Parallels: Kikuyu Luophobia vis-a-vis USA Negrophobia

[TikTok]

Type R,

The phobia you witness was described well by one of the posters some time back. He said that the older generation having been conditioned by the political elite in central province during the late sixties and early seventies could tell stories to their offsprings of how bad the Luo people were. They were infected with propaganda of a people who ate things living in water, and never circumcise their men. They were bombarbeded with propaganda of how these community tried to kill Kenyatta in Kisumu (leave alone the fact that it was Luos who died in the 69' shoot out and they only threw an egg at Kenyatta).

The few examples above basically was borne of the fact that Kenyatta and his political buddies wanted to make sure their community remained ignorant of the political reality taking shape and being championed by the Luo. The political dispension where dessent and different views were being tolerated was not being welcomed by the Kiambu mafia, as it will challenge their very existence. The problem is that majority of them grew up hearing this propaganda and very few took a back seat to think it over and see its irrelevance.

We saw it rear its head again in '92 where a sure oppositon victory led by Jaramogi was nicked when opportunists like matiba, Kibaki, et al would say afadhali Moi kuliko huyo mjaluo. The shocker here is that huyo mjaluo had harmed zero kikuyu and even suffered for them (by taking the fight to the white man when Kenyatta was in prison) and suffered through them (being imprisoned) while Moi had killed and brought untold misery to the community. Well we saw it repeat itself again in '05 and '07.

Suffice to say, when a Luo presidency will come and pass, there will be a lot of soul searching among the kikuyu when history will judge them harshly. The next generation will be hard pressed to find the reasons that motivated their fathers and grandfathers to have such morbid fear of a people they see as as ordinary as themselves. You can see it now with white Americans. Many still wait for Obama to order whites to concentration camps. They even bought guns en masse last year fearing the worst. Obama's 4 or 8 years will pass and they will be left with a bitter after test not knowing how to react next.

[jamboree]

Originally Posted by TikTok

Type R,

The phobia you witness was described well by one of the posters some time back. He said that the older generation having been conditioned by the political elite in central province during the late sixties and early seventies could tell stories to their offsprings of how bad the Luo people were. They were infected with propaganda of a people who ate things living in water, and never circumcise their men. They were bombarbeded with propaganda of how these community tried to kill Kenyatta in Kisumu (leave alone the fact that it was Luos who died in the 69' shoot out and they only threw an egg at Kenyatta).

The few examples above basically was borne of the fact that Kenyatta and his political buddies wanted to make sure their community remained ignorant of the political reality taking shape and being championed by the Luo. The political dispension where dessent and different views were being tolerated was not being welcomed by the Kiambu mafia, as it will challenge their very existence. The problem is that majority of them grew up hearing this propaganda and very few took a back seat to think it over and see its irrelevance.

We saw it rear its head again in '92 where a sure oppositon victory led by Jaramogi was nicked when opportunists like matiba, Kibaki, et al would say afadhali Moi kuliko huyo mjaluo. The shocker here is that huyo mjaluo had harmed zero kikuyu and even suffered for them (by taking the fight to the white man when Kenyatta was in prison) and suffered through them (being imprisoned) while Moi had killed and brought untold misery to the community. Well we saw it repeat itself again in '05 and '07.

Suffice to say, when a Luo presidency will come and pass, there will be a lot of soul searching among the kikuyu when history will judge them harshly. The next generation will be hard pressed to find the reasons that motivated their fathers and grandfathers to have such morbid fear of a people they see as as ordinary as themselves. You can see it now with white Americans. Many still wait for Obama to order whites to concentration camps. They even bought guns en masse last year fearing the worst. Obama's 4 or 8 years will pass and they will be left with a bitter after test not knowing how to react next.

Go ahead and cry us a river. Since when did you think that Kikuyus will do soul searching? Kikuyus can no longer be held hostage for voting in a particular way. There are so many examples here and abroad of selective voting patterns. Cease that lie that Luos and Kalenjins are democratic as they were ready to vote for other tribes. Kales voted for ODM because Ruto said so; Luos voted for Raila; Luhyas for Mudavadi' Kambas for Wiper.

