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Sifelani Tsiko Senior Writer

The story of a young Zimbabwean based in the US — Melissa Tate, who is a staunch supporter of disgraced outgoing US President Donald Trump and his Republican party is a tragic psychological jigsaw puzzle of lost identity, image, self-esteem and heritage.

She has been trending on social media in the US and here in Zimbabwe for glorifying white supremacy.

Melissa has been seen in several videos saying “democracy is being swept away in America and Trump won the elections resoundingly.”

She is an ardent and rowdy supporter of coup leader Donald Trump who lost the November presidential race to Joe Biden.

Melissa, who was born and raised in Zimbabwe and moved to the US when she was 19, says in a tweet: “America is a great republic if they can keep it

Americans have the last chance to fight for their nation because there won’t be fair American elections in 2024

The Democrats will have 4 more years to perfect election rigging

The Democrats will legalise all illegal immigrants in America

The Democrats will open up borders and flood America will tens of millions of people they can control

Republicans and conservatives will never be elected into office again after that.

Trump won resoundingly.”

All this should instil deep embarrassment and shame over her open support and glorification of white supremacy.

The utter absurdity of her conduct boggles the mind. She has on several occasions denigrated her country of birth — Zimbabwe — feeding the world with inaccuracies and other falsehoods.

In one video she says she was denied the right to vote here in Zimbabwe and in another shows a one trillion Zimbabwean dollar note of the hyper-inflationary years just to show how “bad Zimbabwe is” to the world.

Melissa is a classical example of black woman who took the “cliff dive” into weave hair straightening and skin-lightening to pass for identities as far removed as possible from Africans to please coup leader Trump.

Her senseless talk and tweets have caused deep pity inside my soul. She should be ashamed. Melissa, at another level, shows how lethal the severe sword of oppression can be like on a black person trying to ape a white man. It’s sad to realise how Melissa has been successfully manipulated into believing not only that she is inferior to whites, but that she sees Africans as uncivilised, primitive and backward.

To be socially accepted into the Republican party she has had to upgrade herself to a level closer to that of Trump and his ilk. The Republican party has successfully exploited her inferiority complex to sanitise its image in a still racially polarised America.

“I think she is someone with a slave mentality — a house slave proper,” said Dr Donald Chimanikire, a political commentator and former University of Zimbabwe chairman of the Department of Political Studies.

“She doesn’t understand that when push comes to shove, whites choose race over anything. She is a confused lot.”

I am pained whenever I view her exploits into the Capitol Hill recently. She was in DC where Trump incited his followers to go and protest at Capitol Hill.

She said in a Facebook post: “I’m going to DC to save the Republic, you should too! As someone who comes from a country where my vote didn’t matter, I’m not going to stand around and do nothing. #StopTheSteal.”

I tend to cringe if she will be able to tear down American white racist stereotypes about Africans. Her act is a vilification and denigration of African traditions and heritage.

From my viewpoint, the manipulation of Melissa to look down upon her country of origin and her subsequent exploitation by the Republicans seeking a black face, is truly a tragic return to the thinking that is prevalent among our own who mock our origins.

I do not wish to stop anybody from the choices they make or the cultures they want to serve themselves as fodder for, but I’m begging our African women and men not to be forced to join the dive of the lemmings over the cliff in white supremacist praise and glorification.

Melissa, just like her coup leader friend — Trump, once had her Twitter account temporarily banned for peddling falsehoods and sharing of misinformation.

Melissa’s case, is a case of a daughter born out of revolutionary Zimbabwe who lost her ways to few coins dangled on her by Trump.

She has sold her soul for a few pieces of silver to renounce the resilience and importance of black unity and dignity.

At best, she is a hypocrite who is singing for her supper by denouncing Zimbabwe, Africa and people in the Diaspora.

Melissa turns a blind eye to the debasement of black people.

She is a mockery to the #BlackLivesMatter campaign. With her open support for Trump and the Republicans, one cannot help, but be engulfed with a deep sense of shame on how Melissa — an African daughter has turned into a huge embarrassment for the black race.

She is now without any direction, morals and a sense of self-determination — unlike revolutionary women of the earlier generation who participated in various struggles for emancipation. Melissa is just a cry-baby and a bunch of artifice piled on a lost cause.

She exhibits demented behaviour and works to aid white supremacist attitudes we are all fighting against.

She needs a serious mind re-set and to see the bigger African struggle against violent and dehumanising oppression, deprivation of education, quality health, economic opportunities and empowerment. Africans should not support a party and system that perpetually relegates them to the fringes of human society.

Melissa should eject herself out of this shameful behaviour and join progressive forces that aim to restore dignity and justice for African humanity.