history for his UDI from Britain and his speech in which he said that black majority rule would never happen "I don't believe in majority rule ever in Rhodesia, not in 1000 years". The renowned racist went on to say "If one day it is white and the next day it is black, I believe we have failed and it will be a disaster for Rhodesia". A quick but shrewd analysis on these words shows that the man was myopic and lacked the national vision.
Ian Smith was wrong and history proved it. He and UDI instigated one of the most racist and brutal regimes in Africa. Ironically Smith spoke about democracy and maintaining civilized standards. In essence the white population in Rhodesia never exceeded 120 000, which was three (3%) percent. This means their numbers were no larger than those of a small English provincial town.
And yet they saw themselves as belonging to a separate state that they called Rhodesia, "God's own Country'. The Rhodesians were a different breed of white colonial settlers. In fact Rhodesia was sometimes cast as nothing worse than a slightly more rough-and-tumble version of the British Home Counties. These whites really liked this country of ours to the extent that they celebrate a non-existing entity.
Rhodesia certainly lacked the more overt manifestations of racism in South Africa, but segregation of the races in schools, hospitals and residential areas was nonetheless the norm and most of the humiliations of apartheid could be found in abundance. In this scenario, public spending was vastly skewed towards whites; land ownership (perhaps the bitterest of political issues) was grossly inequitable.
The racist blindness of Ian Smith and many other Rhodesians caused the whites to believe that they owned a country in Africa. That blindness resulted in the war which they lost at the end. It should not be forgotten that these Rhodies held British domestic politics to ransom and stage managed one of the white supremacist regime in Southern Africa.
When the final history of the decolonization of Africa is written, Ian Smith will merit little more than a footnote. In fact he will be remembered as a Canute who tried to resist the tide of black rule sweeping inexorably across the continent. It would be quite plausible to describe him as a petty, arrogant little man, trying to fill a job that was too big for him.
We should all remember that the whole purpose of the UDI was to frustrate the efforts of Zimbabweans to get their independence. Now the incorrigible vagrants are forgetting that when President Robert Mugabe got into power he extended a policy of reconciliation. Woe to you, Rhodies, for you are a brood of vipers.
Today, while others remember and celebrate UDI we celebrate our hard won independence.
The UDI, was a brain child of Ian Smith, the last Rhodesian Prime Minister. When we recall Ian Smith, we see an image of a white racist leader. He was part of the whole British colonial system bent on suppressing Africans. An attentive examination of the existing political landscape shows that the man left a legacy of division and oppression.
Smith is remembered in history for his UDI from Britain and his speech in which he said that black majority rule would never happen "I don't believe in majority rule ever in Rhodesia, not in 1000 years". The renowned racist went on to say "If one day it is white and the next day it is black, I believe we have failed and it will be a disaster for Rhodesia". A quick but shrewd analysis on these words shows that the man was myopic and lacked the national vision.
Ian Smith was wrong and history proved it. He and UDI instigated one of the most racist and brutal regimes in Africa. Ironically Smith spoke about democracy and maintaining civilized standards. In essence the white population in Rhodesia never exceeded 120 000, which was three (3%) percent. This means their numbers were no larger than those of a small English provincial town.
And yet they saw themselves as belonging to a separate state that they called Rhodesia, "God's own Country'. The Rhodesians were a different breed of white colonial settlers. In fact Rhodesia was sometimes cast as nothing worse than a slightly more rough-and-tumble version of the British Home Counties. These whites really liked this country of ours to the extent that they celebrate a non-existing entity.
Rhodesia certainly lacked the more overt manifestations of racism in South Africa, but segregation of the races in schools, hospitals and residential areas was nonetheless the norm and most of the humiliations of apartheid could be found in abundance. In this scenario, public spending was vastly skewed towards whites; land ownership (perhaps the bitterest of political issues) was grossly inequitable.
The racist blindness of Ian Smith and many other Rhodesians caused the whites to believe that they owned a country in Africa. That blindness resulted in the war which they lost at the end. It should not be forgotten that these Rhodies held British domestic politics to ransom and stage managed one of the white supremacist regime in Southern Africa.
When the final history of the decolonization of Africa is written, Ian Smith will merit little more than a footnote. In fact he will be remembered as a Canute who tried to resist the tide of black rule sweeping inexorably across the continent. It would be quite plausible to describe him as a petty, arrogant little man, trying to fill a job that was too big for him.
We should all remember that the whole purpose of the UDI was to frustrate the efforts of Zimbabweans to get their independence. Now the incorrigible vagrants are forgetting that when President Robert Mugabe got into power he extended a policy of reconciliation. Woe to you, Rhodies, for you are a brood of vipers.
Today, while others remember and celebrate UDI we celebrate our hard won independence.
Source - Stewart Murewa
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