Thread by @denvern3

1. Newsflash!
Guys, I have people I know, in 2022, who can't stand Shona. Not because they hate Shona people, but the way the language was abused by 5th Brigade as a tool of demeaning them and victimizing them they struggle. 40 yrs after they are still affected.

2. Remember this, as adults, we spend all our lives getting over what happened in early childhood. Speak to anyone today, ask them the reason for their pain and behavior, early childhood is enduring in its impact.

3. Imagine, your parent being raped and killed and you are forced to sing and dance in a specific language that you don't know. I know friends in SA, who don't want to speak Afrikaans because of the manner in which they were victimized and how the language was forced on them.

4. So, for me, I'm not surprised when I meet people who are rubbed in a different way by Shona or Ndebele, I get it, and I try not to make it worse by calling them tribalistic because I cannot erase what harm was done using a specific language as a tool to dehumanize them!

5. A lot of us here, speak about how bullies impacted us but we can't listen to how a Govt sponsored drive to exterminate people who spoke a different language affected them. Everyone is clear, that it is Govt that divided us but some appropriate insults where there aren't any.

6. It shows, we still need to grow, out of ourselves and learn to see from another person's perspective. No one blames Shona people for Gukurahundi, no one. But the fact remains, 5th Brigade used Shona as a tool of oppression.

7. The tragedy, however, is that instead of looking at how State driven tribalism harmed people we call those who raise these points tribalistic activists. It shows that we are trapped in our silos and are yet to learn how to recover from a genocide. It is a national effort.