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Just a reminder to white students, lawyers, judges, and professors:  You should not use the N-word.  Ever.  There may be exceptions when someone who is not black can use the N-word, but they are small exceptions that will never apply to you.

I posted a tweet that suggested that as a rule it is never okay for a white person to use the N-word.  That included a 16-year-old who, as it turns out, does not get to go to Harvard because of his use of such a word.  Others have faced wrath for the use of the word.  A judge.  A juror.  A law professor.  But apparently it is still a thing for white people to desperately search for an exception that allows them to use it.

So, Twitter came alive with the sound of privilege.  What kind of privilege?  The privilege that insists that white people can say whatever they want, whenever they want, and to whomever they want.  You know, the kind of privilege no one else has.

Let’s try this again…

Me on Twitter:

Q: When should a white person use the N-word?
A: Never. FAQS: What if…. Singing along to hip hop? No. Quoting from a text? No. Posting on social media when you’re 16 and wanting to get into an Ivy League School? Still no.

Q:  Can I use it while reading Mark Twain?  Can I use it if I’m acting in a movie or play and I’m portraying a racist?
A:  There’s a plethora of people reading Mark Twain aloud and/or acting in a movie portraying a racist?  News to me.  Wait, are we doing “Green Eggs and Ham?”  Not in a house, not with a mouse, not in a boat, not in a moat……

Q:  What if I have a pass from someone who is black?
A:  Still no.  Most people claiming to have such a pass lie about it, and others try to use it around people who did not give them “a pass.”

Q:  Can I say it if my girlfriend is black and asks me to say it during sex?
A:  Wow, we’re stretching the hypotheticals, aren’t we?

Q: Can I say the word “niggardly”?
A:  No, because you know you’re doing it to provoke when you could use a word like stingy instead.  You know you have a thesaurus.  Also, do a search for the word on Twitter and see how many times it comes up APART FROM PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW THEY AREN’T SUPPOSED TO SAY THE N-WORD!

Q:  Can I use it when I sing along to the music of hip-hop?
A:  No.  Here’s a helpful video about it from nearly two decades ago.

Q:  How come Eminem gets to use it?
A:  Without consequences?  Hardly.  Oh, by the way, so that we’re clear: you aren’t Eminem.

Q:  What about Django Unchained?  White people had to say the N-word then.
A: Yes, for historical accuracy.  Not to aggrandize slavery or do anything but highlight the horrors of it.

Q:  You are oppressing my free speech rights, you fascist pinko!
A:  That’s not a question.  Also, I said you shouldn’t say it.  But you clearly have a deep pressing need to say it for some reason.  I wonder why.

Q:  Why can black people say it and I can’t?
A:   Because it wasn’t a tool of oppression against you, white guy.

Q:  Well, forbidding us from using the N-word won’t get rid of racism!
A:  Don’t I know it!  If white people refuse to avoid saying a single word, imagine how difficult it is to eliminate other institutionalized racism.

Q:  You suggesting segregation of speech?  This is black privilege!  You’re the word police!
A:  Why are you so freaking upset about not saying a terrible word?

Q:  What if I desperately need to quote the Boondocks?
A:  Sigh.

Q:  What if my 3-year-old misspeaks when talking about the country Niger?
A:  Correct the child, and explain to the kid how they should never use the word again. Explain the history of the word.  Use resources, because if you’re asking questions like this I think it means you might need the help yourself.

Q:  I know a professor who likes to use the N-word just because.
A:  Never take a class from that professor ever.

Q:  Kids will be kids.  Why punish a 16-year-old for saying the N-word?
A:  I’m sure you say the same thing when a 16-year-old minority kid does or says something, right?  Like walk in their own damn neighborhoods?  Or is this really about white privilege again?

Q:  But I really just want to say it!!!  It’s killing me not to!
A:  Some words don’t belong to everyone.  Watch this.

Q: Why are you so uptight about this?
A:  I’m horrified that you WANT to use a word that is so destructive, so harmful, so hyper-contextualized and intertwined with oppression and enslavement.  Why are you trying so hard to say it?  My concern is that you want to say it to feel superior.  That’s the very thinking that the word’s history teaches us is very dangerous.

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LawProfBlawg is an anonymous professor at a top 100 law school. You can see more of his musings here. He is way funnier on social media, he claims. Please follow him on Twitter (@lawprofblawg) or Facebook. Email him at lawprofblawg@gmail.com.

