Ian Smith was right
Smith was no saint by an stretch of the imagination. There is a narrative that I personally grew up with that Smith was a racist based off the following line.
I don’t believe in majority rule ever in Rhodesia… not in 1000 years.
But if you then read the whole paragraph…
I have said before, and I repeat, we are prepared to bring black people into our Government to work with us. I think we have got to accept that in the future Rhodesia is a country for black and white, not white as opposed to black and vice versa. I believe this is wrong thinking for Rhodesia. We have got to try to get people to change their line of thinking if they are still thinking like that. This is outdated in Rhodesia today. I don’t believe in majority rule ever in Rhodesia… not in 1,000 years. I repeat that I believe in blacks and whites working together. If one day it is white and the next day black I believe we have failed and it will be a disaster for Rhodesia.
And hasn’t Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) been a disaster for the past 43 years?
There is a lot to shame Ian Smith for. But this isn’t one of them. Our independence as highlighted by the August 2023 elections have just served to prove the last white prime minister right.
Links to where I got the information
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