Letter from David Coltart to the Editor of the Financial Gazette

Letter to the Editor of the Financial Gazette re: Racism of Dr Nkomo

From David Coltart

7 June 1994

Dear Sir,

For some time I have been deeply offended by the racist jibes of Dr Nkomo against minority communities in Zimbabwe but have remained silent. In October last year I was telephoned by Dr Nkomo (after I had spoken out the previous evening against corruption) and told that I was a racist and that I should get out of the country. After consulting friends in ZANU (PF) I let the issue pass. His threats were after all only directed against me and I had been very critical of government.

Recently, however, Dr Nkomo generalised that all whites were racist and he threatened civil war. I was reminded of the saying “all generalisations are false, including this one”. I was also reminded of the wisdom of my father who, when I was a teenager, cautioned me not to generalise about different racial or ethnic groups. I was counselled to treat every person on his or her individual merits. Dr Nkomo would be well advised to apply this wisdom in his own life. History is replete with horrifying incidents where minorities have been castigated as a group, used as scapegoats by powerful politicians and oppressed. Let us not forget that Hitler generalised against the Jewish minority; he accused them of being privileged and of undermining Germany. Germans did not condemn his racist slurs and the holocaust was the result. Dr Nkomo’s threat of civil war must be seen in a similar light.

It will be just as easy for black Zimbabweans to deal with minority Zimbabweans as it was for the Nazis to deal with the Jews. As Judith Todd pointed out recently, a civil war here will be very one-sided and of short duration: it should be easy for every 100 black Zimbabweans to find and wipe-out one white Zimbabwean fellow citizen. I delight in Judith’s dry sense of humour; but the threat, coming from no less than the Vice President, is real. Now the threat of civil war has been repeated by Dr Nkomo and supported by a young deputy Minister, Mr Simon Moyo, who should know better. I cannot let this pass unanswered. They say that a proposed ox-wagon trek in Marula by a few whites will be viewed as a “declaration of war” and Zimbabwe could be “plunged into civil war”. As I understand the facts, and facts I concede are sometimes obstinate and irritating things for politicians to deal with, the descendents of a family of pioneers who trekked into the country in 1894 want to celebrate the centenary of their family’s arrival. They do not propose marching into Bulawayo; they are not celebrating the defeat of the Ndebele Kingdom. They will be trekking from Mangwe Pass to Marula along the same route as their ancestors. They are doing it because they are proud their ancestors came to this country and they are proud to still be here. It is a family occasion and they have been completely open about it. How can this possibly be construed as war-mongering or racist?

Is it not everyone’s right to foster one’s family history, traditions and culture? My forebears arrived in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. Next year we will celebrate the 175th anniversary of the landing of the 1820 settlers. I cannot imagine that that true African democrat and hero, Nelson Mandela, will construe celebrations in South Africa as a declaration of war. Indeed our Constitution enshrines the right of minorities to foster their cultures. The Constitution also enshrines the rights of freedom of movement, association and expression – the very rights this family seeks to exercise.

It seems to me that this proposed gathering has been blown out of all proportion for political ends. I am the first to concede that racism still abounds in the white community. But so does it the world over in all racial groups. None of us is absolutely free of some or other prejudice. What our fledgling democracy needs now is a good dose of national building, not threats of violence, not expedient political statements with dark motives. Threats and political posturing will not change racist attitudes. Rather they will be changed by the inculcation in Zimbabweans by our political leaders of a sense of belonging for all in Zimbabwe, encouragement to all to build Zimbabwe and a climate of tolerance amongst all. Martin Luther King once said: “Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find but something that we must create”. He also said: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend”.

All of us, and especially our political leaders, would do well to heed those wise words.

Yours sincerely

DAVID COLTART

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