Blame the White Man
Why Africa is Not Being Accountable for Today
A month ago, I had an interesting conversation with an older colleague of mine regarding Africa’s political and economic future. This was not the first time him and I shared such a discussion. I enjoy talking to him about such matters despite us not agreeing on many matters most of the time. He is respectful, a good listener, calm in demeanour, and confident — and I hope I am too. Moving on, I noticed that he often ascribes a lot of Zambia’s problems to some mysterious plot by the “white man” — referring to the West having intentions to deplete Africa of its potential. He makes a claim that we are still gripped by the hands of colonization and that we as Africans, are not truly free. I agree, but not exactly with how he sees the Western agenda, as there is some truth to it — provided that we can specify what exactly it is that the West is doing wrong in its interactions with African societies. I agree that we are not truly free; in the sense that Africa is partly to blame for this. I believe that Africa’s biggest threat is itself, and that non-African nations, can only capitalize on that. I believe that we have to take accountability for our present day struggles.
The following are a few of the subjects that him and I engaged in.
African History
We talked about slavery and how the white man “Scrambled for Africa” in order to secure and expand their political and economic influence in the world. We both agreed that slavery and colonialism were wrong, but I went on to ask this question, “did you know that most slaves were sold by their own people and were not, on most accounts forcefully taken, and that these slaves had been accused of witchcraft, theft, or were defeated members of inferior tribes during tribal wars, or that African chiefs traded their fellow Africans for guns and spices with Arabs before interacting with the white man?” He responded by saying that I should not rely on history because it was written by the white man. He further went on to talk about how great the Zulu kingdom of present day South Africa was and how it was destroyed by foreign occupation. I then reminded him that that same history was written by the white man too, and asked him what makes that part of history more credible than the part I had previously questioned him about? Was it because the part of history he referred to presented the African man in a heroic fashion and that it suited his own prejudices? He did not respond.
Colonization’s Impact on African Customs and Culture
We then discussed the impact colonization and western systems have had on present day Africa. He talked about how Africa has lost its values and culture and that, again, the white man is to blame for it. I then asked him to explain what African culture was? In response, he explained how we live as communities — extended families lived together, took care of the old, and that there was no such thing as cousin or uncle/aunt, everyone was either brother/sister, or father/mother. He argued that the coming in of the West diminished family relations; the elderly are sent to care facilities and orphaned children are now left in the hands of welfare institutions. I agreed on this matter. I also reminded him how, on the contrary, it was in African societies that orphaned children and widowed mothers lost their inheritance to their paternal relatives, therefore leaving them in dire poverty too — and that because of Civil Law, brought in by the West, families are protected from such circumstances in present day. We later both agreed on another matter that highlighted that, sometimes, orphaned children brought in to be part of extended family benefitted quite well from such structures. I further informed the man that in certain ancient tribes, widows were ousted from communities, and that infant twins or albino children were regarded as a curse from the “gods”.
Religion
I went on to argue that without Western exploration, we would, by a huge probability, not be Christians today; over 70% of Zambia’s population is Christian. We further looked at how traditional African religious practices were seen to be pagan and evil by the white missionaries who came. As I went on presenting my case, I decided to pause for effect, as I noticed him smirk a little — just before sipping his cup of coffee, and then he proceeded to agree with a little nod. Further, while on the same subject, I asked him what his religious beliefs were — he told me that he was “Roman” Catholic. I asked him if it was good that he was a Roman Catholic, he declined to respond on the matter. I asked him if the introduction of Christianity, regardless of the debates surrounding the motives behind its introduction, were of great benefit to our society, he still insisted on not responding to the matter.
Marriage
We then proceeded to the topic of child marriages, which was made illegal due to Zambia’s upholding of Christian values and the introduction of Western Law. During pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial times, girls were wed at as early as 12-years-old. We both agreed that child marriage is wrong. I reminded him that if he went to some villages around Zambia, he would still find these practices going on, and people in villages still have no problem with it. The girl child was treated as a commodity, and not a person. I reminded him that in this case, can we blame the white man for his impact on such customs?
