The Sunday Mail
Ranga Mataire
Group Political Editor
IN yet another example of serious lack of introspection, depth and political maturity, the CCC leader, Mr Nelson Chamisa, referred to the people of Zimbabwe as baboons, as he gathered journalists to brief them about a document he called PREPARE.
As predicted, no one remembers what that document was all about but they, surely, are still stuck with the “monkeys and baboons” slur that he made.
In a show of serious myopia, Mr Chamisa said his political strategies remain secret, arguing that he wants to do things differently from those expected by his opponents.
Ordinarily, no one should have qualms with his “secret strategy” because that is his own business and those who follow him, but calling the electorate baboons was out of tune with the decency expected of an aspiring national leader. As he concluded his presser, Mr Chamisa said: “In Zimbabwe, we are worse off than baboons and monkeys. The way we fight over politics, you will never see such a fight when you go to the bush. Donkeys don’t even fight that way: so primitive.”
But this was not the first time the young politician has said something so obnoxious as to disturb the sensibilities of normal political engagement.
In 2018, Mr Chamisa shocked the world when he called his own supporters stupid.
This was after they had protested against the yet-to-be-announced election results.
Many were left uneasy with Mr Chamisa’s utterances, and it is said that statement, among other gaffes, could have precipitated the eventual split of the MDC Alliance.
“You are talking about an election that has not been declared. And why would I even react because I do not know the results that will be announced?”
“It was very stupid, even for people who demonstrated . . . it was stupid, because they then opened themselves for attacks and manipulation,” he told journalists.
“I think whoever demonstrated – it was their right, but I feel it was not called for,” Mr Chamisa said as he addressed journalists.
We all know the origins of stereotyping blacks as monkeys or baboons.
We are also aware of the stereotyping of blacks as perpetual children and buffoons.
From John Locke, Charles Darwin to Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”, European literature and historical narratives, including anthropology, are replete with these racist tropes.
But no one expected a young black politician aspiring to lead an African nation to use the same tropes.
Something is fundamentally wrong here.
Unacceptable and insensitive
It is either the man is genuinely ignorant of such tropes or the sensitivity in insulting your fellow compatriots in such a manner or it reflects, at a subconscious level, the people he spends most of his time with.
Either way, it is unacceptable and insensitive for Mr Chamisa to use the same negative stereotypes that have been at the centre of the dehumanisation of Africa from slavery to colonialism and now in the post-colonial epoch.
Conscientious Africans will find Mr Chamisa’s slur highly objectionable and inappropriate, especially for one aspiring for the highest office in the land.
Would Mr Chamisa blame anyone for concluding that his reference to Zimbabweans as “monkeys” could be a reflection of the thinking of his handlers, who feed him with such narratives in their daily encounters or interactions?
Same statement would not have the same impact had it emanated from a Rhodie like Ian Smith or even from some known racist individuals down in South Africa.
We know the use of simianisation as a racist slur against black people is still prevalent that side, where not so long ago, a white woman called Penny Sparrow complained about black New Year’s revellers saying: “From now (on) I shall address the blacks of South Africa as monkeys as I see the cute little wild monkeys do the same, pick and drop litter.”
Sparrow’s statement was indicative of the deep entrenchment of racial prejudices and stereotypes still afflicting South Africa with a history of apartheid – a system that clearly discriminated against blacks, who were regarded as inferior beings.
While we also came from a similarly racialised colonial society under Rhodesia, one would not expect a young black politician to appropriate such dehumanising tropes to characterise his fellow compatriots.
Is Mr Chamisa or those who follow him aware that in the history of European cultures, the comparison of humans to apes and monkeys was disparaging from the beginning?
Are they aware that Cecil John Rhodes appropriated the same negative tropes to justify his violent occupation of Zimbabwe?
Why would a normal black child in this day and age find it convenient to publicly refer to his fellow compatriots as monkeys or baboons? Animalisation is one of the common elements of racist dehumanisation.
It is akin to placing men on a level with rats that carry epidemic plagues.
Some Europeans find it convenient to characterise Africa as a contagious continent, gestating pestilences of all kinds in hot muggy jungles, spread by careless and sexually uncontrolled individuals.
This is just the latest episode in an ugly line of typecasts aimed against different people like Africans.
That is why it is still a racist act of provocation to throw a banana in front of black sportspersons.
But how did we come to be here?
How did we end up this way with such a kind of a politician utterly unconscious of history and given to unrestrained embarrassing gaffes?
Why are our journalists so soft on issues that are clearly critical in as far as they give a glimmer of the character that some compatriots bestow so much trust on?
We must all resist the temptation of extending the borders of what is right and wrong.
It is wrong for one to acquiesce to foreign interests by mimicking their dehumanising portrayal of us.
Nobody has automatic deference to ascending to power.
Journalists need to interrogate the character and calibre of those aspiring to lead us.
We need to discredit the prudence that too closely resembles lack of conviction.
The coming national elections are not a simple voting story.
They are a story about our existence and the legacy we want to bequeath to future generations. Now is not the time to tiptoe historical references that show an affinity with outside forces that are working daily to undermine our sovereignty.
We must counter dehumanising references with facts and proclaim our equal humanity, decency and compassion.
Any political movement that fashions itself as a citizens’ movement and yet flagrantly calls the same citizens monkeys is a danger to our country.
As is often said, an ugly idea left unchallenged begins to turn the colour of normal.
