Recently, about five-thirty in the afternoon when everybody was stuck in traffic, 5FM exposed its listeners to the following lyrics:
Kom hier, kaffir, kom hier! Hoekom het jy nie my kar
skoongemaak nie…Bliksem! (white male).
Baas, don’t call me a kaffir (black male).
Don’t call me a kaffir (choir).
Thereafter the word “kaffir” is repeated “too many times to be counted” as one of the people that complained to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) stated.
We are talking here about Arthur Mafokate’s kwaito hit from the middle 80s, which was subsequently used to relaunch the SABC, and more recently, to offend white 5FM listeners, several of whom vowed never to tune in to the station again.
Several complaints later the BCC found in favour of the complainants and fined the SABC R10 000. The BCC Appeals Tribunal later confirmed that the song “amounted to the advocacy of hatred”, but that “it did not constitute incitement to cause harm and that therefore there was no contravention of the ‘hate speech’ clause of the Code”.
Yet, the BCC argued, “kaffir” is “a derogatory term with racial undertones that amounts to stereotyping”. “When negative stereotypes are perpetuated, it has the potential to further divide the South African society and songs such as this one, unnecessarily evoke deep-lying emotions reminiscent of apartheid”.
The word “kaffir” therefore had no place in the modern South Africa “where political correctness (you read correctly) and sensitivity needs to be practised”. Such “grossly offensive language” could particularly not be used in “watershed periods when children are likely to be part of the audience”. Certain words remained “taboo” regardless of the context in which they are used.
The fact that the negative response to the song came mostly from a “certain group” was picked up by “DJ Fresh”, the offending talkshow host, who argued that: “The only people who complained were white people, which suggest to me that it was more white guilt than anything else.” (Sunday Times 19/4)
In my opinion the concept of “white guilt” has become a convenient little label with which to dismiss “white” opinions without engaging with the substance thereof. Nonetheless, in this instance the case of “Don’t call me a kaffir” I think the BCC has completely lost the plot.
Koos Kombuis, well-known Afrikaans writer and singer, makes blatant use of the word “Hotnot” in one of his songs. Should this well-known critic of apartheid now also be censured? Imagine trying to force African-Americans to stop calling one another “nigger”.
Contrary to the BCC tribunal’s assertion, the context is not only important — it is definitive. “Don’t call me kaffir” could, among others, be viewed in context as a resistance song and a reaction to racism — a song that resonated with the actual experience of large sections of our society.
I myself have seen white Afrikaans-speaking males (WAMs) treat people in the manner described, along with a cuff against the back of the head or worse. Now, in a democratic society, we want to go and censor that experience?
One cannot make words such as “kaffir” or “Hotnot”, which is still in daily use in some quarters and still appears in a range of older books, “taboo” — not even for children. Much rather, such words and the implications of using them should be discussed openly.
Could “Don’t call me kaffir” not have been of “educational value” as one of the four members of the BCC tribunal suggested? And while one is at it, why not add words like “Boer, uMlungu, meid, coolie, amaKula, charra, moffie” and the host of others to the discussion list — all these names that we call one another.
This reasoning was echoed by the SABC’s defence which argued that the:
“Intention behind playing the song was to unlock debate and determine whether there had been a change in attitudes 14 years down the line after the song was first aired. This educational nature of the broadcast was evidenced (…) also by all the callers following the broadcast of the song.”
However, the great irony here is that the song was blacklisted for stereotyping blacks, when in fact it was doing so to WAMs. I remember cringing the first time that I heard “Don’t call me kaffir” and instinctively found myself wondering about the cumulative emotional impact of such a negative portrayal of WAMs on young black people.
I therefore think that the BCC tribunal was right when it found that the song “promoted hatred” (not towards blacks, but towards whites). Yet, as prejudiced as the song might be — it still falls perfectly within the ambit of freedom of speech and in my mind blacklisting it is an infringement of that right.
What is the problem then?
