Joseph Kaluba: The Scourge of Racism in Utah

Malcolm X is accredited with these words: You cant have capitalism without racism. Joseph Kaluba, originally from Zambia, now living in the US, is my guest today to speak about the challenges of racism in Utah. In recent years, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for Utah had a settlement agreement with Davis School District in Utah - an attempt to address race discrimination in the district’s schools, including serious and widespread racial harassment of Black and Asian-American students.

As a parent, Joseph has children that have been heavily hit by racism, including being called a “monkey.” With such a traumatic experience continuing unabated despite taking the issue to the highest echelons of the school system in the district, a decision had to be made for the best interest of the kids whose mental health was spiraling down. They were sent away from the parents to live in Africa, a mega decision that proved fruitful to both parents and children. Change of environment defined with clarity the effects on the individual of the Western culture of individualism and the African culture of Ubuntu or collectivism.