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The association said it is in contact with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, to unlock wheat consignments that are in Beira and Harare.

“We are also constantly updating our key stakeholders who include bakers on the obtaining situation,” said Garikai Chaunza, media and public relations manager for the association. “We are also jointly working with the bakers in engaging the authorities on a number of issues that would improve bread supplies.”

Scarcity in foreign currency and insufficient imports to meet demand has many firms relying on the central bank to provide foreign currency, New Zimbabwe reported. This has negatively impacted manufacturing since many firms rely on imports for production.

The Standard reported that a leading bakery has suspended operations. Bread prices have gone up more than three times this year.

The government has blamed the situation on cartels, which it said have monopolies in the industry. Government officials have said the shortages are artificial.

Zimbabweans queue outside a bank in Harare, Zimbabwe, February 26 2019. Picture: REUTERS/PHILIMON BULAWAYO

Addressing Zimbabweans directly, Mnangagwa said that “the process of reform is not an easy one, it involves sacrifices from all of us. But I promise you it is worth it. Yes, today is tough, but tomorrow is looking brighter. We are opening Zimbabwe up for investment, building a new and mutually beneficial relationship with nations and businesses around the world. We cannot be left behind”.

Throughout the 80-minute programme on Capitalk FM, Mnangagwa discussed a wide array of issues, from agriculture, mining and infrastructure development, to fuel increases and a new Zimbabwean currency, which would require pre-conditions. “Production must be there, corruption must be eliminated, the mind-set of our people must change so they believe in themselves again. When all those things are in place, we can then introduce our currency.”

Nearing the end of the first year as elected president, Mnangagwa stressed the challenges he has faced following the 37-year tenure of Robert Mugabe. “It was not only our economy that collapsed, but also our courage”, Mnangagwa said. “And to rise from our collapsed economy, certain things must be done for us to get back on our feet: reforming our economy, reforming our institutions, reforming our legislations, reforming our mind-set as people.”

Mnangagwa pointed out some of the progress made so far, including modernizing the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), the controversial emergency law dating back to the Mugabe regime, as well as media and access to information reform legislations that would meet international media freedom standards – key demands by the U.S. to remove the Mugabe-era sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Critically, President Mnangagwa has also invited the leader of the opposition MDC Alliance, Nelson Chamisa, to join the ongoing political discussion between the majority of political parties in Zimbabwe. The Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) is an effort to improve the country’s difficult economic situation and to encourage its confrontational politicians to cooperate in the national interest.

But Chamisa has so far refused any multilateral or bilateral dialogue. “I cannot get a bulldozer or tractor to pull him out of his house for talks,” President Mnangagwa said. “Why doesn’t he come to the table where everyone is? To all those who want to offer their views, their advice on any issue, the door is open.”

Post published in: Featured

“The government of Zimbabwe has been clear that significant political economic reforms are necessary for the benefit of its people,” Olkkonen said, adding that the “EU is there to Support Zimbabwe move ahead with its reform agenda. In this we want to be a constructive, Credible and transparent partner.”

The first formal dialogue in 17 years focussed on issues ranging from investment and the rule of law to democracy and good governance. This long-overdue discussion is an important first step that may eventually lead to the resumption of financial aid for Zimbabwe’s ailing economy.

Relations between Zimbabwe and the EU were frosty throughout most of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year reign, which was marred by corruption, economic mismanagement and human rights abuses.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has vowed to transform the country, implement reforms and open the country for business, in order to woo foreign – and increasingly, western – investors. It is a noble undertaking, but western leaders are keen to see concrete results quickly, a difficult task following nearly four decades of Mugabe misrule, which ruined the country.

Nevertheless, progress is beginning to show. Olkkonen noted that “we have seen positive steps” and “that there is a staff-monitored programme by the IMF that attempts to reform the economy.” Under the terms of the monitoring programme by the International Monetary Fund, the government has committed to political and economic reforms.

A key challenge is the reduction of government expenditure – effectively, stop printing money – to underpin the new RTGS currency and boost the economy. Fiscal discipline would lead to debt forgiveness and future financing. With government finances in shambles in the wake of Mugabe’s mismanagement, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube managed to achieve a budget surplus in just six months. The latest report of public accounts shows a surplus of nearly half a billion RTGS dollars in the first quarter of this year. The IMF appeared pleased, stating recently that “significant economic reforms were underway” in Zimbabwe.

