Out of Africa - Kenya and Democracy

In the movie 'Out of Africa', Karen Blixen struggles to find a home for her beloved Kikuyu tribe after she loses her farm. But today, the Kikuyu are Kenya's majority ethnic group, and the images from Kenya captured during the recent rioting after a disputed election are not pretty. Reports of killings, maimings, sexual atrocities, and more come to us through the wire services. Churches filled with women and children seeking sanctuary are burned to the ground. Multi-ethnic families are torn apart from every side. The frightening image of a seemingly ignorant man wielding a machete seems to be everywhere.

How depressing, this explosion of ethnic hatred. Africa is closer to its dark past than we have realized. The world seems a mean place today, and we in the US can certainly bear some of the responsibility for that, as we talk statesmanship but act with arrogance. But that does not mean we should interfere in the affairs of Africa; it is too big and too complex for the US to think it could succeed in the affairs of so many countries, each with a great diversity of ethnic influence.

We can only wonder how this will end. Let's hope the UN can broker some kind of cessation to the wanton mayhem sweeping the country, before more of the great continent is swept into unrest.