Giraffe Manor happened this morning. Nothing to report about there. It was normal service delivery like we are used to in Kenya. It is not the first time we are hearing of the blatant racism that Kenyans have had to undergo in their quest for better customer service.

There have been numerous incidences in the past that have favored people with lighter skin over the normal dark-skinned local ones. It is a tale as old as time. We have learned segregation from the onset of our lives. Immediately you are born into this world your perception is fine-tuned.

Kenya is one country that has enforced segregation especially when it comes to tribes. We are probably the most tribal nation on the entire continent. We love treating people according to who they are and where they come from.

This is why the Giraffe Manor thing is just a non-issue. The discrimination is routed heavily in our culture. Our families wash Sufurias last. We have Vikombe za Wageni. We change accents when we are given the microphone at church to say hi.

We bathe in the glory of appearing like we are well to-do. We need to put on a show to express our elegance. Because we know that works in our favor. We have learned that expensive people get five star treatment. We understand the rules.

The racism problems hangs from this preferential treatment. Viti za Watu wa Nairobi mentality. We treat white people better than our own. We have memorized the script.

On 30th May 2022, Alchemist, a club in Nairobi, faced the same allegations of racism when a line containing black people was taking longer to access the club than white people. The club was facing shut-down until the whole story died down.

Giraffe Manor continuing the same trend shows that we are inherently oriented towards treating white people better. We cannot escape it. It is a thing that we are used to.

The uproar on Twitter today, also happened a year ago. The whole conundrum ended up in crazy memes that had people laughing before the story was buried.

We shouldn’t complain much. Remember, how you dress (who you are) is how you will be addressed.