All these firsts got me thinking, certainly America is not post-racial contrary to the election or appointments of these and others. Another certainty: no one develops racism, sexism, classism or tribalism in a vacuum. Kenyans are fanatic about the good US of A, many times for the wrong reasons. And sometimes with reflection. 

Allow me to tell a story of a friend I met as a student. He constantly complained about racism and against the Man. He felt locked out of opportunities to succeed in the US because he felt discriminated against because of his race and foreign accent. Even discriminated against because he was African. His professor questioned a paper he wrote because it was too well written, could not have been written by a young man from a rural Kenyan community. Nonetheless the fellow worked hard, and earned himself a couple of degrees. And one day he had enough of it. He packed his bags and moved to Kenya. The first six or so months were miserable as he tried to find a job. Eventually, he did. And I am very happy for him, but I find his emails very disturbing. He has intentionally found himself an uneducated rural woman so that he "doesn't get women troubles." He has mastered the skill of hatred for other tribes (not important what ones). While abroad he raised money towards a rural community project (something about digging boreholes). Unashamedly he has told me that he has spent this money on buying himself a house in one of those lovely Nairobi suburbs that we like to brag is no different than an American suburb. I am afraid that I cannot call him a friend anymore. My question, why did he fail to transform? Even with his education? And especially after experiencing a minority status in another country?

Is transformation even possible? How does a young boy learn that when he grows up he can hit his wife? Or not to take a woman seriously when she's discussing a business proposal? Or how does a kid, with no prescription, learn to grow up and discriminate? She doesn't. We teach them. These are the lessons we teach our children. And soon it becomes a culture that we cannot run away from. Not if we don't try hard enough.  

A few years ago I heard about an American school teacher, Jane Elliot, who decided to teach her white pupils what it meant to be discriminated against. Later when they had grown up, she repeated the exercise. Were they transformed? And how do Kenyans teach their children? My parents' solution was simple: "teach them to be Kenyan. Period." And that is what they did. 

Watch the first part of the teacher's experiment video below. You can find the rest of the clips on Youtube.