I'd like to share the comments a friend made(in a private message to
me), after seeing my reply to Rose Fernandes.
Here's an extract from his message:
"As usual, a most eloquent statement from a Goan mzee!
>
> However, the last line needs amplification. I don't think that it was SOME
> Goans who CHOSE to treat the African as 'inferior'; it was almost every Goan
> living in an urban environment, including yours truly, who had that
> prejudiced attitude. But that was the status qou during the colonial era as
> you quite rightly pointed out. I was only enlightened when Tanganyika gained
> Independence, and I CHOSE to become a Tanganyikan citizen shortly
> thereafter.
>
> What is shameful is when SOME or MANY Goans today, unlike you and me, keep
> reminiscing about "the good old days" without nary a sense of remorse or a
> feeling of guilt or a sense of gratitude towards the African who was
> relegated to the lowest rung in society in his own land while we prospered
> at his expense.
>
> What is even more tragic is that when the African got freedom, the majority
> of the population found themselves far worse off than in the colonial days,
> as a result of dishonesty, fraud, corruption, and tribal rivalries of their
> own leaders.
>
> Today's news on the BBC is about the discovery of oil in the Turkana Distist
> of Kenya (see below). You (and I) will thank the Good Lord for finally
> showering his blessings on the Turkana - the prospect of women in decent
> clothing instead of goatskin skirts around their waists, men driving in
> air-conditioned cars, air-conditioned homes with piped water, hospitals,
> schools, etc. Then we look back at independent African countries and ask
> ourselves; is our wish just a dream? Will the lure of oil wealth spawn
> tribal rivalries, border disputes, warfare, land mines and killings of
> innocent people? And will the survivors still be living the same way they
> did when you were a Karani?
>
> I hope and pray that BEFORE they pump the first drop of oil out of the
> ground, the tribal chiefs sit down around a table, with a British District
> Commissioner (or a Bwana Karani) as the Chairman, and agree to maintain
> peace. Otherwise it will just be another oil-rich Nigeria where poverty is
> still rampant.
>
> Like many predictions I made in the past, I am going to retain a copy of
> this message that I will track in years to come."
>
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