Racism is embraced in ignorance

Does it really matter whether one should be born black, white or brown? The answer is affirmative, to those affected by racism, one way or the other. The ones affected by racism are commonly considered to be white supremacists. However, the victims of racism, in their naivety, find themselves playing the game of racism when attempting to oppose racism.

Racism is the most primitive condition of humanity, whose level of understanding would be primed on idolatry. This does not matter whether one is a perpetrator or a victim. Both are engrossed in the same type of stupidity. If lured to play a game in racism, as a victim, one becomes a participant, as an opponent.

Most people assume that the late former President of Zimbabwe, Cde Robert Mugabe was a racist against whites. There is no truth in that averment, whatsoever. Robert Mugabe admired Western civilization, more than African traditions. Taking land from white farmers was driven by the urge for political survival. This is just as Gukurahundi was driven by the consideration of political survival, rather than tribalism. He was not a tribalist, either.

Robert Mugabe could not have been admired by the Queen of England, had he been truly racist. He could have continued in that trajectory, had he not allowed corruption to affect his governance. Unfortunately, he allowed corruption as a means of power retention. Mugabe’s ambition was to be in power, more than the considerations of racism or lack of racism.

In Zimbabwe, even Cecil John Rhodes may have not necessarily been a racist, but a capitalist. That group may have been attracted more to the mineral resources of this country than worrying about racism. A capitalist is not necessarily a racist and can either be white or black. Failure to make such distinctions is what causes corruption to be allowed to flourish in our country.

Pure racists may not even be capitalists, although manipulated by capitalists, in some way. This is just as victims of racism may be manipulated by politicians, seeking to entrench power to themselves. However, in both cases, the racists are mere pawns, being manipulated out of their ignorance.

In politics, propaganda is used, designed to advance a particular narrative, for the purposes of political survival. Used as pawns, ignorant people would be unaware of their ignorance, thereby, being manipulated for political gains. The racist card is used, as attractive to those having been victims of racism. Robert Mugabe was aware of that reality, and he took advantage of his treachery.

This world is polarized between evil and righteousness. Goodness is anchored on knowledge and understanding; while evil is anchored on ignorance. Racism is among many conditions of ignorance which, therefore, affects the uneducated people of this world. All evil practices can be catalogued, as caused only by ignorance.

A person being manipulated to practice racism out of ignorance is not necessarily evil. However, the person manipulating an ignorant person for purpose of enhancing his political or capitalistic ambitions is evil. From this position can be drawn the conclusion that evilness is caused by a condition of self-aggrandizement.

The fact that economic progress is currently pronounced more in European countries than in African countries does not necessarily suggest black inferiority. This is the work of propaganda, entrenched in most people’s minds. Humans are the same, except for being affected by the aberrations, and manipulated by politicians and capitalists.

It may be difficult to distinguish which are eviler, between capitalists and politicians. Both are driven by self-aggrandizement, rather than enhancing other people’s livelihoods. Indeed, there are good capitalists, just as there are good politicians. It is a question of the motive driving those involved.

Education can be regarded as the most important because education ought to serve to eradicate ignorance. Unfortunately, education was also invaded by self-centred characters seeking to advance class distinctions. The idea of conferring people with doctorates is designed to maintain educational exclusivity.

Good subjects like philosophy are therefore preserved for the elites, keeping their distance from ordinary humanity. They feel relevant, as long as not interacting with the uneducated. Rather than impart knowledge, they prefer making it unachievable to ordinary people. They take a superior stance, but without doing anything to benefit ignorant people.

In Zimbabwe, the educated elite have been observers of the prevailing political drama, since independence. However, there is a possible conspiracy that, professors in our universities, are there to produce dumb students. This comes from a political narrative of controlling people by keeping them ignorant.

This narrative comes from a philosophy of power retention, initiated by Kim Il Sung, blocking people from being innovative and becoming rich. They would be expected to worship the person at the top. Such people are good as long as kept in poverty. The person at the top becomes enriched, to then distribute freebies to poor people, in order to be idolized.

Therefore, education could have been designed to advance that philosophy. Zimbabwean education has been downgraded substantially. Meanwhile, the propagandists keep harping falsehood on state-controlled ZTV that Zimbabweans are the most educated in sub-Saharan Africa.  The whole purpose would be to produce uneducated graduates, entrenching a particular political narrative.

Ignorance is undesirable for humanity, as causing people to use emotion when solving problems. An ignorant person is driven by emotion, rather than reasoning, in his behaviour. This is why farm invasion was characterized by unprecedented violence. That phenomenon could not be explained without appreciating that ignorant people use emotion rather than reason.

