HOW WHITE, BLACK OR COLOURED ARE YOU?

How Black, White or Coloured are you? This is a ridiculous and very undignified  way to label people,and these colours, which they are really, have caused so much hatred, anger, murder, war, and such a division amongst the ordinary man in the street. A whole country is at war, granted without the normal weapons of war, people are using their voices to insult each other with racial slurs. This is a sorry situation but this  is South Africa and here we do things differently. We call a spade a spade, even if it is a rake.

I dislike being labelled without been given the chance to tell you who I am and what my truth is and I refuse to be driven by fear.

It has been two week since I posted my first blog The Naked Truth about  the Brett Murray painting. This s gap has been  intentional, to see if South Africans would exercise their rights to Freedom of Expression in speech, have open dialogue and come to an understanding of the intrinsic right of each human being to dignity, equality, freedom of speech, thought and action, and understanding.   We have to meet each other on common ground as human beings and not as colours.


Food for thought, but while we stay silent, while we moan and mumble to ourselves: we who knew better times, when  people had respect for one another, less unemployment, less crime, more money , and a person could walk in the street without being accosted by a beggar on every corner, and the ones that are not begging did not look at you as a possible mugging or rape victim. .  


Well those time are gone, so is safety, security, peace, so has apartheid gone, and so should racial classifications go.  
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 If this  subject  and the reaction to the Spear has got South Africans talking up and  talking to each other then it has done it's job. It was the catalyst that speared the ruling party and made them bleed. It showed them up for what they really are, and they showed themselves up for what they are trying to cover up. Even Tony Sexwale  had a lot to say about dialogue and talk amongst people. 


Are you  having an open debate with free speech about how you  feel about freedom of speech?  Do you care about what happens to this country?  Most thinking South Africans have written the country off, so what has happened?  By their silence which in itself is a permission given to the masses that it is okay, that what they are doing is they can get away with,  we don't care, let it happen, as long as it is not brought to my door.  If you are  doing your bit to open peoples eyes to the fact that each voice can make a difference  then I know I am doing something right.    We all have our right to free speech, as long as it is not for our own gain, when it is for gain it is politics, when it is for an ideal of a better tomorrow then it is good. 

Talking between  the different cultures about how to bridge the gap in our understanding of each other,   discussing how we can meet each other on a human level,  never mind  the colour of your skin, or what you do for a living, or how you came to cross each others paths, or  what you earn.  We can all learn from each other, and that is the reason freedom of speech is so good.    South Africans, talk, read and learn about the millions of others who share the planet with you.   Open minds create open debates.

I refuse to be defined by a colour – White or Black, Indian or Coloured   What a lack of imagination the originator of these racial classifications had.   We  South Africans of the new South Africa have a democratic right to deny being classified as a colour.

 It is an affront to our human rights  not to be classified as a human being first, then as a South African, and then by our ethnic origins.  Stop defining yourself by your skin colour as you are no-more white, black or coloured even if you are so used to calling yourselves this.   I know some of you will be saying if I am not white who am I?  If I am not black who am I, if I am not coloured who am I?    Go beyond what  ‘race group’ you are defined as.  As this is the problem with South Africa.  Colours of all things, and it sounds petty, but these three words, white, black and coloured have caused untold atrocities in the name of freedom, repression, and countless lives have been lost fighting for what?  Their right to be thought of as a human being and not a racial classification, the right to equal  priviledges and rights for all..

 

We are the only country in the world who classifies our citizens by a colour. No wonder we struggle to find our unique identity and are still struggling to come to terms with ‘accepting’ people for themselves. 

