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.
.
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.
. .
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
.
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.
.
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
