The Prejudices We Provoke

The Prejudices We Provoke / Reinaldo Escobar
Posted on August 4, 2015

Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 1 August 2015 — Under the slogan of
"Tanganyika breaks heads with big force" a Cuban radio serial from the
50s, my generation was inculcated with the idea that Africans are rude
and violent. I vaguely remember that the character of this resonant name
was a kind of stupid but unbeatable giant.

I didn't know then that Tanganyika was a lake and that its northwestern
shore touched Bujumbura, the largest population center in Burundi, which
became the capital after independence in 1962. The prejudices of my
childhood were reinforced years later when tribal struggles arose
between Hutus and Tutsis and the dead filled the streets of the city in
an absurd fratricidal war.

But for weeks the news confused me.

I had been led to believe that those Burundians were a "savage people"
and suddenly I see them walking the streets in an enviable gesture of
civility to protest the intentions of President Pierre Nkuruziza to get
himself re-elected for the third time (which succeeded in controversial
elections last July 21). The opposition managed to unite although they
continued to disagree about whether to participate in the elections and
about the decision of whether to occupy seats in the parliament.

It was the Prensa Latina agency that released a report saying that the
main opposition leader Agathon Rwasa would take his place in the
Assembly with 20 members of his coalition. Meanwhile the leader of
another opposition group, Charles Nditije, declined to occupy the 10
seats he won in the elections.

The newspaper Granma surprised many last Wednesday with the following
comment on the elections in Burundi:

"Seven days after the presidential elections, the commission of UN
observers concluded that the election was not "free, credible and
inclusive." In its preliminary report, the commission said that the vote
was marked by violence and there were obstacles to freedom of
expression, assembly and association. In addition, it stated that
"freedom of the press suffered severe restrictions" and that "the public
media did not guarantee a balanced coverage of the candidates."

What might be the "preliminary report" of a commission of observers from
the United Nations if it were allowed to witness an electoral process in
Cuba? Would they say it was free, credible and inclusive? Would they
dare to assert that there were no obstacles to the freedoms of
expression, assembly and association? Would they notice the severe
restrictions on press freedom and note that the public media did not
provide balanced coverage of the candidates?

I apologize to the people of Burundi. We have fallen to a level that is
below that racist category of "savage people." We have provoked a
greater prejudice, that of being a tamed people.

Source: The Prejudices We Provoke / Reinaldo Escobar | Translating Cuba
- http://translatingcuba.com/the-prejudices-we-provoke-reinaldo-escobar/