Going Home - Doris May Lessing [87]
9
Since I might not get up North, and I wanted to write about the trends in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, I made arrangements to meet representatives of the two Congresses. For to know what the Government, or white settlers’ organizations, think about events it is only necessary to read the papers.
These arrangements were made carefully, since Congress representatives are not exactly liked by the Government; and for the same reason I shall not use the names of people or places.*
I wanted to find out two things. What was the attitude of National Congresses to the rapid industrial development going on in the Federation, and which must increase the wealth of this backward and undeveloped area. Secondly, how did they now view Federation?
For, one evening in a pleasant house, a group of white progressives—a word which is rather more elastic in this part of the world than it is in Britain—had worked out an admirably logical thesis which went like this: That since it was unlikely the Africans would be given self-government in the next decade and it seemed they were not in a position to take it forcibly; since the most striking, the most basic fact about the Federal area is its poverty, and schemes like Kariba and other big projects will ultimately raise the standard of living of everybody; would it not be better if the African Congresses supported economic development, at the same time using their great strength to demand a steadily increasing share in control of government? For the phrases and slogans of Partnership offer a verbal basis to fight on: to put the flesh of reality on these words would be to create a real democracy.
In short, to make the architects of Partnership fulfil their promises.
This is a very brief summary of the conclusions come to after an argument that went on for some hours, with great heat, based on a wealth of knowledge and information and experience, between various sorts of Socialist, ranging from classic Marxist, through Fabian, to old-fashioned liberal.
There was nothing wrong with our methods of reasoning, which were, however, only possible because, being white, we had not been subjected every hour of our lives to the humiliations of the colour bar.
For when I met these Congressmen, in small, shabby, out-of-the-way rooms, in an atmosphere of secrecy and oppression, those very sane and sensible arguments seemed silly, or at least irrelevant.
I have known many Nationalists, but never any as bitter as these.
I hate nationalism; but I hate even more that soft-mindedness which deplores the colour bar and ideas of white supremacy, hopes they will soften and diminish, and behaves as if they have vanished already—that hypocrisy which acknowledges the ugliness of white-settler what-I-have-I-hold, and yet will not acknowledge the justice of the black nationalism which is its inevitable consequence.
Political emotion, that emotion which drives masses of people into action, is never reasoned and rational. The leaders of a movement may be thoughtful men; their followers are not.
The emotions of ‘white-civilization’ are not rational; nor are the emotions of nationalism.
Talking to these Nationalists—Nationalists for that matter from any part of ‘white’ Africa—I find that there are two nightmares or fantasies which haunt them.
One I have already mentioned: ‘The whites want to kill us all off, they won’t be happy till we are all dead.’
Yet manifestly a dead African is a bad African—that is, unless he rebels; since a dead African is not able to do the dirty work of the country.
The other is: ‘They are going to bring in hundreds of thousands of white people from Europe and swamp us, and take our land.’
Ever since I can