Reporters on the Job
PROUD OF HIS POULTRY: Moscow-based reporter Fred Weir says that "Bush legs," as US frozen chicken is known there, haven't graced his table since the early 1990s, when it was the only chicken in town (page 7). But outside Moscow, and for those who are poor, it's more popular, he says. "It's the only kind of meat protein they can afford," says Fred. In his home, Fred's 13-year-old daughter is sharpening her culinary talent on Russian-grown, boneless chicken filets. "She's becoming quite the gourmet cook," he says proudly.
IT'S NOT ABOUT RACE: The Monitor's Danna Harman arrived in Zimbabwe thinking that racism was a central issue in the conflict over land ownership (this page). After all, about 70 percent of the arable land is owned by white farmers. But her perception is changing. "For example, Monday night I spoke to a group of unemployed black men who were sitting in a pickup truck, waiting to follow behind a ballot box as it was delivered from a polling station to the election headquarters. They were opposition-party supporters who wanted to make sure that the ballots weren't stolen. I asked them about racism. In very eloquent terms, they told me that Zimbabwe is a nation formed by a combination of races, and that blacks and whites have to work together to solve the problem of land reform." As one of the most highly educated populations in Africa, "they realize that the rhetoric of racism is just that," she says. As they spoke, a couple of white farmers drove up, and handed out food. "The black men said that kubatana, the Shona word for unity, would be the slogan for the nation if their party was elected."
David Clark Scott
World editor
Cultural snapshot
