We got our priorities crossed

We got our priorities crossed

• A thousand words of nothing

• A lotto dream

• A tale of broken resolutions

• My Top Ten: what I miss about home

• The truth about life in the UK

• Blessed are those with passports...

• The only time I wish I was in Zimbabwe

• Tribal hang-ups must cease

• A nation locked in negativism

• Zimbabwe's scattered marriages

• Now recruiting: traditional healers and prophets

• The double life of exiled Zimbabweans

By Norah Spie

BLACK people, Africans, Afro-Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, what is wrong with us?

It seems we have our priorities crossed. Some will argue that there is no right or wrong, it's a matter of choice.

We have heard this over and over again; about how we tend to go for liquid assets like fast cars instead of solid investments like property.

Some are learning and changing, looking more into the future while some continue to live for the day. Our general attitude to life stems from a long history of suffering, oppression and so on. But for how long shall we continue to let the past negatively affect our future?

I won't even go into other black people before I exhaust our own situation in Zimbabwe first. I believe Zimbabweans have enough sources to rescue themselves, just like the world has enough food to feed its population but still there millions starving each day.

I am no Bob Geldof but among ourselves we can make a positive change. There are individuals who have dedicated their time and resources to try and help but have been faced with stumbling blocks along the way.

Remember how I was complaining that other prominent black people like Oprah Winfrey had forsaken us? Well, we have forsaken ourselves. There are a few courageous individuals like the lady who founded Dangwa Foundation. Her aim was to set up orphanages in Zimbabwe but her efforts have been met with unbelievable resistance from our own leaders.

There are a number of people who have suffered the same pains. Then you read that they are organising a big fund-raising for the President's Birthday! They are encouraging the business community to support the fund-raising. They want top musicians to take part and probably have someone jump out of a cake and sing 'Happy Birthday Mr President.'

They say the 21st February Movement will be celebrated in style. As you know, I don't particularly like to talk about him and his followers but this has left me with a broken heart. This is the same country that has an increasing number of street kids, orphans, doctors on strike, a collapsing health system, a country with one in three infected by the deadly HIV virus. Surely one has to wonder if we have are priorities set right.
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Over the past few weeks, there has been one child abuse story after another. In this whole craziness, children are coming tops on the suffering list. Zimbabwean children are suffering at home and abroad, and this has been highlighted by the mysterious death of 10-year-old Charlene Makaza in New Zealand.

There has been a number of similar cases in London among the African community. This further alienates us from the rest of the cosmopolitan societies we now live in. The African child has been placed on 'high priority' with social workers who are in most cases ignorant of other cultures.

New Zealand is buzzing after their police were briefed about the 'African belief' involving sex and children. They were told that most Africans believe sex with a virgin can cure HIV/AIDS. As if living in foreign countries is not tough enough, now African immigrants are going to be treated with even more suspicion and viewed as barbaric. And this is all happening before anyone has been found guilty.
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Recently, the UK was rocked by serious racial allegations brought on by some loud-mouthed, shallow-minded individuals on the TV show, Big Brother. So everyone was walking around in a 'race alert' mode.

Just after I had worked very hard to stop looking at things in black and white, this had to happen and it took me way back to the days when I was full of hate. I did not go to a private school so I grew up not interacting with white people. The handful of white people at my state school were those who could not afford to go to Lomagundi College so they certainly did not have their nose up at us.

But along the way, just like most black people, I also fell victim of racial dicrimination. I refuse to dwell on one race that thinks they are better. You have heard of 'black on black' crime. There is also black on black racism. That is the type that hurts me the most. You know at an airport check-in or immigration desk, if there is a person of colour then you know they are going to be more strict with you.

Something similar happened to me last week when I went into a Nandos restaurant for a take-away. It was not busy, only one table was occupied. I placed my order and took a seat in the waiting area. Another black woman came in a placed her order and then a third black woman also ordered a take-away.

There was a staff compliment of about six and all of them black and mixed race (which are considered black). I was told it would take 12-15 minutes. A few minutes later, a white man walks in and after seven minutes, he gets his order and walks out. So I walk up to the counter and ask about my order and was flatly told by a mixed-race girl that they were still on it and no apology was offered.

I immediately asked for the manager. A West-African manager came and told me a load of excuses. By then, the other black lady was asking for her refund. It had taken too long that she had lost her appetite for chicken. I was ready to make a formal complaint but decided against it as it would reflect badly on another 'brother' trying make ends meet in a foreign land.

This sounds crazy and paranoid right? Was it a coincidence that the white fella was served first while we waited or did they just say, 'oh it's just three black women, they can wait'?

On a different day, I probably wouldn't have noticed it but because the whole week we were bombarded with racism talk, it left some of us in a paranoid state of mind and it is not a good place to be.

Norah Spie's new weekly column appears here every Wednesday. You can e-mail her at n_spie@hotmail.com or visit her website www.norahspie.com

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