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Africa Exchange
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    Note from the editor: The politics of race deserves greater attention, especially when we consider how it complicates and distorts the politics of everything else, especially in America and Africa. Recently Gordon Frisch, a regular contributor to www.JRNyquist.com, was challenged by an African-American reader about a piece he did for Jeff Rense's Web site on re-colonizing Africa. At the same time, another of our contributing editors, Anthony LoBaido, was berated by a black reader for opposing communism in Africa.  These exchanges are of more than passing interest because they dramatize a growing and I believe cancerous misunderstanding between the races. This misunderstanding is deeper and more problematic than liberals or conservatives would like to admit. At the same time, this misunderstanding is being ruthlessly fueled by communists and other revolutionary malcontents. (See the letter, also below, written by our Africa correspondent, Jan Lamprecht). 

    A reader on Jeff Rense's website, Alvin, accused the author of the re-colonizing Africa article of racism. Alvin wrote:

Jeff [Rense],

    I must admit that this article has, initially and on the surface, offended me; it smacks of some of the most racist bile I have seen recently and part of me is surprised to see it on your website (despite your disclaimer in the website's intro pages).

    Nevertheless; I am considering the spirit of where it seems to be coming from as, if I am honest, I am forced to confront the fact that I am NOT there and know far less about the land from where much of my ancestry hails than most white people who DO live there (and many, even abroad).

    Still; as of late, your offerings on Africa and race strike me as unbalanced: Where are the perspectives written by BLACK Africans? As a descendant of a people (African and Aboriginal American) who have been enslaved by Colonial rapacity (and a Black man who must STILL endure institutionalized racial oppression from time to time in this country, even now) you will understand my deep misgivings and "over-sensitivity" regarding issues of race as presented almost exclusively by people who are heir to the wealth, influence, and power shamefully garnered by their ruling class ancestors at the expense of my own.

    I will be deeply grateful if you find a way to include the perspectives offered by Persons of Colour on the great issues of our age more frequently.

You know I respect you.

Your Brother,
Alvin

    Gordon Frisch, the original author referred to above, commented on Alvin's points as follows:

Dear Jan [Lamprecht],

    Thanks for forwarding to me Alvin's and your comments to Jeff Rense. I would like to respond to Alvin to set the record straight. Alvin is not the first person whose instant (completely mistaken) reaction to the article was that it was racist. I assure you, and Alvin, and any others, that nothing could be farther from the truth.

    I have lived internationally for many years, on several continents, including Africa. I met and developed many friendships in all those places, including Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and many others from other nationalities and ethnic origins. Many remain good friends to this day and it has never occurred to me to differentiate between them on the basis of race. They are all people, with individual personalities and cultures, who receive or do not receive my respect on a case by case basis, depending on the person, just as with Whites.

    The article I wrote on re-colonizing Africa derived its inspiration from several directions. Yes, I saw Frederick Forsythe's article having a similar theme, and I mostly agreed with it.

    Also, a few years ago I spent a few hours (off the record) talking with two Black Africans, who had quite lofty positions with the UN in Geneva. They both had PhD's, were highly educated, and they were greatly concerned about the future of sub-Saharan Africa. One was from the Ivory Coast, the other from Nigeria, and we had a totally frank talk about the mess that is Black Africa.

    Astoundingly, and with no prompting whatsoever from me, they said sub-Saharan Africa's only hope was a return of colonialism in some form. We all agreed that apartheid-like attitudes should never play any part in any re-colonization. But there were many good aspects to the era of colonialism in Africa. I saw it firsthand when I worked there. The
positive aspects should be welcomed and encouraged, the negative discouraged and prohibited, simple as that.

