Rhodie! Racist or just offensive?

By Bernard Bwoni

Rhodesia was a system that was founded by Cecil John Rhodes and his friends in 1893. It was a system that was founded on the basis and principles of conquest and supremacy of the Empire. It was repressive and it segregated along the lines of race. It deliberately confined the indigenous black people of Zimbabwe to the outskirts of any meaningful social, political and economic participation. This is a system that segregated of the basis of a person's skin colour and nothing else. A system and its followers who celebrated such inhuman behaviour and many of its remnants still celebrate that system as an ideal society. A system that was celebrated by the privileged white minority population and continues to be celebrated publicly and behind doors by many. Those who celebrate Rhodesia, are they celebrating repression and segregation? Some will argue that yes. The reality is that there is nothing to celebrate about that racist system. This then brings us back to the question, is it racist to call someone a Rhodesian or Rhodie? There is nothing wrong in such a reference and it is not racist at all. If one is a direct descendant of Rhodesia, then they are Rhodesians surely. The thing though is that some find it offensive and it is generally frowned upon to refer to a white person from Zimbabwe today as Rhodesian. However, it is not racist.

Racism links the dynamics of assumed superiority and alleged inferiority based on the skin colour of an individual. It is a belief that a particular race of people possesses a superior advantage over another race simply because of their skin colour. It entails social, political and economic advantage deliberately designed to specifically favour one particular race over another. Thus referring to a descendant of Rhodesia as a Rhodesian or Rhodie is not racist at all. It is merely stating a historical fact.

In as it is a historical fact, the truth is that independent Zimbabwe is inclusive and the only label it attaches to all her citizens is that one of Zimbabwean. It is maybe uncomfortable and offensive to some because it automatically gives the impression that they subscribe to the shameful Rhodesian system of repression and segregation. The term Rhodie can be viewed as non-inclusive in modern and independent Zimbabwe that embraces all races as equals.

In 1980 President Mugabe extended the hand of reconciliation to all to be part of independent Zimbabwe. Some remained, embraced and integrated into the new Zimbabwe. Others did not and left the country after their privileged existence was tampered with. This is the disgruntled group that still commemorate Rhodesia, collect and keep memorabilia. They have websites and shops specifically featuring Rhodesia and dedicated to the now extinct repressive and segregation. This is the group that continue to hoodwink impressionable black Zimbabwe by evoking in them nostalgic memories about a system that downgraded to the lowest of ranks. It is not racist to call this group Rhodesians or Rhodies for short because they are indeed Rhodies. Some of them actually prefer to be referred to as such. Some of them only recognise Rhodesia and not independent Zimbabwe.

Then there are those who stayed. They still mostly live exclusively away from the majority black populations. They still enjoy a fairly higher standard of living compared to the rest of the population. They maybe descendants of Rhodesia but they have embraced independent Zimbabwe. So to call them Rhodesians or Rhodies is insensitive but not racist. It is very important to understand the meaning of racism so that people do not end up mixing issues. Racism is not merely about name calling but rather power dynamics of stratifying races in terms of superiority and inferiority.

The fact that it is not racist to refer to white Zimbabweans as Rhodes does not make it right to do so. And then there are the black Zimbabweans who daydream and go on about how great Rhodesia was. That is the misguided and miss educated bunch that holds the belief that for anything to be authentic it has to have a white stamp of approval on it. This is the group that will argue vehemently that it is racist to refer to Rhodesians as Rhodies. The Rhodesians referred to themselves as Rhodies before independence and had a sense of pride in that description

One of the reasons why some will continue to refer to whites in Zimbabwe as Rhodies is because of their separatist tendencies. Ever since independence the whites have failed dismally to connect and integrate fully with the black majority. Some will argue with this but it is a fact. They have largely remained out of mainstream politics and only engaged in activism politics that would only safeguard and preserve their interests.