On Being a Mzungu

The Swahili word for "white person" is Mzungu, and its frequent use to describe Michelle and I and our fellow travelers has been very jarring. We first heard the term when children were excitedly following us and wanting to shake our hand as we walked through Nairobi's slums.

 The idea of being one of the very few white people who go to the slums and their happy exclamations made their use of the term almost endearing. However, when we started our next tour, our guide used the term with something more like a sneer or at least a tone of disdain. Hearing the term from an adult in a dismissive tone such as "all of you Mzungu's" or "a stupid Mzungu did this" was very unnerving. As we traveled longer, this interesting word was used in a number of different contexts from individuals who I felt held no dislike of white people (excluding our tour leader). For example "Mzungu time" was said to indicate an exact time of meeting rather than African time, which is normally whenever a person feels is right or their previous job is done.
  After our travels in Africa, I see that the nature of the word is entirely dependent upon the context it is used, however such race-based descriptors of people still do not sit well with me.