If we first have to think in terms of:

 ‘ok, this is a white person and I am black, so they ‘owe’ me for all that my parents and grandparents have suffered, before my time  during the apartheid years of course,  but even though I don’t really know what happened, I don’t have to know as the ANC won’t let me forget (all second hand knowledge and hearsay if you were not there personally)  I am now out of school and cannot find a job due to the high unemployment figures, which I will also blame on apartheid for not allowing my parents to have a proper education even though they attended the best schools that they could,  with this word racial, it is so convenient to do that, I love the word as it justifies all I do, it is my right to use it wherever I can to get what I want,  so I will use the racial card to justify my speech, actions, thoughts and deeds, whether it is right or wrong, we can’t be bothered with that  as we are indoctrinated to think this way by our government and leaders who never let us forget the past,  :

·         ‘black against white, white against black, black against coloured, black against asian, whatever  is not black’ as dictated by BEE and whatever other title that blacks want to use to ‘take back what they think they are owed, without paying any respect to the originators of what has been done already.  If they have no experience of ‘owning’ anything before, how are they expected to look after what they now feel is their right to take?   No one appreciates what they have been given for nothing  without putting in the effort required to appreciate the acquisition.

·         ‘black against all refugees from foreign war-torn countries, as these foreigners work harder, are mostly inherently ‘decent’  and hardworking human beings,  except for the few who give them all a bad name.   The decent foreigners, who were teachers, lawyers and educated people in their own countries  show up our local’s laziness  and also they show up the  waiting for a ‘hand-out’ society that has been fostered by the ruling party’s promises to a gullible nation. Who allowed the foreigners to cross our borders in the first place?   Six or seven  years ago when zenophobia was at it’s worst I asked a Xhosa  called Sindile for his opinion of why zenophobia was so rampant and he told me that the foreigners used their earnings to support  local women as the Xhosa male believed the woman must work to pay the man, and the foreigners were upsetting the status quo.  So the local South Africans living in squalor and poverty  felt justified to burn and kill and destroy what the foreigners had built up, and the Somalians were better shopkeepers than the South Africans, so they had to go.  So another way that greed for money destroys.

·         As a black  I will use the ‘racial’ card to  delete the whites  history.                                               South African history only started when the ruling party came into power in 1994. Never mind that Democracy is for all the people, not just an elite few, and the Constitution gives all, yes ALL South Africans, regardless of race, colour, creed, or belief,  recourse to our rights as human beings, it is not just there for the ruling party’s use but for every South African’s use.    So why are we not using these rights?     We  the minority in this country did exist before 1994, and still continue to exist,  with a new dispensation in place to share knowledge, open our minds and our hearts, examine our thoughts, words and actions  to see  each person who crosses our path as a human being, not a colour, not a tool to be used to vent our anger about the injustices of the past which can only be dealt with by each of us believing we, yes you too, can be the change that is needed to heal this country.

·         I will use the ‘racial card’ to  change their street names to reflect our heroes of the struggle.  Let the Minister who suggested this pay for the changes out of his own pocket, and then see how he feels.  Never mind that hundreds of maps are already drawn up and that  millions of people know those street names and it does not enter our heads that it will confuse people who have travelled those roads all their lives, we will change them at great expense to the poor suffering millions who voted us into this position in the first place,(poor suckers that they are, that they believed this was being done for their benefit!) .

·         As a black South African, newly elected by the poor and naive people of South Africa, After all I am sitting pretty in my position, I am well fed, secure,  own a fancy car paid out of government funds, I hold the purse strings to my section and I am a law unto myself,  the purse strings  which I can manipulate and if caught in corruption I will still be paid to sit at home earning a full salary, not having to do a stitch of work, I own lots of ‘material things’ lots of land and I am a law unto myself, I have no respect for the law, the police, the justice system as I do not have to answer for my actions, or my crimes as if I am arrested, or brought to justice, the system is a mockery and my documents can disappear with a bribe to the right person, who by the way is a family member, or ‘a connection’  of the struggle, who will protect me no matter what.  After all everybody else does it and gets away with it, why can’t I.  And all that crap I spoke on the stand to fool the people, don’t tell me they fell for that!  All I have to say is “I know nutting, he called me the K word, so I killed him, or stole from him, or beat him up, or burned his farm, or broke into his car, or mugged him on the street, or whatever else took my fancy at that moment, as it is okay, after all we are protected because we are black and can use the ” racial card’ to get out of any sticky situation, that makes us not responsible for my actions.