What should have been censured was the SABC’s handling of the song — and that is the crux of the matter. The SABC’s argument about wanting to “unlock debate” was contradicted by complainants who felt that there had in fact not been any open discussion; that the white woman that called in was simply jeered off the air.
If one wanted to air songs like this, particularly on the public broadcaster, then one has to contextualise it in a way that makes even-handed discussion thereof possible. Otherwise it is not “open debate” — but simply the propagation of hatred.
But then, we know that the SABC of Thabo Mbeki, Christine Qunta and Snuki Zikalala, is as eager to promote free and open debate about race and politics as was die SAUK of Die Groot Krokodil (former president PW Botha). Sympathetic portrayals of WAMs on the SABC are about as scarce as were critiques of apartheid by Cliff Saunders on die SAUK.
Not that “free” channels like Soweto TV fare much better, it seems. Some time ago there was a talk show about the “role of whites” in South Africa, or something along those lines. The only white on the panel of four was a certain “Udo”, a German-Namibian ANC enthusiast whom I have met on occasion.
Talking about “white” critique of the ANC, this worthy explained (something along the following lines) that “we whites always want to undermine black leaders like uMama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela” and “destroy their credibility”.
“The reason we do this is so that we can…” and I forget the rest, but it made Cecil John Rhodes look like a naughty school boy.
These were general statements pertaining to all “we whites”, as if one were dealing with a kind of racial conspiracy, or some or other gene that inevitably makes all “we whites” behave in this despicable manner.
“Hey! Hang on!” I thought, but worse was to come.
Continued Udo: “We whites will never belong here. We’ll always be guests in this country. That’s what I tell my children.”
A woman called in to congratulate him: “This is the first time I’ve ever come across such an honest white person,” she said, Udo’s beaming face in the background.
Come on folks! Where are we going with this!
Ref: http://www.thetimes.co.za/pdfs/5fm-arthur.pdf
Firstly, the song was from the mid 90′s and I remember from when I first heard it that most of my friends loved it, I never did, but only because I never figured how to dance to it, the rhythm just threw me off. Secondly, a friend from varsity, who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years but still kept in contact with immediately sent me the song when he heard it again on 5FM. The email attached to it was about how he thought of me throwing stuff at him whenever he blasted it from his tapedeck, and I have to say I did think about it, and it was that warm fuzzy feeling of remembering your youth and the music that was the soundtrack of our lives. Now he’s black, I’m coloured, the song was played incessantly in clubs and parties during the time it came out and I must admit, I’ve never thought if white people had heard the song, ever.
So yes, maybe it is white guilt, I don’t know, all I do know I had a different response when I heard it again after a decade.
And the response was, I remember my friends and the good times that we had.
I agree that the k-word can be debated from a point of view of etymology, sociology, etc. However the ‘use’ of the word is deeply offensive, hurtful, and remains totally unacceptable for good reason. One can barely begin to imagine the hurt and offense the word has caused, and we need to honestly, and without any hidden agendas, apologise to black South Africans for that.
People should just harden up. “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me”.
Could I just point out for clarification that “Kaffir” is of arabic origin and means “unbeliever” (non-muslim.)?
Could you remember to include the Arabic Slave Trade, and exploitation of Africa and involvement of the Middle East in colonialism, two thousand years before the Europeans got past the Equator?
As well as their involvement whilst the Atlantic Slave Trade was in full flow and after it was banned, together with their involvement in the Eastern and Northern Slave trades and Colonialist countries. To the extent that Northern Semetic Sudanese refer to (Black) Southerners as “abd”, “Slave”.
Together with there still being Chattel Slave castes in African countries (Mail, Mauritania) and the only Colony left in Africa is occupied by an Arabic nation (Western Sahara and Morocco).
Then you might realise what you look like talking about Black-White racism and interaction whilst using an Arabic insult that you are apparently completely ignorant of. Or that of who the Cape Malays were and their origins in the history of Cape Town and South Africa.
If you started admitting there are other colours than Black and White and other continents apart from Africa and Europe you might actually start getting somewhere in overcoming your history.
And overcoming the failure to address the issues today, by ignoring what they actually are.
