Racism at Jolly Boys Backpackers In Livingstone

[Karen Mills]

Dear Zambia,
I am still confused that management at Jolly Boys Backpackers in Livingstone does not allow local Zambian travelling from places like Lusaka or even blacks from neighboring countries reasons given by Susan and Kimberly are their places whistle stop and Jolly-boys hostels only cater specifically for international backpacking tourists preferably those with white skin. A few weeks ago i traveled with my boy friend from Malawi who was ably not allowed to even enter the Jolly boys Premises on the pretext that he was black , what is amazing is that i am a white girl from east London. What is wrong with management at Jolly Boys and what is wrong with Zambia so to say?
There is an extreme of RACISM in the behaviour of the Jolly boys staff and management . The environment is vulgar. Rooms are Dirty and Smelly. The only plus point is that it is near the bus stations of Mazhandu but overall, its the Worst place to live!!! I strongly advice people to NOT to stay here... because it can become a nightmare for you!!!. If in any way the Zambia government is aware of what is happening at this place and they have decided to let it fall to a deaf ear, Jolly Boys is a recipe for xenophobia, sooner than later i would not be surprised to see Zambians being mistreated in other places because of the extreme racial conduct by Jolly Boys Management particularly Susan and Kimberly. My many concern is the overt hostility that Susan and Kimberly have towards blacks, what is their motive ?
"I acknowledge that backpackers' lodges have a right of admission, but people like Susana and Kimberly should not hide behind that for other causes." I do not think that Zambia or Malawi at the point that they have reached can have such racism at this stage of their democracy."
Zambian tourism seems to have come a long way and racial harmony needs to be the way of life. Blacks and whites are equal in the sight of God and this whole nonsense about degrading another human being because of the colour of their skin, has no place in our societies anymore. It is disgraceful and those who think they are better-off than others because of race should hang their heads in shame!
Zambians stand up and do something.

Karen Mills,
East London

[Mwamba]

Karen. I'm sorry but I don't believe you when you say that the owners actually said they don't serve blacks. Something just sounds wrong with that account of things.

[Big 1]

Sadly racism is alive and well in Livingstone and it is not only at Jolly Boys. Take a tour of the various places and you'll be amazed to see just how blatant it all is! It's absolutely sickening to see how there is a distinct difference in the way black and white people are treated. The most pitiful thing is some of the "preferred" white customers are uncouth and also follow the lead of their hosts to mistreat black patrons; that is in places where black people can go. Truth be told, it's all just a bunch of stupidity and the Government needs to wake up! Last I checked, this was OUR country! if they hate black people so much, then why can't they go back to Europe.......I'll tell you why, coz over there, they are NOTHING and no one would even throw a second glance at them! These are a bunch of rejects who vent their frustrations on docile and passive Zambians. Let them try that &%^$#&@ on me and then they'll know exactly what it means to be on the receiving end of hate! Heck, I feel the need to travel to Livingstone to go and raise some mad dust! Watch this space and keep an eye out in the media..........the crap stops here!

[Big 1]

Ba Mwamba, contact any friend or family member who's clued up and resides in Livingstone. If they are honest, they'll tell you that there are places where "our kind" are not welcome. As horrific as it sounds, it happens.

[Gabriel]

I say this is racism, pure and simple. Karen big ups for the letter, Apartheid Secret Society Afrikaner Broederbond extends friendly .... I have found a far higher concentration of racism in Jolly Boys than in the other places i have been to in Zambia, thought Chachacha was a racist place but its far much better than Jolly Boys. Its True that Sue and Kim are the pioneers of discrimination to make matters worse they have been made Reserve Police Officers by our government which gives them the power to do anything and get away with it SAD

[Lillian Tembo- Smith]

I just want to add on to this very interesting letter, Archie did write on the racism going on at Jolly boys unfortunately after sometime he started getting threats on his life and he never pursued this issue further. Below is an article that Archie wrote , his observations and comments plus his own personal experience. Sadly Archie died in road accident in South Africa so , it would have been the greatest thing for him to know that somebody some day would stand up against Racism at Jolly Boys. The article below was first published on the 23 of November 2008.
Lillian Tembo-Smith

Whites-only’ resort Jolly Boys Backpackers Livingstone

Action must be taken against the controversial “whites-only” Jolly Boys Backpackers in Livingstone.

If The Zambia National Tourist Board and Ministry of Tourism are not taking action on continued racial practices at Jolly Boys Backpackers then our country is going no where in the tourism industry.

There is mistreatment of black guests at the resort and unnecessary accusations. Black guests are not given equal treatment as whites when they visit the resort. Iam not sure if the Human Rights Commission has attempted to investigate the reports, but the owners have used corrupt practices to stop almost every incident reported.

Three months ago there was a racial incident at the resort involving a black boy adopted by a white family. The family was barred from entering the property. However, only a few weeks ago, before Kim and Sue who are the proprietors of the lodge left for Botswana on a holiday emotionally abused a black street kid who they accused of trespassing on their premises.

When you enter the premises, neither of the staff greets you instead they will tell you to say they are fully booked. I can not think of any reason why they treat and ignore us like this, other than because us are indigenous. We are no worse dressed or behaved than anyone else in when we go there. Having worked in hospitality before I know that even the most abysmally run venue would not have failed to notice and wait on us instead all they do is treat us like this is not our country. Such would never happen in Canada or England where they come from.

I know that not only Jolly Boys has a history of violent suppression of the indigenous Zambian’s, so we have concluded that their racism encompasses any Native Zambian, whatever their province of origin. I have personally concluded that they don’t want indigenes in their racist Backpackers.

It is no secret that Jolly Boys is extremely racist toward indigenous Zambian’s and other nationalities from around Africa (who are of course a majority in this country driving over land trucks).