Politics
There is a popular claim that AIDS was created by the white man as a way to wipe out Africa. Claims have been made about COVID-19, and other pandemics, and epidemics such as ebola too. He was in support of such claims. I neither supported nor denied these assertions, my stance was based on the fact that diseases and viruses, such as these spread everywhere and AIDS affected many Western countries and COVID-19 claimed many lives in the West too. He responded by saying that it simply went out of control, and that, they (referring to the West) had to make their hands look clean. I then asked him if he said that because he was merely trying to be right instead of trying to work out a societal issue by finding a way that leads to the truth, regardless of his emotional biases and personal feeling on the matters we were discussing.
We then discussed why Africa is still underdeveloped, despite it’s vast mineral wealth, and he said it was due to the control of the white man. He gave the examples of the geopolitical tensions in Congo and other African states. He said that the West funds rebel groups and creates instability so as to exploit the affected country’s diamond and gold. This is something that is quite likely, but there are so many complexities to such geopolitical tensions. I admitted to not being informed enough to comment on such matters and couldn’t present any critical arguments regarding them. Currently, our country is facing a climatic crisis. We are experiencing a drought in most regions of the country and it will affect our food basket and electricity supply for the year — this food basket primarily consists of maize — our staple food. The man claims that the West is manipulating climatic conditions in order to weaken Africa’s agricultural output. He said it is because the white man has an “agenda”. At this point, I admittedly got somewhat irritable but as a black man, “kept my cool.”
My Take on Accountability
African countries are over 50 years past independence, and I do not see the “white man” when things do not go our way. I see leaders who selfishly hold on to power, some for over 20 years, I see high cases of looting and corruption in our political system, most recently with previous regime in Zambia, the once respected Patriotic Front, now synonymous with dictatorship, plundering, and anarchy. I see a filthy police force that must be overhauled. Shouldn’t we be thankful for a few things like better healthcare, medications; which we still do not manufacture, immunization, educational institutions, and some religious values that have positively impacted us and done away with harmful practices, no matter the conditions in which they were historically presented? This is not to say I support hand-outs from the West and I think we must rise above foreign dependency, but hey, pull a lot of what the West gets out now and see how mortality rates will increase exponentially.
Take water treatment funding away, Anti-retroviral drugs, birth control pills, foreign exchange, investments, and it would be a disaster that we would struggle with instantaneously. Unfortunately, this is what we call dependence, but Africa is no longer an infant and should no longer treat herself as such — yes, TREAT HERSELF. The question is, how will we get out of this rut and be self-sustaining, from healthcare to commerce when our own political systems are clogged with victimization, excuses, unaccountability, and that our leaders are using that as a smoke screen to deter the masses from their own greed?
I do not see a Western hand when the Auditor General or Financial Intelligence Centre make their reports. Isn’t it our own fellow country men tearing us apart. Let me rephrase that, isn’t it us tearing each other apart? I do not see a Western hand when each successive leader is on a personal vendetta and cannot put the nation above their respective parties.
I ended my discussion with him by saying that the problem isn’t the white man, it is all of us. This means the West, China, Russia, and Africa included. Whoever wants to have a hand in Africa, is looking out only for themselves. Foreign interests in Africa will only be colonialism if Africa doesn’t assert her dominance. This does not mean adopting self-destructive behaviour, we need to trade, we need to form alliances with everyone, we need a sit at the table, and I do not mean a little table at the corner while the adults discuss business. To do this, We must change our own practices and systems. This includes shifting the blame. 1964 was a long time ago, let us stop making excuses for our own sins. We tried socialism in the post-colonial era, look at what that gave us. We know what the white man did wrong, but let that not overshadow our wrongdoings, and let us all take a sense of ownership for Africa.
