Racism in Zimbabwe

Racism in Zimbabwe was introduced during the colonial era in the 19th century, when emigrating white settlers began racially discriminating against the indigenous Africans living in the region. The colony of Southern Rhodesia and state of Rhodesia were both dominated by a white minority, which imposed racist policies in all spheres of public life. In the 1960s–70s, African national liberation groups waged an armed struggle against the white Rhodesian government, culminating in a peace accord that brought the ZANU–PF to power but which left much of the white settler population's economic authority intact.

Violent government repression following independence included massacres against African ethnic groups, embittering ethnic divides within the population. The government led by Robert Mugabe during the 1980s was benevolent to white settlers while violently repressing illegal incursions on white land by African peasants who were frustrated with the slow pace of land reform. Mugabe's government would change policies in 2000 and encourage violence against white Zimbabweans, with many fleeing the country by 2005. After assuming the presidency, Emmerson Mnangagwa pledged to compensate white farmers for land seized from them under the land reform programme and declared that thinking along racial lines in farming and land ownership was outdated. Zimbabwe's society continues to face significant divisions along racial lines.


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