ABSTRACT
In November 1965, Rhodesia’s small population of white settlers declared a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) from Great Britain. For the next 15 years, the territory faced political and economic isolation, including expulsion from major international sporting competition, as a guerrilla war raged against African nationalists (O’Meara 1979, 18-19, 27-28). The scattered and insecure white minority, surrounded by a far larger African population, increased racial segregation in the franchise, education, civil service, health care, and social services (O’Meara 1979, 23-24; Summers 1994, 269-271). However, racial segregation was never total, and pockets of multiracial sport and leisure activities survived (Novak 2012, 861-862). As white settlers in Rhodesia were a small and diverse group, national symbols helped to manufacture a white Rhodesian identity, including the cult of founder Cecil Rhodes and the early Pioneers. Sport increasingly became such a symbol, especially after the Second World War and the increasing transience of the white community due to emigration and immigration. Rhodesian isolation from international sport after UDI, including its expulsion from the Olympic Movement, caused social frustration for the white community. Britain’s role ensuring Rhodesian exclusion from competition contributed to anti-British sentiment in a very British colony.