The world at large should stop moralising and analysing everything.
All the answers to the racial problem, unpalatable though they may be , are to be found in the sutuations in Zimbabwe,Darfur,Kenya…
There are a few examples in the making with recently elected presidents.
Iteresting article indeed.
I just think that some people tend to internalise and over analyse certain issues. Having said that, the biggest problem that seems to permeate South Africans is this dumbness of always generalising everything and anything. Maybe we should also stop taking ourselves too seriously because when that happens, we lose our ability to be objective.
The issues that you raise are evident in South Africa and I’ve often wondered as to who bestows individuals the to speak on behalf of their particular race groups. Perhaps we need to distinguish between opinions and factually correct statements. For me, person X having an opinion about a particular topic that presupposes to speak on my behalf does not necessarily represent my views.
I hear what you’re saying though, and maybe we need to have a discussion as a people about issues like this. As to who has the right to speak on behalf of a perticular group. It’s a tough one though, I feel you man.
Just thought I should correct you. The song is not from the 80s as you state but from the 90s, actually 1995.
Another thing is that since the listenership of 5fm is mostly white, I get the impression that they are the only ones who believe that they are entitled to using the word and not anyone else, especially black. They need to get a life because the song was never banned and is more educational than anything else as it helps the baas that the black man does not appreciate being called kaffir. Maybe those who complained should have listened to the song first and get over themselves and their righteousness. ]
By the way boer and mlungu and are not derogatory words. A boer is a farmer, any South African who did Afrikaans at school would know this-black and white- and mlungu means white person in Nguni languages. In Sesotho, Sepedi and Setswana it would be lekgowa.
Whites are conveniently lumped together on issues of race. Even the normally well balanced Fresh falls prey to the subconscious idea, that whites are all racist and feel guilty about it. The fact is most whites are tired of being framed as racist or guilty or any one thing.
I would argue from semantic point of view any sentence which uses the all – blacks / whites / coloureds / Indians – is racist as it attributes view points on the base of skin colour and culture. It is easily demonstrated that people with in all population groups differ widely in their ideas of the world.
The song as it stands frames whites as exploitative racists. Many whites accept that apartheid was morally flawed, legally repressive and feel guilt. But this implies they accept wrong doing and have changed or does Fresh not think whites cannot change?
A word of advice Fresh always ask how you would feel if a white racist used them term ‘all blacks are’ and ask yourself how is this different from the term ‘all whites a’? Both are indicative of a racist mind set.
Kaffir was released in the mid-90s when kwaito came in from the sidelines to be the mainstream.
Caused quite a fuss back then too.
I think it says a lot about the continued segregation of our society that some people are only offended by it in 2009.
I cannot comment on the article as a whole, but would like to add my 5 cents: I played no part in the Apartheid government or era as I was too young. The reason I am offended by something like this is that it does incite hatred and hatred is usually indiscriminate which means that I, as a white male, am also a victim of this hatred. If someone wants to play this song, they should contextualise it in a way that emphasizes how far we’ve come or how bad things were and not make white people the target of the exercise. The fact that DJ Fresh comes to his unfortunate conclusion simply indicates his predisposed ideas and goal. I’ve always thought of him as a pretty open minded person, but he has simply driven another sword in the fragile racial links in SA. Play the song, but be very careful about what you say about it… and if you want a debate, allow a debate and not simply make those that are outraged look like fools.
This WAM is here to stay, deal with it. This African, South African, Afrikaans dude belongs to Africa, I’m a true child of the soil. No one, not even Zuma can affirm my right or deny it. I do not feel sorry one bit for anything, as I’m not a victim nor a transgressor. I embrace all that is truly African, including Ubuntu, and my Indian – African , Black – African , Coloured – African , English – African , Chinese – African brothers.
