Persistance of White Privilege in Post-Colonial Kenya

Post-Colonial Kenya :

In 1895, the British Government colonised land in East Africa, which they then established to be the "East Africa Protectorate". This land, was Kenya; named as such in 1920, 25 years after occupation. British Colonial rule lasted 68 years, with Kenya gaining Independance on December 12th, 1963.Unfortunately, while Kenya was no longer under direct British rule, the effects of colonisation and the hierarchy of race enforced by the British, has remained through the post-colonial era.

In present Kenya, White people are still seen and treated as the superior race, by native, black Kenyans - owing to years of social conditioning and systemic oppression which has left a false sense of identity in the country.

White Priveledge and Racial Hierarchy :

Colonialsim was steeped in racial superiority, particularly, White superiority / White Privilege. White Privilege simply refers to "the fact of people with white skin having advantages in society that otherpeople do not have". While North America is not stranger to White Privilege in the present times, it is important to recognise that prior colonies are till date affected by white privilege, with the concept of white superiority embedded into our societies. Below, are three identifiable ways in which White Privilege has persisted in Kenya, as it has throughout Colonised Africa.

Wealth & Repeated Patterns:

While the colonial forces left, many white settler-descended families and communities remained; along with them, their considerable wealth and assets. This resulted in an early onset to advantages in society that native Kenyans did not enjoy just as easily. Access to land, access to education, access to owning and oeprating businesses etc. With these privileges in hand early on, a foundation was built for White families/Colonial descendants to dominate economies , businesses and enjoy luxuries for years to come. One specific example of this is the geogrpahical regions and suburb of Nairobi known as "Karen". The area itself, is said to be named after Karen Blixen, a White woman of Danish descent who moved to Kenya in 1914 with her husband to start a coffee farm. Today, Karen is known as one of the most affluent and wealthy residential areas of Nairobi, however, the majority of Karen is occupied by White people, those of Colonial European descent as well as recent expats , often working for the United Nations or Multinational companies.

Encompassing Karens essence perfectly, the Telegraph wrote, "is Karen still the same world within a world, operating by its own rules? Superficially, yes. Its white residents all frequent the same watering holes – The Talisman bar, The Tin Roof and Bronze Roof cafes, and the Karen Provision Stores. They send their children to the same elite schools – Banda in nearby Langata for prep, Hillcrest for secondary, then boarding at Pembroke near Gilgil in the Great Rift Valley, unless they are to be shipped off to the UK to public school."

Moreover, as a result of globalization and the neoliberal world economy, lucrative opportunities and a system set up to benefit the White man brings white Americans and Europeans to African nations, as expat workers. In the end, this is a repeat of "colonial-era racial divisions of labour and patterns of power and privilege"

Beauty Standards:

Eurocentric beauty ideals and standards originated in the Colonial era, with British women and publications setting the tone for what is "Beautilful" and whiteness or "lightness" being associated with success as well. It has been observed even in the postcolonial era, Kenyan models exhibiting or trying to emulate the same "standards" of beauty. In the society as a whole, this very notion of beauty and success being attached to White skin, as a result of historical patterns through colonisation, a new market emerged : that of skin bleaching. This issue is not limited to kenya, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, over 40% of the female population in Africa enages in skin bleaching activities. A prominent model and social media influencer in Kenya went on record to state that "It is ... society that is promoting the skin lightening or bleaching," she says. "When you ... walk into modelling agencies, the girls there who get picked up for jobs are usually fair-skinned." The market for skin whitening products was so lucrative that cheaper , more dangerous versions with toxic chemicals began to flood African communtiies. While Kenya and other African Nations have taken steps to ban these products ("Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has listed dozens of creams, gels and liquid products which, when used unregulated, have cancer-causing effects")

Education Systems:

Of the many things that Kenya inherited from colonial rule, educational systems/institutions is one that has lead to perpetuating white supremacy in Kenya. George E. Urch stated that "[conflict caused] colonial officials to realise the necessity for interesting themselves more deeply in the education of the indigenous people and the importance of creating an overall education policy to move African education forward in a desired direction". The result of this has been the spread of the British Curriculum in Kenya. Through primary experience, History lessons in this curriculum completely exclude colonial history, especially that specific to Kenya and the atrocities of the British Empire. Instead focusing on World war 2, the Industrial revolution and the likes. Thus, many Kenyan children and immigrants aloke, grow up in a post-colonial society without the knowledge of the colonial history, a huge gap in the consciousness of the opressive systems put in place. This perpetuates white supremacy from and idolisation from a young age, creating a cycle that is hard to break.

It is important to note however, that there are schools, namely those that follow the 8-4-4 system, an alternative and locally built curriculum that do teach pre and post colonial history to students, touching on Massacres, Missionary atrocities , the Mau Mau revolution against colonizers and more. However, the international schools, that bring in the middle to upper class children, focus on a skewed , Western version of History.