Prof. Gates Mugshot (Cambridge Police)
Sisi weusi wachache tuliobaki kwenye nyumba za kawaida hapa Cambridge, Massachusetts tunakaa roho juu juu! Jirani zetu wazungu wanatazama kila tunachofanya na hawasiti kuita polisi wakidhani unafanya kosa lolote. Mfano kuna mitaa fulani ukitembea mweusi wanaweza kuita polisi, "THERE'S A BLACK MAN WALKING DOWN MY STREET!" Na polisi watakuja na uwe na kitambulisho cha kuonyesha la sivyo uende ukalale jela! Unaogopa kwenda duka la jirani bila kitambulisho! Wiki mbili zilizopita nilikuwa naedesha gari langu, nilikuwa na rafiki yangu ndani ya gari. Nilisimama kwenye mtaa fulani ila nicheki GPS kujua tuelekea wapi. Wazungu walitoka ndani ya nyumba ya na kuandika pleti ya gari!
Hizi nyumba za kawaida zimekuwa gentrified na wanaishi wazungu na yuppies na mbwa wao! Mbwa na paka ni watoto wao. Weusi wamefukuzwa kiujanja. Walipandishiwa kodi, au kuna kundi ilikuwa inapita kwenye nyumba ziliokuwa zinamilikiwa na weusi na kununua nyumba zao kwa bei nzuri. Lakini nia yao ilikuwa kusafisha eneo kusudi kusiwe na weusi. Eneo nayo kaa Cambridgeport kati vyuo vikuu ya Harvard na MIT, zamani ilikuwa ya weusi lakini sasa ni la wazungu. Ukiona ilivyo sasa huwezi kujua!
Mwaka juzi nikiwa napita kwenye sidewalk nyumba ya jirani nikaulizwa nakwenda wapi kwa hasira na mzungu fulani. Nilikuwa nimevaa koti la winter, hivyo hakuniona vizuri. Alipogundua ni mimia aliona haya na kudai eti hakusema hivyo! Shenzi Taipu! Zee lingine la kizungu kaniuliza nafanya nini nikiwa naosha gari langu mbele ya nyumba nayo kaa. Nikamwambia yaani miaka yote nakaa hapa leo ndo unaongea na mimi! Hebu nenda zako!
Na hao vijana wetu ndo usiombe. Ukisikia kuna wizi nini umetokea tunawaambia watoto waingie ndani haraka, maana hao polisi wa Cambridge hawasiti kuwakamata hata kama hawana hatia. Unasikia Polisi wanatafuta, black male, 5'8 wearing a sweatshirt! Jamani si anaweza kuwa mtu yeyote! Na maskini, mnakumbuka kesi ya kijana wetu Justin Cosby alivyouwawa huko Harvard. Yaani mara tu, walikuwa wanauliza alikuwa anafanya nini Harvard!
Kuna siku mwanangu na rafiki zake walikuwa wanatembea kutoka kwenye shule yao ya msingi karibu na Harvard. Wakawa wanakatisha Harvard Yard. Walikuwa vijana weusi kama saba wote chini ya miaka 13. Walikuwa wanacheka cheka na kuongea kwa sauti kama kawaida ya vijana. Mvulana wa kizungu alishikwa na hofu na kusema eti kuna kundi la weusi linataka kumwibia na polisi waliitwa! Baada ya siku hiyo hao vijana hawajakatisha Harvard Yard tena kwa hofu wataitwa wezi. Na wesui wengi wanaokaa Cambridge hawana hamu ya kusoma Harvard shauri ya ubaguzi walioshuhudia.
Siku nyingine tukiwa kwenye basi, msichana wa kizungu ghalfa aliaanza kumshambulia binti mweusi aliyokuwa amekaa naye kwenye kiti. Polisi walimkamtaa yule mweusi aliyeshambuliwa kwanza mpaka tulivyowaeleza ni mzungu alimyemshambulia mweusi! KHAA! Hata hivyo mzungu aliachiwa. We mweusi umshmabulie mzungu bila sababu au ukiwa na sababu na utakiona cha mtema kuni!
