The issue of segregation was also more prominent in the urban parts of Nyanza with Kisumubeing more affected than Ndere, Luanda, Yala and Kendu Bay as far as socialization wasconcerned. In Kisumu, as would be seen later, both Asians and Africans attended separateschools. During the first decades of colonialism 1901-1918, Afro-Asian relations in schoolswere non-existent because of the strong segregation policy, which rendered Afro-Asianinteraction and mixing impossible (Omenya, 2010). This segregation could not, however, beentirely blamed on the Europeans but also on the Asian cultural practices which thrived oncaste system55where members of a certain caste were superior to the other. Their sects alsoencouraged each community to run their schools separately. But also the management ofAfrican education by the missionaries also ensured that Africans and Asians attendeddifferent schools thereby affecting their interactions in schools. Although the population ofAsians attending schools was small, which could have ensured effective Afro-Asianinteraction and integration; this was not possible due to the racial pattern that education tookin the early colonial period since Asians attended purely Asian schools while Africansattended mission schools.3.6 Afro-Asian Social Relations in the Housing SectorFor many years, except coastal Swahili towns, Africans were regarded as temporaryinhabitants of the towns in which they worked as unskilled laborers. They lived in traditionalhuts either inside or outside the township boundaries, and when urban authorities found it54KNA, PC/NZA/3/6/4055Caste system:The caste system is a feature of the Indian society, which ranks societyaccording to occupation with graded discrimination based on birth.There are 4 main castesand thousands of sub castes. People are classed upon birth and do not have the option to moveto the other caste. Members of one caste are also restricted from marrying a member of adifferent caste (Griffith, Percival, Modern India. London: Ernest Benn, 1966).
117necessary to provide them with accommodation, it was on the assumption that they wouldwork in towns for short periods unaccompanied by their families, and would then return totheir areas of origin. They were regarded socially and financially as liabilities for whosehousing and welfare the urban authorities were responsible (Olumwullah, 1986:132).Therefore, Africans were generally given the identity of rural folks. These stereotypes defineand stabilize relations on the postcolonial terrain as everybody is forced to accept their statusdefined by the dominant culture.Housing patterns in Western and Nyanza provinces also took a racial line. Upon his arrival inNyanza in 1907, John Ainsworth(a pioneer British administrator in Kenya) found that thebubonic plague was endemic in the site (Maxon, 1980:176). He made every effort to containthe situation specifically by the introduction of inoculations, rat killing, and the destruction ofinfected buildings. Ainsworth planned to alter the character of the township so as to protectrailway, port installations and European residential areas better. His plan involved theestablishment of a more rigid system of hygienic segregation than had previously existed.
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Term
Spring
Professor
Dr Philip
Tags
Non resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