The only soul searching is for those with hearts filled with hate who supported the killings of others or even took part in the chaos. Those are the ones who will be wondering was it worth it to hate an entire community for sins of a few of its leaders and their friends who are in fact from our tribes. TikTok, chuki ya nini?

[Type R]

Originally Posted by jamboree

Kikuyus can no longer be held hostage for voting in a particular way.

It is not the vote per se that is at issue-- it is the motivation behind voting in a particular way. If I say, "I will vote for X so that he protects me from Y", what happens when Y comes to power and does nothing to me? That is what TikTok is saying. I will be forced to accept that Y was harmless from the beginning, and that X protected me from nothing.

Originally Posted by jamboree

There are so many examples here and abroad of selective voting patterns. Cease that lie that Luos and Kalenjins are democratic as they were ready to vote for other tribes. Kales voted for ODM because Ruto said so; Luos voted for Raila; Luhyas for Mudavadi' Kambas for Wiper.

To paraphrase your statement: "Kales voted for Raila Odinga because a Kale said so."

You said it yourself.

In 2002, Luos voted en masse for Kibaki. So did Kales and Luhyas. I do not think Mudavadi received the lion's share of the Presidential vote in Western province in either 2002 or 2007. Moi - a Kalenjin - told Kales to vote for Uhuru; they refused.

@jamboree:

Your's is a case of trying to project your weaknesses onto other people.

(For example, many dishonest people are known to be distrusting as well. They imagine that other people are trying to con them as much as they spend all their lives conning and faking. When I meet someone who is very untrusting, I end wondering whether they are honest themselves.)

This is the problem of the tribalist: he imagines that everybody else suffers from the same serious case of ubaguzi. It is a way of saying, "I'm not that bad. Everybody else is like me. See?"

[jamboree]

In 2002, Luos voted en masse for Kibaki. So did Kales and Luhyas. I do not think Mudavadi received the lion's share of the Presidential vote in Western province in either 2002 or 2007. Moi - a Kalenjin - told Kales to vote for Uhuru; they refused.

No need to go around in circles. The fact of the matter is that Kiuks are no more of tribalists than other tribes. Kales may have not listened to Moi but they listened to Ruto. Why did they vote the other way in 1992 and 1997, in 2002 voting for Moi's proxy.

What shall we now say of Kiuks in 2012 when it is becoming rather possible that they may choose to vote someone else. This fixation of inventing any theory under the sun to disparage certain communities wont wash.

@jamboree:

Your's is a case of trying to project your weaknesses onto other people.

(For example, many dishonest people are known to be distrusting as well. They imagine that other people are trying to con them as much as they spend all their lives conning and faking. When I meet someone who is very untrusting, I end wondering whether they are honest themselves.)

This is the problem of the tribalist: he imagines that everybody else suffers from the same serious case of ubaguzi. It is a way of saying, "I'm not that bad. Everybody else is like me. See?"

[/QUOTE]

No I dont project any weakness onto others. On the contrary am establishing the true position in light of the vicious misinformation that you are unwittingly propagating. Tribalism sucks but its not a preserve of a certain community. At the least not the Kikuyus who are hand cart pushers, mboga selling, matatu operators, and peasants. Dont stop posting about these issues since its better to talk them out, but just know how to state facts so that you dont become like some of the vile characters on mashada.

[MistaT]

Originally Posted by KILL PROPAGANDA

It is not just in Kenya that there is some form of Luophobia. Virtually every country in East Africa except Tanzania has gone through phases of Luophobia. Museveni in Uganda is constantly afraid because he knows that Luo-speaking tribes are the majority in Uganda and if there were democratic elections, he would easily lose to a Luo Candidate. That's why he will never end that war in the north. This is the same reason he is scared of a Raila presidency in Kenya and engineered the assasination of Garang in Sudan.

The worst case of Luophobia though happens to be in Ethiopia where the government of Ethiopia is literally running a reign of terror in the Gambela region which is mainly inhabited by Luokspeaking Anuak people. This mini-genocide has generally been ignored because Meles Zenawi was a Bush and Clinton favourite. Soon things will start to unravel for him.