My goodness. All this fuss about a song called “Don’t call me kaffir”. “Don’t call me kaffir” was released in early 90s. “Don’t call me Kaffir” was sung by Arthur. “Don’t call me Gaffer” was a short lived Leon schuster rip-off of the song “Don’t call me kaffir”. “Kaffir, don’t call me” was a less widely released single (I can’t remember the artist) in response to “Don’t call me kaffir”. “Don’t call me Saffir” was a mix some London guys put together based on the music of “Don’t call me kaffir”.
Just some more information on the song “Don’t call me kaffir” and perhaps its use as a “white guilt” tool.
I can’t agree more with Alisdair. “Kaffir” is from “Kafur”, an Arabic derogatory term levelled against “non-belivers”. This alone suggests that Africa, including the rest of other less powerful continents, was not enslaved and colonized only by America and Europe. Arabs started this dirty game several centuries ahead of any of these powers. Many sub-Saharan Africans have a tendency of clinging to this notion of being non-white that we imagine we share with Arabs. They also imagine that that ‘shared’ blackness, as it were, is a unifying bond between us and the Arabs. No, Arabs still consider themselves superior on the basis of religion and economic power. Even Africans who think that by joining Islam they will be acceptable to Arabs are fooling themselves. Arabs, as Abraham’s descendents, will never share their genealogical blessings with these Africans; they will just use them as slaves and continue to make them believe that they are now equal in the face Allah. There is no such equality in reality; race still plays a significant role in dividing the people of the world and religion is used as a justification. May all Africans now know that European and Arabic colonialisms are just the same, with Europe having used Christianity and Arabs Islam to justify their dirty acts against Africans.
Let also remember that most of the northern region of Africa is, up to this day, still painfully colonized by the Arabs. Think about Egypt, Morrocco, etc.
In Afrikaans the word is ‘kaffer’, not kaffir, which is an Arabic word -see @Alisdair Budd on April 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 am. My mother must have been a racist when she was calling us kaffers (or turks)when we were particularly dirty as boys tend to be when playing in the mud. We talk about 80 years ago and in Europe, far from Africa. In the 16th century the Dutch rebelled against Spanish domination and the Spanish queen called them ‘beggars’, a particular derogatory term at the time. It was intentional. Not to be outdone the Dutch rebels promptly accepted it as a badge of honour and to this day the word ‘geus’ in Dutch has a positive meaning. Now I can’t see any black in South Africa to follow the Dutch example and say ‘please call me a kaffer’ that is too much to expect. Better to ban the word -the hated ‘k’ word- and so prolong the agony. Because if the white man used that word he would no longer be a racist and that we simply cannot have. Heaven forbid! We might even start living in harmony in the rainbow nation. Even become a real democracy. It takes two people to cause offence but two great people not to be offended. Time to grow up and stop being ‘kleinlik’
Regarding the comment that “boer” and “mlungu” aren’t derogatory: words become offensive not through their actual meaning, but through the contexts within which they are used.
As explained before, the term “kaffir” means non-believer and originates in the Arabic culture. Thus if understood purely in its literal sense, it’s not that insulting – surely it’s quite accurate to describe the majority of black people as non-believers in the Muslim faith? According to this origin, I am also one.
But obviously this isn’t how it works. The word became deeply offensive through many years of use as an expression of hate. Similarly, being Afrikaans, I don’t mind being called a Boer in the literal sense – my family and ancestors are indeed farmers. But used in the wrong context, it brings to mind the haunting and hurtful “kill the Boer, kill the farmer” and “one Boer, one bullet” phrases. Additionally, I’ve been in many situations where mlungu was used in a hateful and derogatory way (having been in a school with a majority of Xhosa pupils).
It’s a tricky matter. On the one hand, these parts of our history shouldn’t simply be ignored. On the other, they should only be used with great care and sensitivity.
5FM is a music radio station, an entertainment station. But yet they are always making controversial statements about politics, race and religion. These are all very touchy subjects and then they have the nerve to say that they were unlocking a debate!! I am sorry since when has Fresh been hosting a talk show. Besides a debate has two sides. Not one guy behind a mic and the other on a telephone that gets cut of because of his opposing opinion. This “debate” will just causes more race tension, besides what were they expecting.
