i'll just chuck this right here...


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/zimbabwe_whites;_ylt=AruemvrNzrvmpCjyTQhcDVQDW7oF


Whites under siege hunker down in Zimbabwe election crisis

HARARE, Zimbabwe - With his 28-year grip on power slipping, President Robert Mugabe's government has again lashed out at Zimbabwe's white community, calling his black opponents tools of former colonial master Britain and stoking anger against the nation's whites.

In the past, such attacks struck a chord in a country that suffered under white minority rule until 1980 and where whites controlled much of the economy even decades later.

But after repeated attacks, the seizure of most white-owned farms and the near collapse of the economy, the white community's size and power have dwindled. It may no longer be effective to use whites as a scapegoat for the nation's ills.

Attacking the nation's whites is "the last card" Mugabe has in his fight for political survival, analyst John Makumbe said. "He has nothing else to offer."

Mugabe's past programs to seize white wealth might have been too effective, Makumbe said, and may have deprived the president of his most valuable tactic. Now, with just a handful of whites left controlling businesses and farms, offering to seize white property may not be seen as a rich prize to the poor blacks suffering the worst of the economic hardships, Makumbe said.

Before the March 29 elections, Mugabe castigated British government leaders and whites in Zimbabwe he said were yearning for a return to colonial-era white privilege, calling them "pink noses" he would smash with his fist.

Following the vote, which he reportedly lost though the results have yet to be released, Mugabe again turned to the racial issue, telling Zimbabweans that the land taken from the white farmers was under threat.

"This our soil, and the soil must never go back to the whites," he said.

Since then, ruling party militants have invaded scores of the farms still owned by whites. The opposition says the attacks are part of a wave of intimidation by Mugabe loyalists meant to ensure that the president does not lose an expected runoff.

"Looting is taking place. It is a free-for-all. Farmers are being told they are enemies of the state. There is no more discussion than that," said Trevor Gifford, head of the mainly white farmers' union.

Mugabe once was hailed as a model leader who brought racial reconciliation. At independence in 1980, he offered an olive branch to the nation's 270,000 whites following 15 years of rule by Ian Smith's minority white government.

But as their power decreased over time, many whites left the country, and only 70,000 remained two decades later.

In 2000, as the opposition Movement for Democratic Change presented the greatest challenge to his rule, Mugabe abandoned the rhetoric of reconciliation and railed against the white community and the 4,500 white farmers who still controlled 80 percent of the nation's most fertile land.

Television footage of wealthy whites giving donations to the MDC reportedly infuriated Mugabe, who felt it violated his tacit agreement with whites that they could retain their economic power as long as they didn't meddle in politics.

"A lot of whites naively thought the MDC offered a new democratic dispensation they could openly support. Since then, they've had to wind their necks in," said Ian Stokes, an executive employment consultant. "Mugabe set out to punish the people he said spurned his hand of reconciliation."

Mugabe endorsed farm invasions by ruling party militants and began a radical reform program he said would right historic wrongs by dividing the best land among poor blacks — but ended up putting most of that land in the hands of party cronies. The land reform is often blamed for igniting an economic crisis that has devastated the country.

He also pushed legislation to take over majority stakes in white-controlled businesses.

The moves set off an exodus among the nation's remaining whites.

Now, there are only 30,000 whites left out of a population of about 12 million — though an estimated 5 million Zimbabweans, black and white, have fled as economic fugitives and political exiles.

Many of the remaining whites are retirees finding it nearly impossible to live on their meager pensions with the official inflation rate of 100,000 percent, the highest in the world. Independent financial firms say real inflation is closer to 290,000 percent.

One white retiree in the Alexandra Park suburb of northern Harare said his monthly pension does not buy him a loaf of bread, and he survives on handouts from relatives abroad.

The man asked not to be identified because of the widespread fear of retribution.

White enclaves such as tennis, sports and social clubs, have largely disappeared. Whites no longer display what affluence they retain, fearing it will make them targets.

"Having a big car and a house boat for fishing trips on Lake Kariba became a liability," Stokes said.

Meanwhile, increasing numbers of whites are suffering stress-related conditions, respiratory illness and alcohol abuse, doctors said.