Even in Kenya, it is not only Kikuyus who can be accused of Luophobia. During Kenyatta's rule massive resorces were invested in propaganda to demonise Luos. This is when all those stereotypes about Luos were circulated. The government sponsored propagandists were not even creative enough to invent their own stereotypes, they just copied the same lines used by whites in America and South Africa against blacks.

Many of these stereotypes had generally been disproved and people didn't talk about them anymore. Until the referendum 2005 and elections 2007 were generally percieved as Luo-Kikuyu contests when propagandists fished into the archives and revived these myths.

Many of the folks who propagate these stereotypes do not even believe them. They just stick to them for political reasons. What scares these people to death is the thought of a trans-national Luo movement influencing events in Sudan, Ethiopia, Congo, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. They will stop at nothing to make sure no Luo ever leads any of these countries. What they hadn't bargained for was that a Luo would be president of America of all places. This explains the initial support both Hillary and McCain had in Kenya and Uganda.

Their fears are unfounded though, Luo people in Ethiopia, Congo and Tanzania are just not numerous enough to be a political force. Even in Kenya and Sudan, Luos cannot singularly win an election without an alliance with other peoples unless Southern Sudan secedes. Neither can they dominate the countries to the exclusion of others, they just don't have the numbers for that. The only country where this could happen is Uganda, hence the reason Museveni is constantly losing his head at the mention of the word Luo.

One of the best analysis to come out of Mashada. We've got to Kill the Propaganda!!

[MistaT]

I have come to the conclusion that Kenya shall never achieve brotherhood and unity until we all realize the importance of using politics to unite our people rather than as a divisive means to power. We shall continue to be aa garden of tribalism and destructive sectoral competition that can only achieve one thing, destruction of the future of our country.

The Kenyatta regime succeded beyond measure in tribalisation of Kenya, and in creating a sense of entitlement by the Children of Mumbai based on the misconceived notion that they fought for independence through the Mau Mau. If the truth be told, Kenyans independence was fought through the power of the pen rather than a war of pangas against guns. In fact, the Mau Mau war was a war by Kikuyus against Kikuyus. The British victims were very immaterial as compared to the excecuted 'home guards' and 'traitors'. The Mau Mau is just a myth created by Kenyatta to reinforce the entitlement mentality.

[Type R]

Originally Posted by MistaT

---- based on the misconceived notion that they fought for independence through the Mau Mau. If the truth be told, Kenyans independence was fought through the power of the pen rather than a war of pangas against guns. In fact, the Mau Mau war was a war by Kikuyus against Kikuyus. The British victims were very immaterial as compared to the excecuted 'home guards' and 'traitors'. The Mau Mau is just a myth created by Kenyatta to reinforce the entitlement mentality.

Not completely accurate. It is wrong to counter a misconception with another lie.

Mau Mau and all others eg Maji Maji rebellion could best be defined as wars against rather than wars for.

In certain circumstances, the objective of getting rid of the enemy is so overwhelming that there is no space - mental, strategic, etc - alloted to designing what shall replace the enemy. It's like a child in a home who is getting along very badly with his parents. His #1 and exclusive objective is to run away. After leaving home during the day, evening comes and the child realizes that he has nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat, no clean clothes, no water. It is dark and he doesn't know the way home. A dangerous vacuum is created.

By 1948, 1.25 million Kikuyu were restricted to 2000 square miles (5,200 km²), while 30,000 British settlers occupied 12,000 square miles (31,000 km²). The most desirable agricultural land was almost entirely in the hands of European settlers.

Mau Mau did not fight for "Kenya" per se. They fought against the British colonialist.

A vacuum was created at independence when the British left. Kenyatta filled this ideological vacuum with tribalism and the "kitu kidogo" culture. The African world was too modernized for Mau Mau to have designed a comprehensive and workable solution for the resultant vacuum. They had basic proposals like land ownership and freedom (Mau Mau also called themselves "The Land and Freedom Army"), jobs and police brutality, but nothing grand enough to run a country with. Even the poorly educated Kenyatta was not up to the task. Our constitution was written in and by the UK.

