A Rhodesian Talks of Home

A year ago Americans who were ignorant about Rhodesian problems would say to me: "I hate to admit it, but I really don't know where Rhodesia is." Because of the present crisis there is now much more interest in and knowledge of the Rhodesian problem, yet there are still some American misconceptions about Rhodesia.

Many base their thinking about Rhodesia on their own experience with American Negroes. However there's a big difference between the American Negro and his Rhodesian cousin. First, America is the wealthiest nation in the world. Consequently the American Negro is better off than his African counterpart both educationally and financially. Second, the American Negro speaks English, while Rhodesian Africans learn English only as a second language. A language barrier makes the integration of the two races more difficult.

Difference in Ratios

The ratio of Negroes to Caucasians in the United States is one to nine, while the ratio of Africans to Europeans in Rhodesia is 18 to 1. Such a high ratio of Africans to Europeans makes integration difficult for two reasons. Geographically, many of the Africans are liable to live far from the relatively few white population centers. Psychologically, Rhodesian whites in such a small minority are more afraid than are American whites of what integration would do to their standards and interests.

Unidentical Twins

A second erroneous comparison many Americans make is between Rhodesia's government and the government of The Union of South Africa. They are not comparable. The policy in South Africa is one of apartheid (separate but equal development of the races). The policy in Rhodesia is one of integration. Both Africans and Europeans in Rhodesia swim together. They go to the same university, hotels, movies, and restaurants. They work in the same Civil Service. Fifteen out of sixty-five members of Parliament are African. As yet this integration is limited, yet it is a step in the right direction: it is a step away from South Africa.

My home in Rhodesia is on a farm, eight miles from Salisbury. Like most other farms in Rhodesia, tobacco is our main crop; maize, groundnuts, and beans are secondary subsistence crops. The farms in Rhodesia are not only owned by Europeans but are also owned by Europeans but are also owned by Africans. According to the Central Statistical Office survey in July 1962, African farmers cultivated two and one half times as much land as did European farmers. By contrast in Kenya the Africans had to wait until there was an African government in power for farms to be handed over to them.

As do all European settlers, I completed my primary and secondary school education in Rhodesia. There the only integrated education that takes place as yet is at the University of Rhodesia, and at some private secondary schools. This does not mean that the African schools are being neglected. In recent years, twenty per cent of the national budget has been appropriated for African education.

Rhodesia is committed to a broad-based educational system much like that in the United States. This means that most of the funds for education are channeled into the primary schools. Thus it may seem to some that the Rhodesian African is getting a "waiter's education," but the government has decided to educate many people in order to build an informed citizenry. Ninety-five per cent of all eligible by age African children are in primary school.

Population Explosion

From about half a million Africans the population has increased to nearly four million since the Europeans settled 75 years ago. At present half the population is under '7 and at the present rate it will double again in the next 20 years. There are more Africans who need land and jobs and the pressure on the European has increased. In addition, immigrant workers from Zambia and Malawi are continually coming to Rhodesia to seek employment on the farms. The farm wages and standard of living for Africans are higher in Rhodesia than in other parts of Africa.

To meet this and other pressures the Rhodesian government has initiated measures to increase African participation in Parliament. In 1962 a "B" voter's roll was created which lowered the qualifications needed to vote. As a result, 15 Africans were voted into Parliament.

Double-Edged Sword

Despite these measures, there exist today two great threats to Rhodesian peace and progress: the white Rhodesian extreme rightists and the African extreme leftists. The tragedy is that world pressure is driving these two minority groups further and further apart. World pressure on the European government has allowed the African extremist to convince many more of his fellow Africans that the extremist cause is right.

The European extremists panicked as white colonialism began to break up in Africa and world pressure on the Europeans in Rhodesia mounted. Prime Minister Garfield Todd was thrown out of office for being too liberal, Sir Edgar Whitehead did not last much longer, Winston Field tried hard to pacify the extremists without success, and Ian Smith succeeded in calming them only with his declaration of independence. Now the small group of European extremists thinks that free from interference by Britain they can develop the country in the most "sensible" way for both Europeans and Africans. In their alarm they have jumped from the frying pan into the fire of world opinion. They'll need all that fire to light their excess cigarettes--for their prime crop, tobacco, is no longer likely to find many buyers on the world market.

A Diamond Or A Dollar

When the moderate African leader in Rhodesia realistically offers his people a dollar they do not take much notice of him, for the extremist African leader is offering them a diamond. Promising the Africans everything is a prime source of the extremist' power, but there are other sources. The rising tide of African nationalism is one. Another is the fact that the majority of the Africans in Rhodesia are relatively poor in relation to the Europeans. An extremist can often convince Africans that they have everything to gain and nothing to lose by an immediate take-over of the government.

The extremist is usually more prepared to fight for his ideas and has more energy than the moderate African who is living contentedly with his family and doing his daily work. The extremist is organized. When he calls a strike, and a moderate worker disobeys him, the worker is often beaten up. This can occur when the worker returns from work, or on his way to work, or even in his home. After such treatment, he soon learns to obey the extremist.

This African extremism has increased the fears of the European extremists. When I was home this summer one of them said to me, "If we allow the Africans to take over the government there will be chaos. Look what happened a few years ago in the Harari African township when the two rival African parties declared a virtual war on each other and started burning each other's huts down. If the European law had not stepped in the total African population may have become involved. How can we let these people govern our country?"

The final tragedy is that world pressure has crippled the white Rhodesian moderate. Those few citizens who still bother to openly criticize the government are practically powerless. Most others have given up trying or have begun to feel that while their country is being threatened by hostile forces from without, it would be tantamount to treason to voice an opinion against the government. Whereas just this summer I heard a Rhodesian lady say, "If I was an African, I would be right in the very front line fighting," now there is nearly complete white solidarity behind the government.

An African Friend

Although I consider myself to be a moderate and have tried to be as objective as possible in this article, I admit that I am emotionally involved in this particular area because I am a Rhodesian by birth. The best hope I can see for the future is that my generation may turn out to be more enlightened than that of my elders. They saw the African in his primitive state when they first settled in Rhodesia and cannot quite conceive of him now as ruling the country. An example of this was my sister's bringing an African girl friend from school home for the weekend, to the utter astonishment of my parents.This farm is located in the hilly eastern highlands of Rhodesia. The weather throughout the year is like summer in Maine.