Mugabe's Horrors Transcend Race

Once, Westerners cared about southern Africa. In the late 20th century, outraged Americans of all stripes spoke out against apartheid, an outpouring that ultimately helped liberate both South Africa and Zimbabwe. Now, Zimbabwe is under the thumb of another murderous tyrant—this time a black one—and the West remains strangely and disgracefully silent, writes Cythia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Robert Mugabe’s long regime began with promise, and some insist America shouldn’t “demonize” him. But "Mugabe has become a demon," Tucker writes. "His followers maim and murder their opponents and starve children, but few black Americans notice. Why?" she asks. "Why do we ignore the transgressions of black African tyrants while assailing those of white tyrants?" (More Zimbabwe stories.)