I have not yet stayed in a White man’s country for more than a few days, and I cannot say much about racial discrimination from personal experience. But from what I hear from Black brothers and sisters, it seems like racial discrimination is alive and kicking in those countries. But when I observe closely, I realize that I do not have to go outside my country to see racial discrimination in action. I just need to remember the face of the young White lady with a flushed face lumbering under the weight of a huge rucksack on her back as she muttered a barely audible, “I am not a f**cking tourist!” to the well fed taxi man who was waving a safari brochure under her sun-burnt nose. I am sure that in that one day alone, she must have been offered all sorts of adventure travel deals by the many safari hawkers that patrol the city streets looking for tourists. When that is the last thing that a person is looking for, it only serves to make the nerves raw – especially on a hot humid day in a foreign country.

With the general assumption that all White people have more money than they could spend in their own countries, and hence come to Africa to unload some of it, life is not easy for a backpacker who comes to Kenya on a shoe string budget. Actually, it is not easy for any White person no matter how rich, since it is downright annoying to realize that prices have suddenly been inflated simply because of the color of your skin. Whenever I have hosted friends whose skin color makes it obvious that they are not from the African continent, it becomes impossible to get any reasonably priced items in the open markets. On several occasions that I attempted to bargain on their behalf, I was accused of sabotaging the efforts of fellow hard-working country men and women at making a kill from the dollar laden foreigner.

Whenever I watch Black comedy shows and movies made by Black people, I hear many jokes that demean White people. That is considered funny. If a White person were to be offended by the joke, a Black person might not understand why the White man or woman lacks a sense of humor. Surprisingly, if a White comedy or a movie made by White people were to have similar demeaning comments about Black people, it is considered racial and not funny at all. Why the double standards?

Do you remember the brouhaha that the White radio show host caused recently for making some unsavory comments about a Black women basketball team? And yet, anyone would hear the same language being used over and over to describe women in almost all the rap songs that he or she will listen to before the end of the day.

Whenever a person considers himself or herself inferior to another on account of race, gender, religion, tribe, clan, or social status of any kind, that person is always on the offensive and defensive at all times: Offensive in that the person always looks for an opportunity to be “equal” to his or her perceived “betters”. Defensive in pointing out the areas where his or her “rights” are being trampled on. While that happens, the person is oblivious of the effect that his or her combative nature has on the other person. Hence, overcharging a White person in a Black county or making jokes about White people on comedy shows is never considered a violation of White people’s rights in any way.

Caning a person with a stick hurts, no matter which end of the stick is used. So, beware that caning with the Black discrimination end is just as painful as caning with the White discrimination end.