Among other reforms is the Freedom of Information bill, a new legislation that will meet international free media standards. The Minister for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, said the government is committed to opening up the airwaves and promoting the freedom of expression and dissemination of diverse views in Zimbabwe.

The government is also revising the Public Order and Security Act, a controversial emergency law that dates back to the Mugabe era, and it has initiated the process of compensating white commercial farmers who lost their land during Mugabe’s Land Reform Programme. All these reforms take time, but they are necessary for the EU and U.S. to lift long-standing sanctions.

To push through these reforms, the Mnangagwa government has taken significant steps towards unity and reconciliation, reaching out not only to the opposition with the so-called Political Actors Dialogue initiative, but also to labour and businesses with the Tripartite Negotiating Forum, aimed at shaping policy and binding legal agreements on social issues that affect production and labour.

Mnangagwa also directly addressed the opposition leader of the MDC Alliance, Nelson Chamisa, tweeting post-election that his “door is open”. However, Chamisa has refused any collaboration so far and instead called for continued protests. The EU, meanwhile, supports the dialogue platform, maintaining it must be made on equal footing and discussions must be frank through a free exchange of views.

“Different positions must be permissible within our country,” Mnangagwa said. “However,these must never divide us or result in conflict. Violence must never be used as a tool to gain temporary advantage at the expense of the people we must serve and protect.”

Slowly but surely, Mnangagwa’s actions are bearing fruit. Leaders across Africa have called for the removal of sanctions, which would dramatically ease Zimbabwe’s economic burden. And even U.S. ambassador Brian Nichols sounded positive in a recent radio interview, talking about “a solid plan moving forward, no doubt about it” while acknowledging the challenges: “It’s going to be difficult to move through this year, I cannot sugar-coat that,” he said. “But what I will say is that this is a government that’s dealing with two decades of failed policies and you can’t fix that overnight. People have to keep that in perspective.”

Post published in: Featured

Speaking during a live radio interview, Mnangagwa said he was part of a committee that approached the SARB, with the intention of adopting the rand as “our domestic currency of Zimbabwe”– before Zimbabwe adopted the multi-currency system.

“But when we approached the SARB, they gave us a check list with certain conditions for us to use the rand.”

“It also needed South Africa to give us money (notes) that is commiserate with our GDP,” he said adding that some of the conditions were not acceptable.

He stated that the government led by Robert Mugabe then decided to use a basket of currencies without formally adopting them.

In 2016, the country tried to tackle the chronic shortage of US banknotes by introducing a parallel token currency called “bond notes”, which was meant to be worth the same as a US dollar. But the bond notes were in reality worth less than the green back.

Zimbabwe recently introduced a new currency the RTGS dollar, but is still allowing other currencies to be used for transactions. Plans are however in progress to ban the use of other currencies.

“Zimbabwe must reach a stage were it has its own currency which is the Zimbabwe currency. This will be announced at an appropriate time, when implementation is ready,” said Mnangagwa.

The country abandoned its currency, the Zimbabwean Dollar, after it spiralled out of control between 2008 and 2009 during Mugabe’s rule.

Post published in: Business

Zimbabwe Reserve Bank Governor John Mangudya delivers his Monetary Policy Statement in Harare on 20 February 2019, where he announced the establishment of an interbank foreign exchange market in the country officially abandoning the 1:1 exchange rate between the USD and the country’s quasi-currency bond note. Picture: AFP

HARARE – In Zimbabwe, the central bank has told Zimbabweans to ignore an advert on social media advertising cheap commodities at an address in central Harare.

It said the advert was fake and misleading because it used the address and phone number for the central bank and its governor.

The advert for cheap cooking oil, sugar, rice and maize meal urged customers to hurry while stocks last.

It listed the address of the so-called People’s Wholesale and Retail Mart as Number 80, Samora Machel Avenue.

It also gave the mobile number to use for further inquiries.

The problem was that the address given was that of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, and the number posted reportedly belonged to central bank chief John Mangudya.

In a statement posted to Twitter, the RBZ urged Zimbabweans to ignore the message, which it described as unwarranted cyber abuse.

Frustration was mounting in Zimbabwe over rising prices, which many blamed on the government’s current austerity measures.

Post published in: Business