Colour Bar
The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation
Susan Williams
Having read it
★★★★★
A thoroughly interesting and informative book that is well researched and tells it like it was, which, to be honest, was an appalling treatment of a couple and the people of Bechuanaland (which became Botswana in 1966). Seretse and Ruth are great figures and achieved a lot and their story really shows how administration and officialdom can overwhelm and restrict simple things, just because it doesn’t match preconceived (and backward and pointless) ideas; white Europeans have a lot of legacies to answer for. A brilliant book that expanded my views and knowledge.
A good passage
‘Is there a Colour Bar?’ asked the illustrated British weekly, Picture Post. The answer to this question, it argued, was a resounding yes. It reported the case of a man in Liverpool who had lived in five European countries and had been a British prisoner-of-war in Germany, but who knew of no European country where the ‘coloured’ man was treated with more unofficial contempt than in Britain, from restaurant-keepers and landladies, employers and employees, even from the man in the street.19
A second good passage
The years of war – and especially her four years in the WAAF – had toughened Ruth into an independent and determined young woman. But in any case, she was by nature very capable: ready to roll up her sleeves and get on with things. She also had a strong sense of justice and was forthright, never hesitating before speaking her mind. She became very angry if any of the other servicemen or women made jokes at the expense of Jews or black people – pointing out that this kind of prejudice was exactly what they were supposed to be fighting.28
A third good passage
Shortly before Independence Day, Elizabeth II proclaimed Seretse as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Only a decade and a half before, because of his marriage to Ruth, the leading men of the British Government had sought to keep secret a report stating that Seretse was a ‘fit and proper person to be Chief’, because they wanted to keep him out of any position of power. But now he became Sir Seretse Khama, and his wife became Lady Khama. ‘The stone that was rejected had now become the head cornerstone!’ observed Joe Appiah with amusement – Sir Seretse and Lady Khama ‘had overcome the follies and prejudices of little men parading as gods’.54