Daily News article rapped
Posted: Wednesday, October 23, 2002By Lovemore Mataire, www.herald.co.zw
ANALYSTS yesterday described as rabid Rhodesian propaganda, an opinion piece in the Saturday edition of The Daily News asserting that blacks were not yet ready to run the affairs of Zimbabwe.
Headlined "Black bourgeoisie a disgrace to their race" and under the pseudonym "M Anoti", a name synonymous with a Rhodesian programme called "Padare", the writer openly glorified former Rhodesian leader Ian Smith for saying that blacks were incapable of governing themselves.
"The argument by the Rhodesian Front that black people were not ready to run the affairs of state may well have been vindicated," read a paragraph from the article.
Chairman of the English and Communication Department at the University of Zimbabwe, Dr Rino Zhuwarara said in simple terms the writer was trying to say that blacks are incapable of constructing their own civilisation.
"It is synonymous with Rhodesian propaganda which used to come out on a programme called Padare which described anything that would have been done by blacks as primitive," said Dr Zhuwarara.
He said it was frightening that a paper managed by an African would actually publish an article that undermines and ridicules blacks as nothing but primitive beings.
The most dangerous assertion advanced by the author of the article was that different races and tribes in the country should compete separately in their various fields.
"To this end, whites, Karangas, Zezurus, Manyikas, Indians and Coloureds should each have their own social and sporting clubs competing to be the best," said the writer.
A social and political commentator Mr Olley Maruma said there was no better way to describe the author of the article other than being a "downright racist."
"We can’t keep on saying the same things again and again. Africa is the cradle of mankind and civilisation but these racists would never want to accept that," said Mr Maruma.
He said the so-called captains of industry who are whites, were actually Rhodesian rejects who took over the companies after independence in 1980.
Mr Maruma said that the essence of racial prejudice was that it was based on primitive irrational emotions, which cannot be influenced by reasoning.
"The stock on trade of racism are stereotypes which sometimes do not bear any resemblance to reality," said Mr Maruma.
He said the wealth in the hands of whites that the columnist boasts about was actually built out of slavery and colonialism and the theft of black intellectual property.
"The evidence that the black man has made major contributions to world civilisation is overwhelming. But for the last 500 years, Western racists who are still with us today, have been churning out racist myths and stereotypes, in order to foster the impression that Western civilisation is responsible for all human progress. We know that is a lie," said Mr Maruma.
Chairman of the Media and Information Commission Dr Tafataona Mahoso said that although The Daily News claims to be a proponent of globalisation, it fails to realise that what is happening to the Zimbabwean economy is similar to what is happening globally.
Dr Mahoso said the report was synonymous with reports in the white-owned media in South Africa.
"The same things that are being demonstrated against in South Africa that the media is not reflecting African views are the same things that The Daily News is publishing," said Dr Mahoso.
He said no Zimbabwean would believe the columnist’s assertions that blacks are "good for nothing".
"Even the author himself or herself does not believe a single thing that he or she wrote," said Dr Mahoso.
http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=15429&pubdate=2002-10-23Printer friendly version
Send page by E-Mail
Previous Page | Zimbabwe Watch | Historical Views | Home
NOTICE: All articles are the copyright property of the writers. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C., section 107, some material on this site is provided without permission from the copyright owner, only for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of federal copyright laws. Visit: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml for more details. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
