Racial Discrimination in Colonial Botswana: 1946–1965

Abstract Using primary sources from the Botswana National Archives and Records Services, this paper argues that racial discrimination in colonial Botswana was inextricably linked to the race relations existent within its neighbours, particularly South Africa and the then Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), respectively. These countries had a substantial number of settlers who, by and large, were associated with segregationist policies and racial dominance. It further argues against the conception that Botswana did not have forms of discrimination because the number of settlers existent in the territory was negligible compared to that of its neighbours. Called upon to give evidence of the existence (or the lack thereof), of racial prejudice the local inhabitants in colonial Botswana provided ample evidence to confirm its existence, the paper argues.