·           I will appropriate their land, because it belongs to white farmers who are easy prey now as they have ‘no teeth’  (read  as:  Power) . The ruling party has okayed my taking it, without payment to the farmers (read as ‘Boer’) as Malema said I could, and I speak for him. I will take their well stocked well equipped and food producing farm and they will not be compensated for it,  not for all their hard work in building it to the condition it is in now as after-all, I did not do a thing to earn it, but I deserve it because the government  tells me I do, I have their approval, in fact you poor suckers in South Africa are paying your hard earned taxes to keep us in government and as  I am barely out of school, but I can grab whatever I can from the whites, who have no say any more in this new South Africa, as we the blacks are the majority!

·         And the minority and the majority of South Africans listen to this hate speech, and shake their heads, and moan about their lot, and be afraid, and wait for the axe to fall instead of seeing how they can do their bit to heal the wounds of both blacks and whites, come to an equitable solution. Yes we can if we speak up, speak out, let your voice be heard, as if you are silent on these matters, you are then in collusion and agreement with this very angry and confused youth leader’s statement.

 YOU ARE A HUMAN BEING FIRST AND FOREMOST, with all that that entails., you are human first, born with a name, which you should be proud of,  no matter what anyone tells you,  you own your name, no matter where or how you acquired it, you own it now, make that name count for something. 

 If you are a  Van der Merwe, then tough, change your name, now and rather take on a more equitable  new South African name, because if you are a farmer with that name, you are at risk. Any of the Van,s  need a name change and this is no joke.

From whichever ethnic background  you arrived here, this name and your place in South Africa  has defined the essence of you, with all the good and bad that that entails.  And your destiny starts and ends with you.  One does not speak for fame and fortune, but for peace and unity, and understanding and tolerance.

·         BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE.    Find and Live your truth.   Each of us has been put on this earth for a purpose. Discover yours, what your message/purpose is. Celebrate you uniqueness, no matter who you are, as there is only one person in this whole world like you, and we are all joined in this journey to our end. But while on the journey, use your unique purpose to help others on theirs, to believe that your life is worth the effort put in. You do not have to be in politics to make a difference. Start from where you are.

·         Question your motives, and learn to respect yourself for making the choice that makes you feel good about doing what you feel is right.  We all have a conscience, which makes us feel good when we do good, and bad when we do wrong.  Of course, there are plenty of people without a conscience to guide them, so they are led by the nose by others with their own agenda’s. None of us like being taken for fools.  So use your choice, and your purpose to be tolerant towards others, talk up for your rights, understand  that we are all human’s sharing the same piece of Africa, and for South Africa to survive we need to heal this country: The conscience speaks when the ego departs.

·         Not by Violence:  Our country and our people need to find their truths, their own real truths, not what they are told is their truth, but what their heart and their intelligence tells them, find your peace, and share this with your world.  One pebble has a ripple effect.

·         Not  by Hate speeches which are used to incite anger, violence and keep all people from thinking for themselves. Ask yourself: What has the speaker got to gain, and what have I got to lose by listening to this speech, does it benefit my spirit? Does it benefit my health? Does it benefit my family?  Does it benefit my living conditions?  Are my circumstances going to change? And the last question you should ask is will  it benefit or hurt my future?  Freedom of choice is our god-given right.  We should act on our free choices, not those instilled by hatred.

·         And not by Zenophobia,   These terms of classifying us have caused enormous problems for South Africa.  We are all South Africans, either from European descent, Zulu descent, Xhosa descent or Asian descent, or European/Xhosa or Zulu descent.   Jan Van Riebeeck started and ended the problem by mixing it up when he landed here and found the indigenous peoples roaming the beaches.  He was of Dutch descent, and the children today think he is a coffee, which is what happens to you when you mix it up, so what goes around comes around.

·          Pondering this very thought,  I allowed my mind to chill, as I listened  to my daily dose of morning news, and happened to catch the presenter  interviewing a well-known entrepreneur who is the CEO   of Black Like Me , a very well-known South African company.

