Officials in Zimbabwe hurled racial epithets at United States Secretary of State Colin Powell last week, including branding him an “Uncle Tom” after his attack on President Robert Mugabe in The New York Times the previous week.
In a deliberate echo of remarks last year by the entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte — who said that Powell adopted a docile mien to preserve his status — Zimbabwe’s official press called him a liar and a self-effacing servant of his white masters.
The tirade appeared to be aimed at overshadowing the African tour next week by President George W Bush and other senior officials, including Powell.
Powell branded Mugabe a tyrant and called on neighbouring states to press for his removal.
Powell also promised massive US aid once Mugabe — who is behind Zimbabwe’s disastrous land confiscations and repressive human rights record — had gone.
For his sins, Powell was described in the state-controlled Herald paper as “a disgraceful Uncle Tom who always sang his master’s voice to the detriment of social justice and the rights of people of colour”.
The paper, which is owned and controlled by the country’s Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, accused Powell of lying about rights abuses under Mugabe and distorting the advances under the land reform scheme. — Â