The irony is that if whites phoned in and said they loved the song they would be called racists, now that they did the opposite, they have white guilt. I will not be labeled with something like “white guilt” for something an idiot did 20 years before I was born. You cant judge the Germans of today for the atrocities Hitler committed.
I think if Fresh wants to invoke a debate, it should rather be about uniting South African rather than to divide everyone for entertainment purposes. 5FM should stick to what they know, leave the debates to 702.
Here we go again! Why do white South Africans have such difficulty balancing politically correctness with freedom of speech?
‘Imagine trying to force African-Americans to stop calling one another “nigger”.’
Actually, recently in the US, African-Americans have attempted to do precisely that. (http://www.blackpress.org/naacp.htm) They made a concerted effort to discourage the use of the n-word in everyday slang and rap songs etc. Remember in general that is still OK for a black person to use the n-word but its not OK for the white person. Hope you can grasp the nuances of why this is so. If not, maybe in your next lifetime.
I understand why you worry about the stereotyping of white Afrikaans-speaking males but why can’t you see the the harm of using racial epitaphs in the first place! Freedom of speech works both ways, but somehow you cannot seem to reconcile being on the receiving end of stereotyping. If the k-word was not used so pervasively in SA, there would be no use for this “educational” song either. But its really Udo’s speech that makes you nervous, isn’t it?
Dear Siyabonga,
Not so long ago being called a boer could have been a prelude to being killed. It most definitely has derogatory connotations, depending on context of course.
Mlungu – as another contributor pointed out, this too can be used in a derogatory way. In East Africa, at least, the term Mzungu has for some time been problematised.
Context is king. Imagine being at a Blue Bulls Cheetah rugby match and somebody calls you “Hey, black man!” Are you going to interpret that as being neutral?
My own opinion is that we all need to grow thicker skins and start becoming more tolerant about one another’s prejudices.
However, achieving this requires that one recognises it in the first place…
Kind regards,
Conrad
Ooph!
Dear Dave Harris,
You are perpetrating the very generalisations that we are talking about.
It is not ‘African-Americans’ that have attempted “to discourage the use of the n-word in everyday slang and rap songs etc.” It is *some* embarrassed middle-class African-Americans that did so, and their impact has been negligible.
I’m everything but oblivious to the potential harm of using ‘racial epitaphs’, as you say, but I’m not going to tell a black guy he cannot use the word in a song. Nor a white guy for that matter – it all depends on what they are saying. What is important is that we all start getting used to one another and get rid of all those chips on our shoulders.
I think you are really missing the point here.
Kind regards,
Conrad
Hmm, freedom of speech, I think Udo should have used a bit more judgement before speaking of ‘we whites’….
It’s common sense that the work originated from Arabic.
@ Coen: I think Zuma said that Afrikaners are “the only white South African tribe” because, geneticists and anthropologists claim that about 97% of Afrikaners have African/negroid ancestors. I think that’s why he said that.
But then again, Beethoven was one-sixteenth black and yet that didn’t make him any less white.
It is hard to verify race biologically because throughout history there has been massive racial interbreeding.
African Americans are on about a number of words including among others the h and b words. These words hurt the black community more than other race groups.As someone explained after the Rutgers incident, the n***** word reminds them of slavery. The n**** was somebody else’s property he could not just exist as his own person. Perhaps the problem is with the conversion of the universal black people’s struggle to a universal black popular culture aided by mass pop culture hegemony. In other words African society tribal cultures are endagered not because of trying to imitate whites but because of popular black culture.
There will always be vindictive thinking among these pseudo-black American thinkers a like DJ Fresh who espouse the “cool” of emptily quoting Martin Luther King Jnr, Malcom X.Unfortunately his type are the role models. South Africa is under a process of cultural engineering of which the SABC is taking a leading role. For Christ’s sake even Mugabe’s s only dusted off those war documentaries when he needed to engineer the society’s thinking into a vindictive and retributive mood necessary to justify his deliquency and clinging to power.Colonialism was real but the motive for rehashing the past in all its graphic form was to serve a narrow end.Hence the SABC programming in the name of history is not only stoking black anger but is also entrenching entrenching the ANC’s version of history and the struggle.
