A couple of days ago I heard on the news that the SPCA was going to charge a group of teenagers for cruelty to an animal. What had they done? They had set it alight while it was still alive, and gone on to record the whole thing via a cellphone! How could they do such a terrible thing?!!! The shocking bit about this story is in what animal it was that they set alight: It was a mouse!!! A bl---y mouse!!!
I certainly hope that these charges are not going to go through an ordinary court and possibly be in the same queue as rape charges or murder charges. Our courts have more important matters to attend to than the cruel death of a mouse! Am I passing judgement on what is important and what is not? Hell yeah!!! When we have crime under control, and other social ills under control, then we can all start picketing for animal rights and charging people for killing rodents!!!
You have got to be kidding me!!!
Friday, July 21, 2006
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Is it xenophobia, or just plain ol' racism?
I am African. By this I mean that I am native to the continent of Africa…I am indigenous to Africa. Should you wish to assign me to a country, I am Zimbabwean.
I have been in this beautiful country for the past eight years. My lovely wife is native to these parts of the continent. For all the beauty of this part of Africa, there is something I really struggle with. It is the perception that those who insist on calling themselves South Africans have of those from the rest of Africa. There are frequent reports of killings of foreigners. Ask the man in the street who he considers to be a foreigner, and you are more than likely to hear him tell you that it is the black people from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria and all those other African countries. Well, what about the white people? Oh no, any negative connotation contained in the word ‘foreigner’ is reserved for the black people from other African countries. White people are the good kind of foreigner…they are ‘tourists’.
This view, amongst other things, crystallises for me the impact of apartheid and colonisation on Africans. It disturbs me greatly that most of the bad service I receive at restaurants/shops/banks is at the hands of black people. So many white people I know will go on record to say that they have never experienced racism, and that there is no racism in South Africa. Good for them. But what about me? Why do I get treated as though I am being a problem when I complain about something, and yet when a white person complains about the same thing, a lot of effort is made to make amends? Why is it that a white person in shorts and no shoes will be able to wander around a store in Sandton City, but if I were to try the same thing, I would have three sales assistants following me around the store? Why is it that a white person who comes into a restaurant after I have been there for 10 minutes, will get their food before I get mine? Why is it that you have banks where white customers get preferential treatment?
And what is this whole thing about white people saying they are Africans? Well, I suppose they can claim that…in the same way that Indians can claim to be Africans (although we will always refer to them as Indian). I would, however, want to see a Chinese person claim to be African. More than that though, I would like to see a black person claim to be Chinese…or Indian.
Then I come across people who will ask me why I can't speak an African language. I have been asked this so often that I had to ask someone if it was possible that there are other countries in Africa apart from South Africa - and whether it was possible they speak languages that do not include any of the vernacular languages spoken in these parts. Having answered this question correctly, I wanted to ask him why they never asked any of these 'white Africans' why they can't speak a 'black language'? Given the violent inclinations of some of those native to these parts, I elected to withhold that second question.
For the record, on the whole race thing, I do not buy that whole thing about how we are all the same. We are not the same. We are different…and that difference goes beyond skin colour…and that is okay. It is okay that we are different. It does not make one race more superior to the other…it just makes us different. Does this mean I am racist? Perhaps.
South Africa has a problem with illegal immigrants from eastern Europe…but somehow that is not a concern for the black man on the street…or the white people who complain endlessly about illegal immigrants. I can’t help wondering…is it xenophobia or just plain racism?
I have been in this beautiful country for the past eight years. My lovely wife is native to these parts of the continent. For all the beauty of this part of Africa, there is something I really struggle with. It is the perception that those who insist on calling themselves South Africans have of those from the rest of Africa. There are frequent reports of killings of foreigners. Ask the man in the street who he considers to be a foreigner, and you are more than likely to hear him tell you that it is the black people from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria and all those other African countries. Well, what about the white people? Oh no, any negative connotation contained in the word ‘foreigner’ is reserved for the black people from other African countries. White people are the good kind of foreigner…they are ‘tourists’.
This view, amongst other things, crystallises for me the impact of apartheid and colonisation on Africans. It disturbs me greatly that most of the bad service I receive at restaurants/shops/banks is at the hands of black people. So many white people I know will go on record to say that they have never experienced racism, and that there is no racism in South Africa. Good for them. But what about me? Why do I get treated as though I am being a problem when I complain about something, and yet when a white person complains about the same thing, a lot of effort is made to make amends? Why is it that a white person in shorts and no shoes will be able to wander around a store in Sandton City, but if I were to try the same thing, I would have three sales assistants following me around the store? Why is it that a white person who comes into a restaurant after I have been there for 10 minutes, will get their food before I get mine? Why is it that you have banks where white customers get preferential treatment?
And what is this whole thing about white people saying they are Africans? Well, I suppose they can claim that…in the same way that Indians can claim to be Africans (although we will always refer to them as Indian). I would, however, want to see a Chinese person claim to be African. More than that though, I would like to see a black person claim to be Chinese…or Indian.
Then I come across people who will ask me why I can't speak an African language. I have been asked this so often that I had to ask someone if it was possible that there are other countries in Africa apart from South Africa - and whether it was possible they speak languages that do not include any of the vernacular languages spoken in these parts. Having answered this question correctly, I wanted to ask him why they never asked any of these 'white Africans' why they can't speak a 'black language'? Given the violent inclinations of some of those native to these parts, I elected to withhold that second question.
For the record, on the whole race thing, I do not buy that whole thing about how we are all the same. We are not the same. We are different…and that difference goes beyond skin colour…and that is okay. It is okay that we are different. It does not make one race more superior to the other…it just makes us different. Does this mean I am racist? Perhaps.
South Africa has a problem with illegal immigrants from eastern Europe…but somehow that is not a concern for the black man on the street…or the white people who complain endlessly about illegal immigrants. I can’t help wondering…is it xenophobia or just plain racism?
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