Mugabe's thuggery has barely roused America's black elite - Only madness is taking root in Zimbabwe*** ***Among Africa's frequent man-made catastrophes, this is one of the worst. Just a few years ago, Zimbabwe not only fed itself but also sold foodstuffs to other countries, bringing vital foreign currency to its treasury. But a few years of blatant misrule -- coupled with a severe drought -- have brought the nation to the brink of disaster.
If a racist white dictator were creating conditions that starved millions of black Africans, the Congressional Black Caucus would have demanded severe sanctions, and a long line of African-American celebrities would be lining up to picket the nation's embassy, taking turns getting arrested and handcuffed for the TV cameras. But Mugabe's thuggery has barely roused America's black elite.***
White skin makes Mugabe shudder. Shameful silence in response to ethnic cleansing in Zimbabwe***He will go on shuddering until he has rid Zimbabwe of its white population. But you won't hear Africa's leaders speak up for a threatened minority, nor will the African secretary-general of the UN, Kofi Annan, rally the international community to support the beleaguered farmers of Matabeleland. And I would bet anything you like that we won't hear any of our Western leaders use the phrase 'ethnic cleansing'. That would create an obligation to intervene to protect the vulnerable, and, for all the fine rhetoric, this simply will not happen. The whites of Zimbabwe have been abandoned.
Some will try to hang on and hope that Mugabe dies of old age or is eventually overthrown; but most will eventually be driven out, the victims of Robert Mugabe's racism and our indifference. As Naomi Raaff said, it's over.***