 Since the company’s inception they have done extremely well as their products are branded to appeal to the majority of South Africans who did not have a voice, and this sharp entrepreneur used that specific wrong of the word ‘Black’ to launch a very successful business.    His insight was visionary, and it has paid off for him. But did he let it go to his head? No, he remained humble, stayed true to his business core ideals, and his belief in his product. And it paid off.

 Not  a whiff of scandal has tainted his name, and his business has thrived. His credibility and genuine passion for his company should be a lesson to all of those who complain about their lot in life.  He used a wrong to make his right. Although he still uses the word Black. 

He was told as a child that all white people were evil.  Racist talk, yes,  but at the time this was the perception in the days of apartheid which thank goodness are gone, but there are some in this country who still use the injustices of the past as a weapon to whip up racial hatred.  

The younger  generation now attending schools and the youth of today  just want to get on with their lives without having this history shoved down their throats every day and instilling anger which let’s loose so much destruction.

This CEO decided when he grew up to test this whites are evil theory, and when he started his business he had to deal with white and black people who helped him on his way to where he is today.   He had the strength of mind to not believe everything he was told, to find out for himself, and find his own truth.  No  wonder this CEO achieved what he did.  He had the spirit of tolerance, and gratitude, as he had to deal with whites and blacks (oh crap, there are those words again)  from diverse backgrounds all in the course of his business, and he gave credit where credit was due.

 This is the point I am getting at.  No matter what your skin colour, you are a human being, and should not be identified as a colour.

Whether you are a politician or apolitical  we  can all learn the  lesson in humility, tolerance and acknowledgment of how others in our world came to be where they are today and how they helped us to get where we are today.  We need  to learn the lesson of appreciation. To appreciate the position we are in, and to be thankful  for what we have, or do not have, because if you only want it because your neightbour has it, or your friend has it, or someone else has managed to aquire it by hard work, you can too. We need to find the positives with open our minds  to embrace this South African way of life, with and without it’s problems which each of us can do our bit to be the change we want to see.

 We are now all South African citizens each of us originating from different ethnic roots , cultures, values and beliefs.   And for our Democracy  to work  in the new South Africa, our Rainbow Nation who has walked through the fire, yes all of us, blacks and whites,  as no one who has lived in South Africa was left unscathed by the burning of the old South African ways in the aftermath of 1994, will have to work together to make this country a great country.

The children of the new democracy, all ethnic groups, I refuse to call them colours like black, white and coloured which are ridiculous ways to identify a person as there are a million shades of white, a million shades of black, and how many colours do you have to have in you to be classified as coloured?   We need a new system for re-classifying all South Africans as South African from whichever ethnic background each one comes from. 

This is a much more humane way of treating a person, than calling them a colour!

We South Africans need to read the constitution and the freedom charter to be aware of our rights and  to speak up for what we want to happen in our country.   Never mind that you are only one person, so you ask, what will that help?   If each of us spoke up, we can move the mountain that stands in our way to better relationships with our fellow man, humane treatment of all individuals, no matter what their ethnic background is.

 

We all inhabit the same planet, live in the same country, tread the same roads, and have a stake in this country that we should leave it a better place for our children and grand-children.  Just because someone has had a different upbringing, or is from another ethnic group to the one you know, or is poorer than you, or is wealthier than you, or has an affliction, or is from another country,  does not mean that you are better than them, this attitude of name-calling is extremely bad, as people are people, no matter where, who, how or why.  We are all human. 

Each of us has our burdens to bear, and cannot judge another until we have walked in his shoes and carried his burdens. So open your mind, and close your mouth until you can understand where the speaker is coming from first, before you pre-judge anyone.

For those who are worse off than you, do not look down your nose at them, give them a helping hand up, because there but for the grace of God go you.  You might be the one needing a hand up one day.

