Why dreadlocked guys hook white chics

By Titus Serunjogi

A reggae band was playing to hordes of revellers. On the terrace, several dreadlocked guys were exhibiting some erotic dance antics amidst a group of white girls.

By the time the band stopped playing the first song, the group on the terrace was panting. Then they settled down to smooching, amidst giggles and gulps of beer. One of the dreadlocked guys lifted his white girlfriend in the air and swung her around lovingly.

Dreadlocked men falling for white women and vice versa is becoming the trend. The trend is so common the world over that it has even been christened ‘Rent-a-Dread’. What is it really about dreadlocked guys and white chics?

Tshaka Mayanja, a local singer who wears dreadlocks, says, “White women have no hang-ups. Once she falls in love with you, she will not give a damn whether you have dreadlocks or you are dirty, jobless and looked upon as a misfit by everyone else. But which Muganda girl can dare introduce a rasta to her parents? At the very least, she will tell him to shave off his hair and beard before she can introduce him.”

Apparently, some dreadlocked men hit on white girls because they cannot find a local girl to appreciate them as they are.

It is natural for any woman to feel attracted to a protector — someone with strong and fierce features. Word on the street is that English students fantasise about black men as being raw and hyper-sexual. Dreadlocks have always been looked at as a sign of excessive strength.

A rastafarian I met at Ange Noir’s Reggae Night said he was dating a white woman who approached him with, “Hi, I love your dreadlocks. You seem strong, there is so much energy in your hair”.

I could not wonder why the white woman had fallen for the dreads. The guy is bold and moves with a lot of confidence.

Some ‘rastas’, however, frown upon the trend. Ras B Ssali, a reggae singer with the Roots Rockas says: “Some of those dreadlocked guys who date white women are just good-for-nothing louts who would not mind making a quick buck by sleeping with a spoilt college girl or a single woman who does not want to commit to marriage or even a divorcee who has such wicked fantasies of flings with black men.”

Apparently, some dreadlocked men have discovered that to hook a white chic is like hitting the jackpot. Even after she goes back to her country, she will send her dreadlocked lover money for upkeep, lots of presents and even an air ticket to go for a visit.

Recently I met Ras Mowze, a popular Rasta in town, who got out his wallet and showed me two pictures of young pretty white girls.

“Which of the two do you love?” I asked.

He seemed aghast. “Love? None. You cannot invest feelings in a European college girl who just comes to Uganda for holidays. These girls enjoy being chatted up by black guys; told that they are the cutest in the whole world, that they have nice bodies and stuff. But any man can do that. So just as she falls for me, she will meet a friend of mine and fall for him as well, then fall for another guy in Nairobi. One thing about them is that if you can satisfy her fantasies, she will keep in touch with you and she will not mind sending you money once in a while.”

Another Rasta, who is co-habiting with a Ugandan woman, confessed that he has an affair with a white woman. However, he added that the white woman does not mind being his ‘other girl’, except if she catches him in a compromising position with another European girl.

Rita Lynn, a Chilean magazine designer, also has a story to tell. “My friend, Lisa, came back with me last year and fell for a dreadlocked guy who came to chat us up at our table. He was a bit rough, but humourous and complimented us a lot. I could see Lisa was charmed. So I warned her that the guy was a hustler; she said that I was just jealous. They slept together that night.

“A few days later, he started calling her for money. She kept sending him money for nearly a year after she had gone back home. But when she missed out a month, he phoned her asking where his money was. She said she could not afford it anymore; he harangued her on the phone and told her that she would have to get herself another boy. Now she is heartbroken and does not even want to come back to Uganda again.”

There is also a trend where rich, but sexually starved women travel to Gambia or the Caribbean to ‘rent-a-dread.’

The trend has fascinated the world so much that a Hollywood movie has been acted to this effect. Dreadlocked men from Jamaica are so much sought after because they are believed to have an extraordinary libido. Other women fall for dreadlocked men because they are the perfect fit in the stereotype of an African.

But what we mostly see at Kampala’s pleasure spots are dreadlocked hunks strutting about with frisky 20-something year-old white girls who are bustling in the spirit of adventure. Beautiful, slim and sexy, the girls are definitely out to have a good time. Perhaps they would not mind doling out some of their pocket money on a part-time lover.