Princess Charlene Clings to Racist Upbringing

-

Online image. Baby Alexandre with his father. Right, with his mum Nicole Coste from Togo.

Princess Charlene, wife of Prince Albert of Monaco was born white in Rhodesia, which is now called Zimbabwe. When Africans reclaimed their land after Independence, her family went next door, to South Africa where being white was still a passport to privilege. 

She grew up in South Africa and embraced her family's values of what black people are and how to treat them. She was into sports which led to world travel. She had a choice: shed her racist upbringing from Rhodesia and South Africa or cling to it. Two decisions she made as an adult demonstrate that she decided to cling to it.   

1. Before her wedding to Prince Albert in 2011, she moved Alexandre Grimaldi Coste, his son with Nicole Coste from Togo, from the main house to the employee wing.

2. She came back from South Africa in November 2021 with a dog named Khan.

Alexandre Grimaldi Coste

Princess Charlene moved Alexandre from the main house, because she grew up in a country where black maids and ‘garden boys’ lived in servants’ quarters, called emakhishini. I visited my mother in these tiny corridors called bedrooms, because she was a domestic servant most of her life. 

Princess Charlene does not regard Alexandre Grimaldi Coste as a son of a prince. She sees him as a black boy who belongs in the servants’ quarters. Princess Charlene is also aware that during apartheid, it was a crime for black and white to marry. Trevor Noah, the bi-racial host of The Daily Show wrote a book, Born A Crime about such laws.

A dog named Khan

Princess Charlene made headlines in November when she returned to Monaco, after a long stay in South Africa. She came back with a dog named Khan.

There are millions of people in India, Pakistan, South Africa and the whole world whose name is Khan. They share many things including religion. They also experienced a crescendo of racism in America, after 9/11. Karan Johar, the Indian producer made a movie about it: My Name is Khan.

Princess Charlene was brought up in South Africa as a white woman and prefers to live her adult life as one. That is why she lives in a bubble, and does not know that you cannot in 2021, name a dog after a whole people, the Khans. They don’t matter to her, because they are black. White people in South Africa and Rhodesia have no qualms about calling their dogs Zulu.

Princess Charlene had a choice, distance herself from her racist upbringing and embrace a humanitarian adult life. She chooses racism.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Elections And Political Bullies

-
Image
Forget democracy.   It should be called political bullying. We are watching it in the prelude to the Canadian election on the 19 th of October, 2015.   Americans have also started their political bullying for the looming presidential election next year. So many trees wasted on books about democracy.   Some countries have big budgets for invading other countries ‘ to defend democracy’ but it is seldom practised in campaigning for elections.   Calling opponents names and printing flyers attacking each other is behaviour that will not be tolerated in kindergarten, but it is all legal, in campaigning.   It is irritating and such a let-down to the whole notion of democracy.   Grown-up men and women behaving like Grade One kids. It is also misleading because many voters believe it is real hatred.   Don’t let that fool you.   These politicians play golf together, attend the same dinner parties, eat and drink at the same social events, share jokes and cut deals in parliament.   They
Read more

Comfort Food As Regret Food

-
Image
Chicken curry. Comfort food is good for the soul, which usually bleeds in winter from icy roads, bad drivers that want to annihilate pedestrians, frozen fingers and toes that take a sabbatical.   What happened to my toes?   I thought I was wearing special socks for boots? We therefore have a right to comfort food which throws doctors’ orders out of the window and has no loyalty to calories.   No calculator on the table, thanks very much.   Piece of bread 5 calories, half a banana 10 calories, sugar-free cheesecake 2,000 calories.   Ah! Ah!  We only live once. Naw!   Comfort food is old school food with its compulsory second helping.   It involves licking fingers and giving a big sigh, about the good life, which is shelter, food, love and debt.   The problem is the zip.   The jeans remind you that comfort food can also be called you will regret food .   Home sweet home is even sweeter in winter after surviving blowing snow and bumper to bumper traffic. What is more welcoming th
Read more

Einstein Passengers

-
Image
Being a passenger is very stressful.   You must listen to the owner of the car, nod and grumble yes to everything he says because you don’t want to piss him off. Two things can happen if you disagree with the driver: he can lose concentration and you all end up in a mash-up accident or stop the car and ask you to get out.   That is the driver’s prerogative.   You must listen to me if you are a passenger in my car.   Let’s flip the script for a minute and sympathise with the driver if she has a passenger who is more intelligent than Albert Einstein. He talks non-stop.   It is all about himself, how right he is, how good he is, how stupid his boss is. Einstein is also a driving instructor.   “Careful.   Look at that guy.   Is he crazy or something? ” says Einstein. Einstein is the unofficial pilot.   He presses imaginary brakes in the passenger seat when the driver stops abruptly for a guy who is texting on his bicycle. A certain Einstein took it to another level.   S
Read more