 For those that are better off than you, do not resent them for their worldly goods, they are but material goods, which if they earned them by hard work and good morals respect them, and you could do the same if you worked as hard and planned ahead.   Of course if they accumulated their wealth at the expense of the downtrodden, and the poor, then they will eventually pay the price for their greed. It is not our place to judge them.

What does a man gain if he acquires the whole world, but loses his soul?  Self-hatred and evil intentions, fear of others that they may take away his 'gains' and what has he become? Nothing but an empty shell, with no inner peace, fearing all, as all hate him. He brings his worst fears on himself.   He kills his spirit and is not happy with his material gains, so he destroys other's in his quest to gain even more.This is the road to certain hell, not hell below, but hell here on earth.

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 We each of us have the right to freedom of speech, as long as it is not hate speech. We have the right to freedom of expression, as long as it does not harm anyone else.

 Everywhere I go I hear people complaining about these same  issues, and then I ask them, well, what are you prepared to do about it?   What can they do, they say, but leave the country, or carry on complaining.  We need to make our voices heard so what can you do to help South Africa?

We need a democracy  and a constitution which fosters free speech, open debate,  love of our country and tolerance of all living creatures  animal and human.  I know I am asking for the impossible, but I have decided to start somewhere to see this country free of it’s hatred,  fear, it’s prejudices, it’s intolerance.    It may take forever, but at least I have made a start, instead of complaining about all the cant’s, and the ranting and ravings which only foster anger, hatred, and intolerance.   I do not fear the unknown, as today I am making my future happen.

We the citizens of South Africa, should take a leaf from the Americans who shout out to the world I AM AN AMERICAN.  There is no prouder country of it’s citizens, laws, president, and it's hero's past and present, black and white.  That is what makes a country strong, not bullying, fear, subversive tactics, cat and mouse games in politics, name calling, inciting racial hatred, marches, boycotts, and silly games, plus greedy politicians who really act very unwisely when their base nature is leading them, not their higher ideals.

National Pride for all, Loyalty for a cause of Tolerance, Acceptance, Equality for ALL, not just the few .

We want to be proud of our county, but find it very hard to do so, with so much hatred and intolerance towards our fellow man. . To shout out I AM A SOUTH AFRICAN with pride and dignity.   We are  such a varied and mulit-cultural society that we are really unique in the world as a country.   Please Home Affairs:  Reclassify us all, by our nationality as South Africans with our ethnicity showing.  Each of us need to get rid of the white, black, coloured tags which  destroyed  the dignity and pride of all of the people of South Africa, during apartheid years, and is destroying the future generations of this country, our birthplace.

Home Affairs should classify us all as South Africans not by race but by our origins of ethnicity.

THE COLOUR WHEEL

What country uses colours to describe and define what a person is - Colours belong  on a colour wheel or chart, and are used  for art to create beautiful pictures or not so beautiful pictures. To tell stories with pictures in colour, and to beautify  and decorate one’s  surroundings with.  Artists use colours to tell their truths, just as writers use words to tell theirs.

Colours are used to stimulate the imagination and colours create either harmony or discord.  Just as words do.

Now when people say are you white or black, or coloured that in itself is demeaning. How white are you? How black are you? How coloured are you?   And what on earth does the word coloured mean. That is the most nefarious of words – what colours go into making a coloured?  Get my meaning? 

Yes I am dissing the South African way of doing things: Calling people colours!   That itself is a comedy of errors, and whoever invented that classification is laughing his head off above or below us.   If a street is named after him, please let’s change the name to:  Idiot street.

 I am offended if anyone lables me with a colour

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What picture does white bring to your mind: Hospitals, Clouds, Sterile? – How dare you call me that!    I am non of those.

What picture does black conjure up:  Night, Tar, Dark,  - I would be offended to be classified as this.

We are all human beings with all the faults and failings of a human beings,  with which we struggle to overcome every day of our lives.  I may have seemed to be more privileged because I am classified as white,  but hear my story before you judge me a racist and then see who is the racist here.  

