White people say I’m a “hate teacher...racist.” Another white person said I should remove the “human rights activist” description on my online profile because I “hate” white people. To a certain point, I’m a hate teacher. I hate racism and racists. I don’t love a heinous ideology of systematic oppression. An ideology where white people are rewarded by white supremacy in it’s many forms for simply being white. I always say that white people should prove that they are against racism by their actions, not words. The same measure they put in their own freedoms should be the same measure they put in ours.
Malcolm X argued “Now if you are with us, all I say is, make the same kind of contribution with us in our struggle for freedom that all white people have always made when they were struggling for their own freedom. You were struggling for your freedom in the Revolutionary War. Your own Patrick Henry said “liberty or death,” and George Washington got the cannons out, and all the rest of them that you taught me to worship as my heroes, they were fighters, they were warriors. But now when the time comes for our freedom, you want to reach back in the bag and grab somebody who’s nonviolent and peaceful and forgiving and long-suffering. I don’t go for that, no.”
Let me tell you a little historical fact. When white people arrived in my country, they took land by force and bullied our ancestors, the Nguni people, pushing them around. Using basic common sense my ancestors fought back against murdering child rapists for about 200 years. But the British colonists being militarily superior asserted their domination. The Xhosa put up a strong resistant against colonial terrorists. Jared Diamond wrote on his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel “the Xhosa at the Fish River in 1702, a period of desperate fighting began. Even though Europeans by then could supply troops from their secure base at the Cape, it took nine wars and 175 years for their armies, advancing at an average rate of less than one mile per year, to subdue the Xhosa.” The fatal mistake they made was to trust the white man which attributed to their demise. Sadly even today we see our people falling for the same trick over and over again. White people cannot be trusted under any circumstances, unless they’re proven to be reliable.
With the increase in racist attacks against the African American community and neo-colonisation of Africa perpetuated by whites, it would be madness to have white folks as our allies in the struggle for basic human rights. Trust is earned. If the white community is to make a meaningful contribution in the anti-racist discourse, they should look for answers internally than externally.
Do white people do as mentioned above? No. In fact, they will infiltrate our communities and preach about “love” and “let go of the past”, as if “love” and “letting go” are substitutes for justice. Would white people ask Jews to “love” and “forget” the Holocaust , because it’s done and over? No. Because it still has a devastating impact on the Jewish community. Why would whites apply a new set of standards when it comes to non-whites, especially Africans? White supremacy makes the world be a place where injustices will never decrease and where people will never be able to live together without hate.
My message to the white community: civilise yourselves and focus on changing yourselves. Preach love and tolerance among other whites than in African community. Any well-meaning white person should invest their time and resources in educating, raising awareness and even considering joining the fight to alleviate the sufferings of their fellow human beings who are trapped in the evils of racism. But if this message is unbearable, then they should leave us alone. Because we can clearly see the false motivations of these “good” white missionaries who act as saviours in the guise of philanthropy. Africans can solve their problems.
References
1. "Guns, Germs, and Steel." Jared Diamond. P. 397.
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