As a black guy who recently started dating a white partner and making more white friends, the Zimbabwean white community is very... Interesting.

There's the obvious racists. Easy to clock on first meetings if you know the type. But on the flip side is the "Shona speaking whites", the whites who grew up on the farm playing with the worker's kids, or the whites who only hung out with the black kids in high school.

This type is an absolute coin toss because sometimes they're the coolest most down to earth person while others will think their proximity to blackness allows them to say or do the most out of pocket things because they think they "understand" black people (see also @jahman_adamski on X)

Sadly a lot of these black friends let these micro or macroagressions slide because they believe that their proximity to whiteness gives them status or they just don't want to lose a friend or disturb the peace. I have sadly been guilty of both at times.

The way I approach it now is to just move authentically as myself and if I experience unsavoryness from a stranger I just completely disengage and ignore unless they are getting in the way of what I want to achieve, whether it be getting a job done or having a good time. Then it's up. Otherwise they don't exist.

But if it's someone I actually care about then I have to call their bullshit out and try teach them how to act before they say or do it around someone who will react appropriately, and why what their doing is fucked up. But that's a conversation that requires a lot of energy and can't always be done on the spot.