The Real Case for Rhodesia by Charlton Chesterton
Janssonius and Heyns

THE goal was to preserve their ‘paradise’ Rhodesia and as the then Prime Minister Ian Smith declared ‘not in a thousand years would a black man rule the country’.
The plight of the black man was not top on their agenda. All that mattered was that their selfish needs and desires were fulfilled.
To them without the white man the future of the country was doomed as he played an essential part in the development of the country.
This is the argument Charlton Chesterton advances in his book The Real Case for Rhodesia.
The book was written in response to the sanctions that had been imposed on the country following the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of 1965 by the Smith government.
The declaration came at a time Britain was insisting that Africans participate more in the country’s political affairs before independence and was not prepared to give the settlers control of the country.
The book by Chesterton was an appeal to the world to look at the ‘real’ story of Rhodesia and see clearly that without the white man in control the country would not go anywhere.
Typical Rhodesian style, the writer argues that the black man had nothing meaningful to offer to the country and it was the white man who would bring glory to the country.
Chesterton bemoans the rise of Black nationalism saying it was only spelling doom as the nationalists would not be capable of leading the country.
He argues blacks leading the movements were lesser beings than the white men running the affairs of the countries.
“At the very least it is up to those nationalists to persuade us that they are a superior breed,” writes Chesterton.
It is baffling that the writer wanted the nationalists to first prove their worth before being given the chance to rule the country.
The writer does not explain how they were supposed to prove themselves when the whites were not prepared to give up the reins of power.
To justify his argument Chesterton describes the blacks as a ‘useless lot’ that was not contributing anything meaningful towards the development of the country.
With the country’s economy being driven by the agriculture sector, the writer argues that little was being done by the blacks to contribute towards the growth of the sector.
“We find that, even in agriculture, no evidence of original and valuable contributions evolved by Black Rhodesians has yet come to light,” he writes.
The writer seems to have missed the point that the whites had driven away the blacks from prime land which they parcelled out to their kin leaving the locals in areas with lands not suitable for crop production.
Be that as it may it was the black man who was employed as farm labourers at the white man’s farms and in essence it was the locals who did all the hard work in the farms.
Chesterton writes the plight of the black man was of their own doing.
“The Europeans have indeed shown enterprise, and they deserve their success,” he writes.
“But incidentally, a few, a very few, Africans have also shown enterprise-in Rhodesia.”
What the writer seems to miss is that the odds were against the blacks during the colonial era.
An article published in the 1935 Journal of Royal African Society said, “The European requires a certain standard of living, thus areas of good soil, fair average rainfall and the altitude and climate are suitable for European.”
This statement was used to justify the racist law, Land Apportionment Act of 1930 and other ills meant to disadvantage the black man.
Hence there were no equal opportunities for blacks and whites hence their levels of success could not be measured against each other.
Not only were they deprived of prime land to practise agriculture, their standards and opportunities to acquire education or start businesses were limited.
Chesterton implied that blacks despite being made to attend schools where the teacher to student ratio was high and standards lower than that for white children, they had to do well just like the whites.
The writer argues that racial segregation be it in schools or hospitals was justified as blacks were more than the whites hence the need to separate the whites as they risked being overwhelmed by the blacks.
He makes no apology for the racial discrimination of blacks instead views it as a necessary evil.
Despite the spirited efforts by the likes of Chesterton, their goal was not achieved as the blacks were not deterred in their fight for freedom which brought the independence of Zimbabwe.
Rhodesia today is now a long forgotten dream.
And the blacks are ruling themselves in an independent country.