There exists a myth in the mind of the world in general that whites are better than blacks (and all other races for that matter) in most everything. Like most myths, it is based on some fact. A good number of the top twenty economies of the world belong to countries whose population is dominantly white. They have more stable political structures, do better ins ports and make better quality goods, in general at least. I’m sure if I did more research on this I could refer to more detailed facts and figures to make my point. I think it’s been made though.
The myth starts to go wrong when it assumes that these nations and people are immune to some of the self-inflicted calamities that many black nations are prone to. Like irrational voting patters. Like tribal and racist persecution. Like the support of leaders whose words and track records are miles apart. I have believed this myth, sometimes subconsciously. The year 2016 however has made me even more sure that this is but a myth, that white people and the rest of us are similarly vulnerable to the more peculiar of human behaviours.
The first instance was Brexit. The referendum done by the UK, once a global superpower. The fascinating think about Brexit was not that the polls were wrong, or that the vote was largely won (or lost, depending on perspective) by the poor voter turn-out in some anti-Brexit regions of country. What amazed me was that after it all, some of the most popular search-engine searches in the UK were of people trying to understand what Brexit was. And that multiple reports emerged of voters who voted for Brexit but did not understand what it was. It was almost as if the electorate decided that if their leaders thought it a good idea, they did not need to fully understand it. As a Kenyan, that sounds eerily familiar.
The second one started in 2015 and played out for most of 2016. The name is Donald J. Trump. I wrote an article in March predicting his victory in the elections. What struck me about the whole episode was his utter defiance of the unwritten code that most politicians from the west abide by, and the lack of repercussions from the electorate. Until this I thought that only Africa could vote for someone despite prejudicial hate speech, sex scandals and a general lack of clear and specific goals to achieve once voted in.
After the elections, violent protests broke out in some states in the United States. People denounced him as president, burnt the American flag and caused enough disturbance to require political intervention. Again, this strikes home all to well.
These two major incidents have all but killed this myth from my mind. All humans are equal. Some may be richer and live in better conditions. But we who are a step behind are just as likely to catch up to those ahead as they are likely to slide back to us.
The Balcony 