I suspect that elements in such incidents are drugs and preoccupation with personal matters. I know it’s not uncommon for backpacker owners to take marijuana smoking breaks out behind the kitchen, regardless of service considerations. And they’ve all got problems with color, relationships, and not paying their workers right wages, so they’ve got to mull these things around and around in their fogged minds.

The darker you are, or more indigenous-looking you are in this case, the more racism you WILL experience. Particularly in places like Jolly boys. Most lodges are owned by white people who are all mostly guilty of stereotyping blacks as criminals and incompetents.
What’s at risk here is more than a bunch of hacks or the ongoing struggle for a non biased tourism industry. A Kim and Sue’s altitude highlight the ineffectiveness and also shows how vulnerable our laws are to foreign investments as there is complete disregard towards indigenous Zambian’s rights.

As a Zambian I would like to put the message squarely in front of all lodge owners and the whole Zambian community so there can be no doubt about where Zambian’s stand –we are utterly opposed to racism and will continue to condemn getting that message across.

The continuous racial arrogance by management at Jolly boys towards Zambian’s is representation of a cowardly act by disgruntled social rejects from Europe. We can’t have such racism at this stage of our democracy unfortunately Jolly Boys backpackers’ lodges appear to use race-based criteria when accepting visitors.

There is only one “race”: the human race. The idea that humankind can be divided into distinct “races” on the basis of physical characteristics like skin colour, hair type, nose and eye shape etc. seems like common sense, but is nonetheless wrong.

It is true that people differ by skin colour etc. but it has proven scientifically impossible to rigidly and clearly define people into clear cut “races” because there is no known single physical feature or group of physical features that clearly mark off one race from another . For example, Whites are said to have straight hair: but so do Asians, and some Africans; and many Whites in fact have woolly hair. Similarly, not all Africans have dark skins, while not all Whites have light skins; some Africans are fairly pale, and some Whites are dark. The point if all this is that no hard and fast divisions can be established amongst the different races, which blur into one another in a number of ways.

What is behind all this is that people like Kim and Sue believe that blacks are only there to steal and have hidden agendas’. Similarly on a number of times in Jolly Boys when a multiracial team of freelance journalists posing as visitors tried to book into the lodge, the black reporter was turned away while the white reporter was welcomed.

I acknowledge that backpackers’ lodges have a right of admission, but Kim and Sue and every other backpacker owner should not hide behind that for other causes. Particularly I am appalled about it. Sue will always ask you if you have a passport, and when you say I don’t, they say they only accommodate international tourists. Unfortunately their facilities cater for foreigners and they do not take Zambian’s or even Zimbabwean who are actually foreigners.

Incase management at Jolly Boys does not know I would like to remind them that racial discrimination and racial harassment prevent individuals against whom they are directed from reaching their full potential, and are unacceptable to every other Zambian.

Archie Kasalika

[Mwamba]

Big 1. I know there might be racism in some places. I was just skeptical that you can find an owner who actually admits it.

Thanks for the article, Lilian.

[Peter Manda]

There is racism at Jolly Boys:
Since time immemorial this country has been divided into a class society where you have the ‘elite’ and ‘everyone else,’ the middle ground has always been murky because they have a tendency to gravitate towards the extremes depending on what political power is in government. Unfortunately for the black nationals in this country economic power does not belong to them hence the saying “dziko ndiwanu ndalama ndi yathu” (you may own the country but we own your money).This statement I am quite sure was made years ago but it rings true today.

[Lisa]

Good lord its so sad that there are such places on the planet earth.The owners of this place seriously need to woke up and stop taking people for granted. Guess the authorities know about it but since they are indirect beneficiaries they can not do anythig about it.Good Job Karen.

[Samuel]

And the basis on which we agreed to operate with them involved a manifesto, where it states that we proceed from different ideologies and policies. One thing that we insisted on was that they should take an oath to reject racism and discrimination.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi

[Guest]

I have visited some places where the differences between black and white are not as profound as they used to be, but I think there is a new form of racism growing in Livingstone lodges particularly the jolly boys back packers and even Chachacha Bcakpackers in lusaka and that is focused on people who are black. I see it.

[Guest]

I, for one, would think both about how far we have come as a country and how much further we need to go to erase racism and discrimination from our society. Abash Jolly Boys Backpackers and Abash Sue and Kim

[Sean Fisher]

If you see something is going wrong within politics and the world today, then some Hip Hop artist is gonna come along and get straight with it. If they think that there's a lot of racism going on then there's another Hip Hop artist who's gonna come out and speak their mind. Wait for the right time a Zambian artist is going to sing about the racism at Jolly Boys.

[Osbourne]

The statistics cited by the above commentators and many others show that racial prejudice among Jolly boys management has been condoned for a long time and its high time the law must take its cause.

[Anita Beckman-]

Racism to this degree is beyond my comprehension.
Anita Beckman ( Australia)

[Guest]

What is hipster racism? Hipster racism involves making derogatory comments with a racial basis in an attempt to seem witty and above it all. ..making these Zambians feel inferior when infact we have invaded their country by taking thier jobs , nice houses and good restaurants. Sue and Kim check you books.

[Leslie]

I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Andrew]

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu walked by a construction site on a temporary sidewalk the width of one person. A white man appeared at the other end, recognized Tutu, and said, "I don't make way for gorillas." At which Tutu stepped aside, made a deep sweeping gesture, and said, "Ah, yes, but I do." Guess this is what zambians are supposed to do to the Jolly Boys Management

[Frederick Douglass]

Who would be free themselves must strike the blow. Better even to die free than to live slaves.

[Marian Wright Edelman]

If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and tithe no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won't either. And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out.