It is post independence revisionists who have tried to transform Mau Mau from an "against" movement into a "for" movement, against all historical evidence!

Pressure for independence (ie national and not just Kikuyu issue) was exerted by some groups that had personnel but not full ideological links with the Mau Mau.

Face the truth: If the Kikuyu had been given back their land in Central Province without Kenya being granted independence, Mau Mau would have become redundant. No surprise here since many colonies are even today peacefully administered by the former masters, eg Bermuda...Reunion...

[reggaeBob]

Unreasonable fear in the human mind is always a strange thing. If you stop to analyze it, it never makes any sense logically. But nevertheless, it is real and tangible.

I think a lot of it goes back to what kids are told by their parents. When you are a kid, sometimes you are afraid because the world seems totally out of your control. So you have to rely upon your parents. And if your parents put these irrational fears into your mind - then you will grow up believing that they are very true. So ask yourself ... what are typical Kikuyu parents telling their kids about Luos? And what are typical Luo parents telling their kids about Kikuyu's?

But now this has gone a step further. Due to the unfortunate and savage acts that happened 18 months ago in Kenya, now many families are more scared. In many cases Kenyan families KNOW people who were victims. This just reinforces the stereotypes and fears that were already out there. Everything gets amplified.

Go back and look at the situation in Rwanda before the genocide. Yes, there were many factors that created strains between the Hutu's and the Tutsi's. It was not just one thing. But the two tribes also began to build up unreasonable fears that the "other side" was really out to get them. The growth of subconscious fears of persecution and slaughter causes people to justify further acts that are terrible - they are willing to murder because they believe that their whole group of people is truly threatened. Even if they are not.

Kenya is on a rocky road now. The country must either overcome these stereotypes and deep fears, or instead become a greater victim of the fear mentality in the future.

reggaeBob

[TikTok]

Originally Posted by reggaeBob

...But the two tribes also began to build up unreasonable fears that the "other side" was really out to get them. The growth of subconscious fears of persecution and slaughter causes people to justify further acts that are terrible - they are willing to murder because they believe that their whole group of people is truly threatened. Even if they are not....

This is very good analysis. The Hutu were in power. They are 85% of the population. The hutu political and corrupt elite having realised their term was up, went on the offensive, feeding their country men with an impending genocide from the Tutsi, leave alone the fact that the two groups are genetically the same and speake the same dialect. To prove it, the started the genocide. 15 years down the line, they have a Tursi persident who is yet to carry the promised genocide on Hutus.

Relate it to USA and Kenya and you see a similar patter. It was fed on the white folks (70% of the population) that a black president (13% of population)will make them pay dearly for their sins. Run up to '08 elections and some whites even went to the extreme of stocking weapons, little did they know that the majority of whites had moved on. To date they are still holding their breathe praying day and night that Obama should start sending them to labour camps to prove they were right.

Kenya, Keyatta and his corrupt cohorts from teh homeguard fratternity feared the civil awareness that competetive politics bring. Fearing they will be smoked out, they launched on Oginga and to extent the Luos villifying them as the worst thing to have happened on earth since Noah's arc deaths. They kill their fellow men but convince them that it is for their own good as yule mujaruo could have done worse. The Kikuyu political and corrupt barons made Moi and Kibaki very good students of the same. Sad to note Oginga had never harmed a single kikuyu. The Luo have never harmed a single kikuyu or Kalenjin. Moi was caught with his pants down in '07 when his tribesmen got clever and saw the stupidity. Kibaki is soon to test it when his tribesmen tell him to go hang.

[Type R]

Originally Posted by TikTok

he Hutu were in power. They are 85% of the population. The hutu political and corrupt elite having realised their term was up, went on the offensive, feeding their country men with an impending genocide from the Tutsi---

I think that's the clue: using tribal animosity to preserve power, not because they have a political agenda but simply because power is a route to wealth.

A law barring from politics and public service people with a history of hate speech would be a good starting point. eg Ntimama - out!, the late Kones: no state/parliamentary benefits to his family ----- directors, investors and employees of such media as Kameme FM and Kass FM could never go to Parliament or get a job in the civil service or as election commissioners.

This could kill the link between hate speech and political success.