Robert Mugabe Opposes Multiracialism (1962)

 

Robert Mugabe was active in pushing for political rights in Rhodesia in the 1960s. The reason Robert Mugabe was opposed to multiracialism was because it  put emphasis on hierarchy. White minority rule regimes of Southern Africa used racial classification to control the African population. Asians were brought over for labor purposes. Coloureds were a mixture of Africans, Europeans, and with some Asian ancestry. They tended to act as a middle group between Europeans and Africans.   Mugabe stated in a CBC interview that multiracialism's foundation was that the races were not the same species. Robert Mugabe's position was that saying the races are different becomes a justification for racial segregation. Robert Mugabe asserted rights and freedom should be given to all who reside in Rhodesia. The British Empire would never extend freedom to its colonies. It would take the Rhodesian Bush War for Zimbabwe to gain its independence from European rule.