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Race, poverty beyond the Third World

I spent fall semester in Zimbabwe. Arriving there at the beginning of the Zimbabwean summer, I enjoyed the luxury of a nice house in Harare (the capital city) and a school with a swimming pool. But outside the well-guarded, fenced-in worlds created for foreign students, an uglier picture emerges.

Race is a big issue in Harare, which was formerly known as Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia, until the country became independent in 1980. But white privilege is still flourishing in the country and Rhodies -- whites who hold onto colonial ideals -- still abound.

In 1980, all apartheid-like laws keeping blacks from living in a more desirable part of the country were abolished. Anticipating new economic opportunity and facing a drought, many rural dwellers flooded into the major cities.

The crowded cities now suffer from inadequate provision of health care and public safety, high unemployment rates and a very poor public transit system. Malnutrition and substandard housing are prevalent. Air and water pollution and poor sanitary conditions are standard.

It is still as hard to get into the University of Zimbabwe as it is to get into Harvard -- if you're black. Girls still stay at home to learn housekeeping skills while their younger brothers are sent to school -- if they're black. Thousands of jobless men and women still sell chickens, spare car parts and Coca-Cola out of their makeshift homes in crowded townships with little running water or electricity. In this country where nearly 9 out of 10 people are black, the majority still suffers.

Although I was an outsider, I only experienced prejudicial treatment once. I remember going into a bar one day and ordering a drink from the black bartender. She completely ignored me -- pretending not to notice me (the only white person in the place) as she tidied up the counter. Moments later, my two black American friends entered and got immediate service. Then the bartender returned to cleaning.

That's the only time I've ever experienced racism -- and the feeling of being an unwanted minority. Even black Zimbabweans discriminate against their own race in most places. The two white males in our group were -- without fail -- always served first in restaurants. The blacks in our group complained that they had been called whores for wearing shorts in public on their way to school. The shorts-wearing whites were treated quite differently -- we were constantly approached and offered dinner dates.

The point is that even after being independent for 15 years, after ousting the all-white government for a democracy and after allowing blacks to live wherever they want (within economic reach), the majority-black country still endures racism.

So I returned to the United States, where whites are the majority. Where blacks had been slaves. Where the government, corporations and other major institutions are still ruled by whites. And I realize how daunting the task of conquering racism here will be, considering that Zimbabwe, a country where blacks are nominally in power, is still so discriminatory against blacks.

Poor economic conditions, inadequate health care and substandard housing are almost expected in any Third World country. Zimbabwe's problems can be attributed to its struggling new government, the drought that has been plaguing the country for the past two years and foreign investors' fears of instability. What's America's excuse?

It's easy to forget that inadequate health care and housing are problems in this country too. And it's easy to project images of starving children and underpaid workers to faraway places like Africa.

These assumptions are a mistake. Perhaps we forget that the many race problems in America are more subtle and elusive than in Zimbabwe: the store owner who follows her black patrons as they shop, suspecting them of stealing. The country club that has an all-white membership. The people who speculate whether a person of color got his job because of affirmative action. The audiences and bosses who ask minorities to speak for their race as a whole in public events and group meetings -- as if it were some definable, homogenous group.

These problems are not new. They are not unknown. But for some reason, they -- and the endless other acts of racism in this country -- often go unchallenged. Those of us who don't experience them every day might want to consider why.

-- Katie Hutchins is an LSA junior. She can be reached over e-mail at katieh@umich.edu.