Jesus said with faith as little as a mustard seed nothing would be impossible. This statement had nothing to do with the racial outlook of the person who would understand and apply what Jesus taught. If some mindboggling achievement was by someone from India, it does not, necessarily, mean that Indians would be of a superior race. However, ignorant people would accept that assumption.

The dynamics of life in this world are unbelievably awkward, but only because of ignorance. This is mainly because of insufficient knowledge. We probably have a good education in engineering and other scientific fields. But educational corruption is mostly in the field of humanity. The subjects like psychology, social studies, theology and law, among others, are the worst affected.

In those fields, people get awarded meaningless doctorates. Just as an example, take a considered educated man like our brother, Professor Jonathan Moyo. He is currently outside the country, not by choice, but as a result of what he himself created. This shows how unworkable the type of political education that facilitated his attainment of the professorship is.

If driven by ethics, one would be embarrassed to wear the title of professorship, coming from a politically bespattered country such as Zimbabwe. It remains to be unknown whether the man appreciates the current political decay, as being the product of his political education. The title of a professor is awarded to people regarded as authorities in their field of study.

Those are the people who should be conferred with responsibility for political success or failures in our country. People look to them, but they cannot offer solutions. They carry a lot of respect from the uneducated people, but without anything to show. Education is as essential as it ought to take responsibility for the thinking pattern of ordinary people.

Human beings are expected to solve their problems, rather than complicate them. This is possible when adequately educated. Unfortunately, uneducated people are unable to question the failings of education. Instead, they can only adore, and wish it could be them having achieved such educational levels. Yet, the more educated those people think they are, the more ignorant they would be.

The saddest thing is that professors in such fields of education become authorities to superintend over new students. That means they duplicate the unworkable system of education, over and over again. This results in having an unending condition of poor education labelled as standard.

The one found to be most culpable could probably be theology. The abuse of Jesus’ teachings is more by theologians, who twist what was taught by Jesus and make it standard. Christ’s teachings are the only standard of a good education. Therefore, by misrepresenting Christianity, through theology, we have the most serious condemnation of humanity.

Where else can people go, to attain proper education? Jesus came to be the light of the world. However, theologians came to usurp the authority of Jesus, advancing the misinformation, so that the ignorant people remain ignorant. Nothing else can be more serious than condemning humanity to its sinful condition.

All problems of humanity have answers, through the teachings of Jesus. But as long as the teachings of Christ are misrepresented, the ignorant remain ignorant. It is the same ignorance that has kept people in the condition of being manipulated by selfish individuals.

The Pharisees failed to manipulate a person whose blindness had been healed by Jesus. There could have been no reason for that person to doubt and denounce the person who had helped him to recover from the condition of blindness. The man ended up being thrown out of the synagogue, after refusing to succumb to the people, who wished to restore his blindness.

Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him.

Jesus said, “For judgment, I have come into this world so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:35-41 NIV).

In communicating with that former blind man, Jesus made him realize that his decision ought to remain his. There would be no one to convince him that the person who removed his blindness could then be regarded as evil. He had to renounce the considered superior viewpoint of the Pharisees. The same ought to apply to truthful Christians.

Blindness is two-fold. One can be blind, physically, while another can be blind, spiritually. The person, who would be blind physically, is better than the person who is spiritually blind. The one, who is spiritually blind, is the ignorant person who can then be manipulated by greedy politicians.

The evil condition of this world, whether driven by racism or any other factor, is a result of spiritual blindness. The problem with spiritual blindness is that a person would not be conscious of being blind. The person lives on the assumption that he would be wiser than he/she actually would.

This is the problem that affected the Pharisees. Jesus aptly put it to one of them, who had attempted to correct Jesus, for seemingly suggesting that he was physically blind: “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:41 NIV).

The most difficult thing is to help a person who assumes to know when he doesn’t know anything. When standing on the pretext of knowing, the person might even try to educate the person with educative information. This is what makes it extremely impossible to ever correct such a person.

The Pharisees were basically affected by this malady. It is what makes it impossible to achieve deliverance. This is a condition that is sustained by pride, which is what Jesus came to eradicate. This, therefore, means that all other sins of this world, stem from the condition of pride.

It is pride that causes politicians to use propaganda, to manipulate ignorant people. It is also a proud condition that causes capitalists to manipulate racist people. It is also pride that has caused the deterioration of our education, where the educated of this world find comfort in class consideration. All this is designed to keep ordinary humans ignorant.

The most superior knowledge, advanced by Jesus, carries no educational title. Jesus was not identified by any title, to authenticate His superior knowledge. The same applies to those being used by Him. His superior knowledge is currently discredited by the educationists of this world.

A truly educated person is not affected by racism, because an educated person knows that racism is a condition of ignorance. The education that Jesus advanced is redemptive, as to restore order. All problems of humanity get eliminated when adopting it, without alteration.

Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing relief to those having witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.

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