Mugabe's allies in the ruling party, with their luxury cars, ornate mansions and access to state-subsidized fuel and special rates for buying hard currency, now sit atop the economy.

Businessman and former ruling party lawmaker Philip Chiyangwa owns a Hummer even though gasoline is almost impossible for ordinary Zimbabweans to find. He boasted in the state media recently that he installed a computerized color-coded wardrobe for matching hundreds of suits, shoes and fashion accessories at his 30-room home in the exclusive Harare suburb of Borrowdale.

Meanwhile, many black farm workers seen as opposition supporters are being intimidated, and several black-owned farms have been raided, witnesses said.

One white community leader who asked not to be named said whites holding British and other foreign passports are asking their embassies about possible evacuation plans.

"We are telling people not to panic and keep their heads down," he said.

[Edited on April 16, 2008 at 8:38 PM. Reason : .]

4/16/2008 8:37:13 PM

What the shit does that have to do with anything except race-baiting?

4/16/2008 8:39:11 PM

reverse racism!!

oh that's right all i do is cling to my religion and guns when the times get tough anyway.. so i'd advise you to stay the fuck away.

4/16/2008 8:42:18 PM

steviewonder,

If any campaign would respond this way when someone called their candidate a "boy", then why didn't the 2007 Obama campaign react similarly when Bill Clinton referred to Obama, Edwards, and the other male candidates as a bunch of "boys".

Quote :

"Bill Clinton refers to Obama & Edwards et al as "boys" = racist? http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/12/bill-clinton-boys-getting-tough-on-hillary/"

It couldn't be because one was potentially racist, because you just said that the McCain campaign would respond in a similar manner if someone called him a "boy". So what was wrong with everyone in Nov. 2007?

4/16/2008 8:43:01 PM

my bad, I should've specified that when it is obviously meant to degrade said candidate there will be a response.

Do you really not see the negativity in calling someone a 'boy'? Especially in the connotation used by Davis. Are you that blind to think that the Obama response was unjustified?

^When a person of similar or younger age calls you a 'boy', they are implying that they are somehow superior to you and that you are inferior to your peers.

[Edited on April 16, 2008 at 8:50 PM. Reason : k]

4/16/2008 8:45:32 PM

i thought he called him 'boy' b/c of his young age. why else would you call somebody a boy?

if he wanted a controversy and public outrage and ostracism, just use the N word and get your moneys worth

4/16/2008 8:56:44 PM

It's still demeaning. The Obama camp didn't say it was racist.

4/16/2008 8:59:40 PM

^^ 3 year age difference between the two, it would be derogatory whether Obama was black, white, yellow or purple.

4/16/2008 9:02:19 PM

Quote :

""It's hard to tell what is more outrageous - Representative Davis' condescending and personal attack, or his absurd and offensive claim that Barack Obama is not prepared to defend America.""

perhaps he really isn't prepared to defend America just a thought

[Edited on April 16, 2008 at 9:06 PM. Reason : ]

4/16/2008 9:05:17 PM

but you have to admit.. i mean he is younger than your average guy up there.. no?????

4/16/2008 9:05:17 PM

^^Thats absurd and offensive!

4/16/2008 9:16:53 PM

while it pisses me off that Davis said that, in the end it really doesn't matter because in 10 years after at least one McCain whitehouse, Obama is going to be nothing more than an afterthought, maybe jokes on SNL or Jay Leno for about 5 or 6 years.

4/16/2008 9:21:31 PM

why the fuck did someone post a Mugabe article?

4/16/2008 9:33:36 PM

Quote :

"Also, Golovko doesn't like Black people, so I wouldn't take anything he says with any credibility. "

says who? you? You're the most racist bigot i've ever known. Can't tell you how many times i've heard you call people 'niggers'

4/16/2008 10:18:05 PM

all non black people are automatic racists. didn't you know that was the new way of life Golovko?

4/16/2008 10:34:05 PM

Nigger, please.

4/16/2008 10:40:08 PM

^^i know.

4/16/2008 11:05:58 PM

I really dislike it when white people play the " Im white and upset because I cant be a racist asshole and get away with it like some black people" card

way worse than the race card.

