{A Trip to the Colonies [continued]}[19th August 1974]

[Redbook2:44-45][19740819:0000f]{A Trip to the Colonies [continued]}[19^th August 1974]

Monday 19740819

[continued]

            On Friday morning the [J]s? took me on their tour round Harare and parts of other African townships.  The hotel, art school, commercial sculpture and weaving, cinema, swimming pool, expensive quarter and railway village were interesting.  I felt particularly embarrassed as we cruised round a crescent of expensive African houses where families sat in their gardens – perhaps because I could identify with them. In the poorer areas, we in our white(?) mini-bus labelled ‘African Administration’ were simply out of place. Lovemore Ashasha(??), from the Ministry of Information, who came with us, told me more than our European official, Mr. Milton – a decent chap but with the appearance of the typical thick colonial administrator.  But I suspect Lovemore A’s information had a somewhat African slant, just as Mr. Milton and one of the other [white] Rhodesian’s on the tour were pretty tactless about Africans, in his presence.

            A library we visited had a shelf on Africa containing only books such as John Biggs Davison’s (or purely factual works).  His is a view with which I largely agree, if I understand it right (not having read it), but it is not the only view.

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