Overt racism

MZUNGU

Yesterday evening Deo’s sister arrived from Dar Es Salaam, where she is in her first year at medical school. She had some kind of interview in Moshi today, so she had decided to take a week-long “personal break” from school. We went with Deo’s wife to a restaurant where a wedding committee that she was a part of was having a meeting. While Deo’s wife was at the meeting, his sister and I enjoyed some drinks and chatted about this and that.

It was dark when we left and emerging into the night, I was taken aback by the night sky. Stars were numerous, bright and everywhere, and it took not 3 seconds for me to see a shooting star whiz across the sky. I will be looking forward to more of this on the safari and kili climb.
Just as we crossed the road to catch a dalla-dalla to the next junction, one pulled up. They asked the bus assistant the price, even though they knew it was 300 shillings. The assistant said flat out, “It’s 300, but you’re with a mzungu (white person), so it’s 500 each.”

Shocking, isn’t it, this kind of overt racism? It was the second time in as many days that this had happened. The overt nature and complete lack of shame just bowls me over. Having travelled in third-world countries enough, I’m used to the let’s ask the foreigner for double, quadruple or ten times routine. Usually, though, it’s done to one or a group of foreigners travelling without locals. They don’t know the price and so getting swindled is all part of the game. Though similar in nature, I still find this quite different from the blatant racism witnessed last night that not only affected me but also my travel companions. Fortunately, Deo’s wife and sister both told the guy to take a hike; we’d catch the next one. Even when they rolled on a few metres, stopped, and called out to us again that they’d give us the normal price, we still told them to get lost. Serves them right. I just couldn’t help thinking the kind of reaction (social and legal) that that kind of treatment would produce in Canada. In any business, racism that overt would be suicide!