Mau-Mau Redux and Lessons Learned

A news item in recent days – much ignored by Mainstream Media outlets – has been the issue of white farmers (a.k.a. Boers) being driven out of South Africa by a series of murders committed by black terrorists. Population analysts estimate that over 600,000 whites have left the country since 1985, and 70,000 more have expressed interest in emigrating to the USA. Recently, 59 South African farmers arrived in the USA, requesting asylum.

Lacking reliable statistics, the American Mainstream Media have tried mightily to debunk claims that white Afrikaners – mostly farmers of Dutch heritage – are being racially persecuted. But South African Agriculture Minister John Henry Steenhuisen admitted, during a recent meeting at the White House, that the murder-situation was a significant problem that needs to be addressed. “It’s going to require more policing resources…and a different strategy to be able to deal with it,” he said.

In a 2020 article, the New York Times reported: “…groups representing white farmers accuse the South African government of deliberately failing to protect them. Some white activist groups say that what they call ‘farm murders’ represent the beginning of a ‘white genocide’ aimed at driving whites out of South Africa.” Known corruption in the South African government is undoubtedly a factor in the dangerous situation.

The central question: How can we protect society from crazed individuals, as well as a growing cadre of people whose moral compass points far away from decency? The answer is not simple. But it’s not rocket-science, either. Other societies, at other times, have dealt with evil individuals and groups in their midst who were inflicting harm and terror on innocent people.

One of those places was the British colony of Kenya. It was the early 1950s, when the Mau-Mau uprising became a dangerous anti-colonialism force. The Mau-Mau’s modus operandi was terrorism on whites who held most of the colony’s government posts. No one knew who the terrorists were, as their identity was a closely guarded secret. They might be your houseboy, grocery-deliveryman or other ordinary person. One night they would sneak into your house and murder you and your family; or they might gun you down in your driveway. The situation was completely chaotic. The Mau-Mau seemed unstoppable.

Finally, the colonial government decreed that every white adult – male and female – must be armed at all times. Police were authorized to stop anyone on the street and ask to see his/her weapon. If an individual couldn’t produce it, or if it was found to be inoperable, a fine was levied. With the policy in full force, the Mau-Mau terror simply faded away – defeated by a vigilant, war-experienced people who didn’t hesitate to take drastic action when it was called for.

Why was the measure effective? Were terrorists really afraid of housewives, civil servants and grandmas packin’ a piece? Maybe not. But terrorists generally expect to be unopposed. They’re not looking for the OK Corral. It’s more fun that way. Certain depraved individuals get a thrill from seeing people cower in terror as they face death. But when the promise of low-cost sport evaporates, terrorism becomes far less attractive as an occupation.

Armed resistance from intended victims might not deter crazed religious fanatics, of course – be they Methodists, Amish, Muslims, Hindus, racial warriors or Baptists. (I could be mistaken about the Methodists, who are unfailingly polite.) But even if fanatics want to die heroically for their causes, the presence of armed individuals in any crowd of people is certain to save some lives. Numerous events have shown what happens when no armed person is present during an attack.

At Fort Hood, Texas – where in 2009 a crazed Muslim major¹ killed 13 and wounded 30 (while shouting “Allahu akhbar!”) – not one person, in a post full of experienced soldiers, could respond with deadly force to the killer’s attack at a family restaurant. Personnel entrusted with the world’s most powerful weapons are not permitted to carry personal arms on a military post. Unfortunately, those regulations didn’t deter the killer.

On the other hand, things went down differently in 2002, at the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Virginia, when three students subdued a Nigerian student after he shot and killed two faculty members and a student (and wounded three others). A small but telling fact – mentioned by only six of the 100+ newspapers reporting on the story – was that two of the three students who “tackled” the gunman (the Washington Post’s vague wording) were actually armed. Hearing the shots, they ran to their cars for weapons, then returned to disarm the killer.

Police understood the facts, and Tracy Bridges – one of the students who stopped the gunman – represented the event correctly to over 100 newsmen. But most of the public never heard about the armed students. It was a “media conspiracy of silence.”

The 2.5 million crimes foiled by armed citizens in the USA every year are “an inconvenient truth” rarely mentioned by left-leaning reporters and editors who don’t want the public to know that weapons can have a beneficial use. Research shows that criminals fear the “armed mark” far more than they fear police intervention. As in the Appalachian incident, most crimes foiled by armed intended victims involve no shooting.

The lesson from the defeat of the Mau-Mau is obvious. Experiences in some of our own cities and states indicate that when citizens are known to be armed, violent crime decreases. At military bases full of combat veterans, the solution of arming the population could hardly be clearer. Could armed white South African farmers help arrest the violence that’s been happening? Certainly it would be a step in the right direction.

In more urban settings, like the USA and Europe, the “gun-free zone” delusion must be abolished. It is a magnet for crime. Armed miscreants know they’ll be unopposed if they attack gun-free facilities. In schools, factories, businesses and government offices, as many workers as possible should be armed and trained to respond to threats. This would be on a volunteer basis, individually, but mandatory for all establishments.

An alarm system should be required in every public establishment – possibly linked to occupants’ cell-phones. Each room in a building would be equipped with an emergency-button and an indicator-panel. If danger should arise, a teacher (or other worker) would press the button to sound an alarm in all other rooms and indicate the danger-point. Cell-phones, Ipads and other devices integrated into the system would be signaled. Armed workers would drop everything and converge on the danger with all deliberate speed to counter the threat. Students and unarmed workers would be trained to stand clear and take cover. The alarm would also notify the police.

This technology would cost time and money, of course, but how much is public safety worth to us? Training would be needed, and Americans’ sense of normalcy would certainly be disrupted. But there’s no value in pining for the past. We are in what amounts to a war, and we must deal with that reality. If we don’t, many more people will be hurt. A recent event in which two young (unarmed) people were murdered on a Washington, DC, street illustrates the need for action.

In the USA, Mr. Biden’s election gave criminals a clear field. We stopped keeping miscreants out of the country, so they seem to be everywhere now. We don’t know who they are, and when we see something odd we’re afraid of being called “racists” if we report it. In our comfy homes, cars, stadiums, shopping malls, schools, churches and workplaces, Americans are sitting ducks.

Like the Boers, we have a serious problem, and we need to come up with serious solutions. Democrats’ near-religious convictions about “evil guns” is no answer. Disarming citizens will help only the bad guys, who pay no attention to laws. Seventy years ago the Kenyans knew what  to do. Today more and more ordinary Americans seem to understand that they are the key to solving our crime-problem. Gun-stores report that weapons are flying off the shelves, and they can’t keep up with the demand. Many of the flood of new customers are women. It’s a dangerous time, when free peoples, all over the world, must rise to the occasion.

“Who would be free themselves must strike the blow…I urge you to fly to arms and smite to death the powers that would bury the Government and your liberty in the same hopeless grave.” (Frederick Douglas)

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1. Major Nidal Malik Hasan was convicted by court martial and sentenced to death for killing 13 people and injuring 30 others in the incident of November 5, 2009. He is currently incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, awaiting execution. Courts have ruled that his execution must be delayed until all appeals have been adjudicated.