    Most of my views and inspiration for the article were derived from personal experience. I lived in Africa for a number of years and worked with Black, White and Arab Africans on a daily basis. My firsthand observations led me to suggest re-colonialization as a possible constructive solution to sub-Saharan Africa's problems. I was directly involved in training Blacks in Africa and there is no question that most are extremely eager and willing to learn and work. They just need the opportunity and they are not receiving it under the utterly corrupt leadership they must endure. Their own leaders are their downfall. This is not racism, this is fact, it could matter less what color the leaders are. There are similar faults in White-ruled countries too, it's just that it's worst in Africa. The reasons are bound up in Marxism, corruption, nepotism, etc., the many things we talk about on a daily basis.

    There is much negativism in today's world against multi-national corporations, and some of the criticism is indeed well founded. But the flip side is that multi-national corporations also probably offer the last best hope many Third World countries have to conquer poverty, disease and corruption. Multi-nationals bring money, expertise, opportunity, jobs and build infrastructures. No alphabet agency in the world -- IMF, World Bank, UN -- can offer a fraction as much.

    I would encourage any Blacks to communicate with others through your site. The only "apparent" Blacks that I have ever seen doing so were obviously so tainted with Marxist bias that they made a laughingstock of themselves. A few "apparent" Whites also had similar outlandish leftist views and made outright fools of themselves, because the historical failures of Marxism are indefensible. Nonetheless, let them try; throw all the cards on the table, let's see how they can manage to defend their views. Simple truth is more powerful than all the lies in the world, if exposed. That is what your site does, much to its credit. Of course, not
all who contribute things to your site have what might be considered unprejudiced views, but let them speak, they will learn along with all of us.

    I might add that the greatest racism and prejudice I have ever seen anywhere in the world is in Africa, by Blacks. There is a Black on Black apartheid at work in Africa today that is infinitely more devastating than anything Whites foisted on Blacks. As you rightly point out, at the peak of apartheid in South Africa, Blacks from the rest of Africa were still busting across the borders into White-ruled South Africa because that's where the greatest opportunity was. Today, Mugabe's Zimbabwe is one of the most racist and corrupt spots on Earth. And Blacks are suffering as much or more under his brand of Marxist totalitarism than they did under white rule.

    Sometime in the next 2 months, I will see Dr. George Ayittey, a renowned Ghanian professor at American University in Washington D.C. He will speak to an international forum where I live and I was instrumental in getting him here. We share many similar views on Africa, and I hope to talk with him about the idea of some form of neo-colonialism as a solution to Africa's problems. He has alluded to this before, but never addressed the issue head-on that I am aware of. I respect his views greatly and want to hear what he, one of the most respected Black African nationals, has to say on the issue.

    Meanwhile, I probably understand as well as anyone Alvin's knee-jerk reaction to the very idea of "re-colonization" as horrifying. America has its ghosts of slavery, which amount to much the same thing. And there are still many bigots left in the USA and everywhere today who live in that bygone era. If the world is ever to move on, it must come to grips with issues of importance and bury the ghosts of racism. Regrettably, I see racism surging in today's world, not subsiding, and that saddens me.

    But the idea of "re-colonization" in sub-Saharan Africa (perhaps it should be termed something else more appropriate without negative connotations) is meant to be a constructive solution, not a return to a bygone era laden with many negative attributes.

    I certainly left a part of my soul in Africa. It is a wonderful continent with many wonderful people and I have mostly very fond memories of it. Regrettably, it is deteriorating beyond anything imaginable and I am immensely saddened to see it. I do what I can to help the situation, through talks, articles, correspondence, etc. But until Africa gets its politics sorted out, no amount of external help will accomplish anything significant.

    Jan, through your site and the book you are writing, hopefully a few more people will begin to see the "REAL" nature of what's going on in Africa. The world media sugarcoats everything to the point that virtually no one sees the utter travesty that is "really" occurring in Africa. Understanding is the first step to solving a problem. Thus far the world does not even understand Africa's problems, so we haven't yet arrived as step one in solving them. I am very heartened to see people like Jeff Rense give you a hearing as this is vital to really solving Africa's problems. Thank you Jeff!