All my life I have tried to live by the motto of live and let live, and although I was too little to understand the realities of the apartheid years, I have had many conversations with  friends who are classified as coloured or black and we do not have a problem communicating at all. We do not even discuss the past, we look to the future, learn the lessons from the past, and be thankful for today, which is called the present because it is a gift,  to have the opportunity to have  freedom of speech, association, thought and expression. 

I do not want what anyone else has unless I have earned it, and would like to be given another day to prove that I can overcome with faith,  I do not ask for the government to give me anything, I work to earn what I need as money is not my ultimate goal in life, spiritual enlightenment is, knowledge is, communication is, tolerance is.

White is white, like this page.  Are the white’s in South Africa the colour of this page, NO.  There are as many shades of white in South Africa, as there are colours on a colour chart. So who are we kidding, when we think we are whiter than our neighbour?  Or a whiter shade of pale? 

 Colour is used to create beautiful rainbows – and nowhere in the rainbow do you see black or white or coloured.   There are seven very exact and beautiful colours plus plenty more hidden that the naked eye cannot see.  Make Johnny Klegg the next president and he can rule by his music!  He crossed the great devide with music. Why can we not do the same with communication, with tolerance and understanding?

We can learn so much from the different cultures in our land, but what is the first thought that comes to mind when describing someone?  Whether they were black or white?  Or whether they were a good or bad person?  Or whether they were human or inhuman?   Or how we respected their nationality and they respected ours?   That is for you to decide, but if you speak your truth, you will define them by the spirit of their words and pupose of their actions.

  

I am a human being, and not a racist, neither white, black, or coloured.   My ethnic roots are French/Irish and South African as I was born here.   I like to believe I inherited my sense of ‘ social conscience’ and style, plus my  love of literature and art from my French ancestors and my sense of humour and  imagination from my Irish side, plus I might have kissed the blarney stone in a previous life, as I love to talk, about many varied subjects and interests.   

But as South Africa is the country that my  children call home, I am determined to do my bit for the future of my family and  all it’s citizens and instill a love  and pride in my fellow South Africans for this beautiful country. We have the best country in the world, beautiful weather,the best beaches, the great scenery, and the very best people who are like naughty children fighting over who right it is to 'own' this land.  

This land belongs to all South Africans, so please deal with it, work for what you want to acquire, honestly, and fairly, and do the right thing, by treating others as you would like to be treated, that way you earn their respect, not by taking and stealing and fighting and hiding and corruption.  Our sins find us out, so tell the truth and shame the devil as a lie needs a million more to cover up the first, and then the path to truth is littered with such lies that you cannot find your way out again. 

A conversation overheard:  

Little white boy:                    "You are nothing but a coloured boy" said to a classmate who was coloured..

Little coloured boy's reply: : " White boy, when you are born you are pink, when you grow up you are white, when you are cold you are blue, when you are hot you are red, when you are sick you are green, and when you die you are purple and you have the cheek to call me Coloured. At least when I am born I am brown, when I grow up I am brown, when I am cold I am brown, when I am hot I am brown, when I am sick I am brown, and when I die I stay brown, so who is the more coloured of us?"

There u have it in a nutshell, out of the mouths of babes. Wonder who that coloured boy grew up to be?  He was a very wise man for his tender years.

 I am not prejudiced against any other human being for their skin colour, just angry and sad at the stupidity of their actions and speech when what  comes out of their mouths is anger, intolerance, prejudice, and  plain idiocy.  Very few people think before they talk, and no one knows anyone until they tell us or show us  who they are by their speech or their actions.

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 We cannot judge on appearance, and especially not on colour, as appearances are  deceiving.   The best looking apple in the barrel can have a rotten core, but you will only know that once you bite into it. .  At least the apple that is rotten on the outside is telling its truth,  and not pretending to be a good apple, with a rotten core, as the rot on the outside might not have reached the core yet.

What are your feelings on being classified as a colour?

TALK, DEBATE, QUESTION, READ, COMMUNICATE, DISCUSS, LEARN, WONDER, IMAGINE,  PEACE