4/17/2008 9:07:04 AM

steviewonder,

I'm lost. So Clinton calls Obama a boy and it isn't offense because Clinton didn't mean it in a bad way, but Davis did? How do you know that? Are you now saying that calling someone "boy" isn't the problem, it's the way you call them "boy"??? This is getting incredibly confusing and subjective now. So I will stick with what the Obama campaign said, which was that the comment itself was outrageous, not Davis tone or delievery.

If you disagree, there isn't much I say going forward. I have not seen any video of HOW Davis said "boy", have you (had the Obama campaign) ? If not, how can you say (or the Obama campaign) say it was more outrageous than Clinton's comment?

In any case, this is getting boring. I'm off to greener pastors.

4/17/2008 9:30:40 AM

For it to count as racism, the intelligentsia requires that you be a Republican and that you use "macaca."

4/17/2008 9:34:09 AM

Quote :

"So Clinton calls Obama a boy and it isn't offense because Clinton didn't mean it in a bad way, but Davis did?"

CONTEXT YOU FUCKING IDIOT. You're even twisting the facts YOU presented.

Clinton called Obama a boy in the context of a bunch of boys ganging up on a girl. It had nothing to do with singling out Obama specifically as a boy and was referring to the juvenile actions of the men in the race. Thus it had no racial context.

Davis said, "That boy..." when speaking specifically about Obama. With no other context, it came across purely as a diminutive, maybe even racist, insult.

4/17/2008 9:34:24 AM

^What he said

4/17/2008 10:21:02 AM

Quote :

"I'm off to greener pastors. "

4/17/2008 10:36:10 AM

God,

How do you know the context of Davis' speech? You've only read one sentence of what he said. That isn't context. Davis said himself that his remark was not meant to belittle Obama.

Quote :

"My poor choice of words is regrettable, and was in no way meant to impugn you or your integrity," Davis wrote in the letter delivered to Obama's Washington office Monday afternoon. "I offer my sincere apology to you and ask for your forgiveness." "

As I said before, it could just be a southern verbal tick. If he is lying, you should tell me how you know.

And I would point out that steviewonder originally said calling anyone a boy was offensive period. Only later did he water it down to "it's only bad if you mean it in a bad way" (this was also around the time he gained the power to read minds).

Either calling someone a boy is bad and the Obama campaign should have responded the same way to Clinton OR it's only bad when you mean it in a bad way and the Obama campaign was reacting to a snippet of a speech they probabbly never actually saw (I'm still waiting on video anyways). Either way you look at it, it seems like the Obama campaign has other motivations for bitching about this comment than just how "outrageous" it was.

[Edited on April 17, 2008 at 10:46 AM. Reason : I had to come back to defend my rep ]

4/17/2008 10:42:14 AM

dude, wtf are you doing? Do you wake up every morning and decide to defy reasonable logic and just be a douche. Do you tell your Clinton supporting friends how you pwn Obama noobs all day long on the internets?

How can you not take those comments in a negative way?

4/17/2008 11:14:22 AM

^^there's mp3 link i provided with far more than a sentence. and he certainly at least belittling him. i'm not convinced he had any racist intent, but it was certainly meant to demean.

4/17/2008 11:38:33 AM

because they aren't racist.

4/17/2008 11:38:45 AM

I never said they were racist, but they are used in a derogatory way. I don't see why that is so hard to ascertain. They certainly could be taken as a racial slur by some, but I do not know or necessarily think that was Davis' intent.

4/17/2008 12:25:28 PM

Because Black women can have nappy hair and can be sexually promiscuous it's not racist! I was actually describing what they were.

4/17/2008 12:28:38 PM

Why do you people get so upset over "boy?"

4/17/2008 2:04:40 PM

I blame it on your parents - I don't think you even know any better.

4/17/2008 2:20:35 PM

yeah i'm with marko on this one

4/17/2008 2:55:17 PM

bttt

5/17/2008 4:14:26 AM

I sure am glad that we aren't letting race be a factor in this presidential election... oh, wait...

5/17/2008 8:47:14 PM

^ McCain has done a lot better than Hillary in that regard. I commend him for it.

5/17/2008 11:14:28 PM