Ubaguzi upo mpaka mashuleni ya msingi na hiyo Cambridge Rindge & Latin School ambayo ni shule pekee ya sekondari serikali hapa Cambridge. Loh, nina story za kuwasimulia lakini moja ya kusikitisha ni kuwa KKK walikuwepo hapa Cambridge, na walimfanya Mwalimu Mkuu wa Agassiz School (sasa Baldwin), Peggy Avarette kukimbia na kuacha kila kitu, baada kutishia kumwua na kuchoma gari lake mbele ya nyumba aliyokuwa anakaa karibu na Harvard! Mwanangu alikuwa anasoma hapo wakati huo na nilipambana vikali na hao wabaguzi. Lakini itabidi niwasimulie siku nyingine!
Prof Gates ana heshima kubwa hapa Cambridge na dunia nzima kwa utafiti aliyofanya kuhusu historia ya watu weusi. Sasa kama yeye anaweza kukamatwa, sisi makamchape tulie tu!
Kwa sasa mjue, RACISM IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSSETTS! Ndiyo wadau, tuna Rais mweusi lakini ubaguzi bado upo Marekani!
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A black Harvard professor, who has been named by Time magazine as one of the top 25 most influential Americans, accused police of racism after he was arrested trying to get into his own home.
Henry Louis Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct after police said he "exhibited loud and tumultuous behaviour". He was later released.
The head of Harvard's WEB DuBois Institute for African and American Studies, shouted to a police officer "this is what happens to a black men in America" according to a police report.
The incident happen last Thursday after a call to police that "two black males" were breaking into Gates's home near the university campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Later Gates refused to discuss the incident. But his lawyer said he was arrested after he forced his way through his front door because it was jammed. The professor's colleagues blamed the arrest on racial profiling.
Gates initially refused to show the officer his identification, but later showed his university pass. "Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him," the police officer wrote.
His friend and fellow Harvard scholar Charles Ogletree, said: "He was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification."
Allen Counter, who has taught neuroscience at Harvard for 25 years, said he was stopped on campus by two police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robber. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.
"We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if Professor Gates was white," Counter said. "It really has been very unsettling for African-Americans throughout Harvard and throughout Cambridge that this happened."
Lawrence D Bobo, professor of Social Sciences at Harvard, said he met Gates at the police station and described his colleague as feeling humiliated and "emotionally devastated."
"It's just deeply disappointing but also a pointed reminder that there are serious problems that we have to wrestle with," he said.
Bobo said he hoped Cambridge police would drop the charges.
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Kwa habari zaidi someni:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/us/21gates.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=anupUHzw.F0Y
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/voices/725.html
Ndiyo yale yale yamewapata watoto wa Philadelphia baada ya kulipa ada ya kiingilio kwenye bwawa la kuogelea (Valley Swim Club), walipofika wakarudishwa kwa kisa wao ni weusi na kwamba wazazi wa watoto weupe walisema hawana imani na watoto weusi na kuwa watawaibia au kuwaumiza au kitu kibaya kinaweza kufanywa nao. Nitakutumia ujumbe aliouandika Tyler Perry kwa uchungu kuhusu kisa hicho.
ReplyDeleteMh Da'Chem naona hawa wazungu wanalipiza kwa kuwa kiongozi ni mweusi sasa kila mweusi anafanya jambo baya??? Poleni sana, tunapenda maisha ya America lakini sometimes yanaumiza....ila ni uvumilivu tu kwani hata weusi tunalipa kodi pia!! Ili mradi haki ifuatiliwe
ReplyDeleteMdau, us
Mnaonaje mkirudi tu nyumbani ambao hamna atakayewabagua badala ya kuendelea kulalamika kwenye blog? Rudini Nyumbani tulisukume mbele gurudumu la maisha na hakuna atakayekubagua kwa rangi yako Tanzania.
ReplyDeletePoleni sana! Najua kuwa kuhangaika na maisha ndio kumekufanyeni muishi nchi hizo. Ndio mana mimi nimewekea kutoishi nje ya nchi yangu kabisa.
ReplyDelete:-(
ReplyDeleteBi Chemi ubaguzi upo kwa wingi hapa America, ingawa hawa wazungu wanapenda kujifanya kama ni jambo la zamani. Hiyo tabia ya gentrification ya mitaa inaendelea hata hapa NYC ila, watu wa huku NY ni wenye hamaki hawastahimili hizo tabia, maandamano yangeanza mara moja.
ReplyDeleteMbu (Mkenya aneyeishi ng'ambo)