    Take heart Alvin, I'm not a racist and I'm most certainly not anti-African. I would dare say I love Africa more than almost anyone ... including yourself. I've been there, I've experienced it firsthand, and I came away loving it forever. It's a wonderful, mystical place that will always be a part of me.

Respectfully,
Gordon

    A reader of Anthony LoBaido's articles on Africa responded with the following:

From: CMuller609@aol.com
To: alobaido@worldnetdaily.com
Subject: South African Decay
Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 11:04:32 EDT

    Your piece on South African decay cannot be left unchallenged, because you are a one-sided racist pig that shames the profession of journalism.  All you say is how "whites" are being driven from their land.  Are you so in denial that you don't even remember the history of how your ancestors procured the land?

    Are you so stupid not to know that the land was forcibly taken away from blacks who were thrown out by the racist government you supported over the centuries?  That land was taken by force, and it will be returned by force.  The best thing for your pillaging and raping pigs is to leave South Africa while you can, because if you think what is going on now is bad, wait and see when we take over the country from the appeasing ANC, we will drive
you into the Indian Ocean.

    The problem in South Africa is that you are still too comfortable, and nothing has changed in your status to complain about.  You are still continuing with your racism and you refuse to share the wealth of the country, which we worked so hard for under strenuous, forced conditions.

    Pray that Mbeki remains president, because he is in your pockets.

    'One settler, many bullets'

    Realism and race -- Jan Lamprecht cuts to the bottom line. 

 
Subj: To Conquer Racism we must look into our hearts
Date: 9/3/01 9:11:24 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From:    pbs@iafrica.com  (Jan Lamprecht)
Reply-to: pbs@iafrica.com
To:    lozancich@starstream.net  (Lozancich)


Dear Diana,

    An American friend of mine referred me to an article you wrote entitled: "To Conquer Racism we must look into our hearts."

 http://www.sacbee.com/voices/sac/griego/griego_20010902.html

   I'm a white ex-Zimbabwean, now living in South Africa. I hate to burst your bubble, but most of the words spoken by these people who are supposedly in favor of solving the problem of "racism" is nothing more than a smoke-screen for attacking the West.

    These people are Marxists and their only interest is in bashing the Western world and in scamming money out of it.

   Just the other day, Robert Mugabe, who also posed as one who fights racism, blamed the Jews for the problems in Zimbabwe. What you have here, at this conference on racism, is a podium from which to attack America, attack Israel and attack the Western world for colonialism. Let me remind you that it is the likes of Russia and China, with their own despicable human-rights record who sponsored the so-called "liberation" of Africa which went on to cause the entire continent to spiral downwards into new levels and depths of poverty never known under colonialism.

   I note how the likes of Fidel Castro, Robert Mugabe, etc. stand at the conference on racism. Castro, a man who single-handedly ruined his own country. All these people who joke about blacks in Africa forget that blacks in South Africa probably lived better than whites in Russia. But nothing is ever said of this.

   You would do well to take a look at my website: http://users.iafrica.com/p/pb/pbs and check out the photos section if you have the stomach for it.

    Here are some quotes from these so-called lovers of multiculturalism:

 

   You must hate this system of Capitalism first and foremost. Because if you don't hate it you will not be able to engage in real struggles against this system.

-- African National Congress Secretary General Kgalema
speaking at a rally on 1st May 2000

 

   When Mandela dies we will kill you whites like flies.

African National Congress Councillor Mzukizi Gaba
10th November 1997

 

   These crooks [whites], really, we inherited as part of our population.... We cannot expect them to have straightened up, to be honest people, and an honest community, all told.... Yes, some of them are good people, but they remain cheats. They remain dishonest.

Robert Mugabe on BBC's Talk About Africa program, October 2000

 

   Whites are not human beings.

Joseph Msika, Zimbabwe's vice president,
18th August 2001, as quoted by

The Guardian, UK