A witless Zambian stereotype

Official column logo

The Pilgrim, February 11, 2022*

I recently wrote about what I felt was clearly a proud moment abroad, when an elderly black American woman posed the question, “Is she too from Zambia?”

The woman had been wondering whether a female friend of mine, who hails from Nigeria, was a Zambian national.

I’ve not quite understood what prompted her question, whether it was because of a possible prior experience with some Zambians in my part of America.

Of course, everything happened in a random encounter where bus etiquette couldn’t allow us to chat any further.

But for every proud moment abroad there seems to be a discreditable one, which perhaps is meant to stereotype or even ridicule your country—as my latest experience shows or suggests.

It laid bare a shocking stereotype that flashes into the minds of some understandably ignorant Americans when they hear about Zambia, or when they meet people coming from the Southern African nation.

Even more shocking is the fact that the said witless stereotype wasn’t uttered in a bar by some rude, gawky teenager; it was uttered by a good gentleman in church. And I don’t use the word good with caution: the guy was good in both manner and expression, as can be said about most church guys, whether this is a be-at-your-best-behaviour Sunday thing or not.

Where are you from?

I took out some time last Sunday to attend a service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which honestly may cause a lot of discomfort for a Pentecostal Christian like myself, with deep-seated belief in Jesus Christ.

But I nonetheless visited the church, not only out of sincere curiosity but also to meet other people and dissipate my own sense of agonizing homesickness.

I actually visited this church at the request of a missionary who I met at my university.

I’m aware of the critical stand many Christians have on the so-called Mormonism practiced in this church, but it struck me as interesting that there are people somewhere in America who are also serious about their rather unorthodox belief in a prophet called Joseph Smith.

My observation was very keen as I sat through the service.

I took one of the pews in the rear of the congregation, where church people took turns to say hi or have some good-natured banter with me.

As the exchange of pleasantries went on, one congregant noticed that I sounded peculiarly different.

“I can tell your accent is different,” he said. “Where are you from?”

“Zambia,” I said.

“Where is that?”

“Southern Africa.”

“I see, where you’ve a lot of diamonds?”

He asked the last question with visible awkwardness, not because he felt that he must have been expressing complete ignorance about my country, but clearly because he was reducing an entire nation to a mere gemstone just like the classic imperialists who enslaved and colonized Africa.

Of course, I don’t dispute the fact that there are diamonds in Zambia. It’s common knowledge that mineral explorations indicate that there are high grade deposits of the mineral in Zambia’s Northern Circuit. That is besides the question.

Instead, I found the question as a dumb stereotype that reeks of preconceived ideas about African countries like Zambia as places where natural resources come first before people.

In fact, my American friend must have had Botswana or South Africa in mind when he asked his question because Zambia, for his purposes, is synonymous with copper rather than diamond.

But you’re as mistaken as I’m if you think that people are better read in the 21^st century and would be reluctant to invoke stereotypes, especially those that are reminiscent of imperialist culture.

I’m convinced that it will not always be a proud moment when I meet people who ask about my country here in America.

Some may still use our encounters to invoke sweeping generalisations about my country, and others may go ahead to ridicule or disparage it.

While we just laughed about the diamond stereotype with my gentleman at church, I’ve resolved that the next time this happens I’ll share some interesting facts my country.

Maybe as authoritarianism engenders war in Europe, this is probably the best time for people to know that beyond the natural resources of copper and diamond, Zambia is one of the proudest bastions of the free world.

*This column is published every Friday in Zambia's best-selling newspaper, the Zambia Daily Mail