Like monkeys pleading for evolution, each claiming to be whiter than the other, Indians and Negroes appeal to the unacknowledged white audience to see how much they despise one another.
VS Naipaul Trinidadian writer
For many years, the white culture has had a devastating effect on ‘lesser mortals’ who have come into contact with it.
The white man’s culture has influenced the world through values, norms and beliefs that have displaced other cultures since most people hail the former as the epitome of civilisation.
Any contact with a white man leaves an indelible  mark that even independent countries can never erase despite claiming to have freed themselves from colonial rule.
The sad part is that almost everyone who comes in contact with a white man wants to emulate the Caucasian race by adopting western values.
This can be traced to slavery days when white supremacist peddled white as being better than black.
Later these views were enforced in the media and western education which portray white as the standard of beauty, class and civilisation.
For some blacks this has had a negative effect of self hate or cultural inadequacy since they use the white culture as the standard of their social advancement.
It explains why most black people do their best to please white people even if it means disowning their own racial identity.
Though the effects of this negative brain washing differ from one individual to another, it manifests in almost all black people who have come into contact with the western culture.
The process starts with western education that usually lauds everything European while despising other cultures.
In America this has birthed what is termed as an “Uncle Tom” which is a derogatory term to describe a black person who “acts white” and “talks white”, or who is a sell-out to his own race.
It also means a whitewashed black person who may have been raised by white people, and who therefore has the mannerisms and behaviours of a white man.
Black public figures working in white dominated systems like Colin Powell , Condaliza Rice and even president Barack Obama all qualify to be called Uncle Toms.
As African-American activist Malcolm X noted Uncle Toms, were always part of the black community as far back as the slavery days.
Malcolm X identified two kinds of slaves: “house Negroes”, who worked in the master’s house, and “field Negroes”, who performed the manual labour outside.
He characterised the house Negro as having a better life than the field Negro, and thus being unwilling to leave the plantation and potentially more likely to support existing power structures that favoured whites over blacks. Malcolm X identified himself with the field Negro.
During apartheid South Africa, some educated blacks strived to be white in their bid to be considered ‘different’ from other blacks.
This group was nicknamed ‘situations’ meaning they wanted to situate themselves in a higher social hierarchy sending a silent message that they were not mere ‘kaffirs.’
In colonial Zambia, some educated Africans considered themselves far superior to other uneducated Africans by behaving differently.
This clique was nicknamed ba Makobo-stooges or Uncle Toms (after a species of a tasteless fish that does not struggle when caught in a net).
In 1940, a radical miner Elliot Mulenga, who was later killed during a mine riot at Nkana accused educated whites of siding with whites.
Mulenga represented the majority of uneducated labourers who unlike educated miners got very little pay.
He was quoted complaining angrily against educated Africans “ We do not want to see educated people, because when you get education you pretend to be white people, so we do not want to hear from you.’’
In his paper Labour Politics in Northern Rhodesia, I Henderson observed that ‘Ba Makobo were ripe for blandishment of federal multi-racialism until the early 60s when they joined nationalists to champion a national cause.
One anti-Makobo song in 1954 highlighted the hatred for this brainwashed group of educated Africans.
The lines in the song ran” Abana baba Makobo bakaya sambilila ku town/ Pantu ba wishibo balifwatika ku matako/ Bakaya sambilila ku basungu banabo/ifwe tulelwila ichalo chesu-The children of sell outs will learn in town because their parents have printed their bums with ink. Their children will learn in Europe with whites/what we want is our land.
During the Federation era, anti-Makobo sentiments reached dangerous proportions with harassment and killings of some perceived sell outs.
Some educated Africans even joined the Capricorn African Society (CAS), a pro-Federation multi-racial organisation.
The Society was created by David Stirling who was convinced that the countries of Capricorn Africa could prosper if all races shared a common loyalty to their country, based on belief in a shared future.
However, since it was educated Africans usually ba Makobo who joined this organisation, the accusation of siding with whites criminalised the African members even more.
African members who were accused of being bamunyama or ba Kapulikoni were labelled vampires who killed Africans and drained their blood for sell.
At the peak of the standoff almost all educated Africans who included clerks, broadcasters, teachers and medical personnel were targets of attack.
The late musician and broadcaster Alick Nkhata even sang a song ‘Bushe Kapilikoni ninani?
Sometimes in the late 80’s, the University of Zambia students identified a group of students who could do anything to be white.
They quickly christened this group ba Chongololo, after Chongololo Clubs which were established in schools in the mid 70s.
There Club were involved in various activities and trips across the country with membership largely derived from elite schools thus the derogatory name the Club acquired.
According to Masuka Mutenda, writing on her blog Say It Loud, Say It Clear back in the day, to be a Chong was more than just about the accent. Chongs lived a certain lifestyle and had particular interests, among them basketball, pop music etc.
At the same time there are real deal Chongololos (who lived abroad). A Chongololo was also a wannabe or imitator, trying to be cool by association.
The imitators included the former real deals who came back from America when they were five years old and at 25 still spoke with an American accent, despite being educated at Munali Boys and never having returned to America even once.
Mutenda concludes that to be labelled a Chongololo was not derogatory, but was unflattering and derisible meaning it was not an insult, but neither was it a compliment.
A modern version of  Chongololos are yo’s-from the loud greeting of yo!-who usually listen to Rap, American Hip Hop and dress with sagging trousers that exposes their pants.
At the centre of all these mimicry groups is the white culture which many blacks strive to imitate usually with little success.
Now we have the some of us culture that like other Uncle Tom groups before it desperately tries to imitate the white man just to show that it is different from other ordinary Zambians.