“Udo” (Froese), former announcer with the old SWABC (now) NBC in Windhoek,must have had a Damascus -experience since those days when he was considered to be fairly middle-of-road politically.
@Conrad
So what generalizations am I perpetrating? And who is we? I thought you were responsible for writing this blather.
The NAACP is 100 year organization that has been fighting for civil rights for all African-Americans not just the middle class.They did not outlaw the n-word, they strongly discouraged its use among the younger generation. Please educate yourself first .
You speak of some “*some* embarrassed middle-class African-Americans”. Really, are they just “embarrassed” by the use of the n-word? You have no idea!
A word of advice: Irregardless of the freedom of speech we now enjoy in SA since 1994, its generally NEVER OK for a white guy to use racial epitaphs. You may use it at your on risk!
“get rid of all those chips on our shoulders”
So what about Udo speech gets your dander up?
Chuma, you have just articulated the point I’ve been thinking about for too long now!! Now, the question is, how do we halt this unfortunate misuse of our history in contemporary African cultural context? How do we begin to educate this SABC board to correct their thinking, vision and actions. We have become culturally adulterated and we euphemistically this ‘being progressive’. But in what direction are we ‘progressing’? For whose benefit are we ‘progressing’? And are we supposed to be confused by notions such as ‘dynamism of culture’? Are we aware that some wolves are using such notions to further annihilate us culturally so that we should now betray even the fundamental cause of our struggle against the oppression of Africa? Well, all I can say is that Chuma, you have articulated a very important point. I suspect you might be related to a Pastor Chuma from Zimbabwe who used to preach about the ‘black hand that carried the cross of Christ’. Are you the same Pastor Chuma? Well done!!
Dear Dave Harris,
You write:
What generalisations am I perpetrating?
My response:
I quote: “Why do white South Africans have such difficulty balancing politically correctness with freedom of speech?”
You write:
Really, are they just “embarrassed” by the use of the n-word? You have no idea!
My response:
You are missing the nuances here. I am referring to the class dimensions. Its obvious that people would otherwise be more than embarrassed.
You write:
NEVER OK for a white guy to use racial epitaphs. You may use it at your on risk!
My response:
Again, you are missing the point. I am not advocating that these terms are used in hurtful ways. At the same time I must disagree that ‘white guys’ could never use them. Read the piece again if you are really interested in getting the argument.
You write: So what about Udo speech gets your dander up?
My response: Now really! That is one thing that I am not going to spell out.
Kind regards,
Conrad
Dear Chuma,
Why don’t you write a piece about the Zimbabwean experience with the state broadcaster? It seems we could learn much from it and I for one would be interested in reading wat you have to say.
Kind regards,
Conrad
@Conrad
Both blacks and whites were victims of apartheid but in different ways. Here is why I find your article hypocritical and insensitive:
In spite of your concern of how white afrikaner males are being portrayed in the media, you seem to be totally oblivious of YOUR use of the k-word.
1. Your overuse of the k-word in your article (12 times!!!), this makes one wonder if in fact you secretly enjoy using the word.
2. Notice that you even resorted to sticking the k-word in your title!
3. Then you unashamedly try to equate the k-word to other despicable but lesser known words like “hotnot” and “coolie”. The k-word is like the n-word, it has a unique history of oppression and inhumanity like no other.
I may be nitpicking but it does tell me a lot about your lack of empathy towards blacks. Maybe next time if you write an article on racism you should get a black person to help you.
You then resort to meaningless expressions like “class dimensions” to squirm out of wrongly misrepresenting who the NAACP speaks for.
Again, with regards to why IN GENERAL its never OK for whites to use the k-word or n-word, as I said before, maybe in your next lifetime you’ll understand!
Instead of being arrogant and patronizing by refusing to “spell out” what irks you about Udo’s statement, why not just retract your blather.
It’s the year 2009. We have just had our 4th democratic elections. The clock is ticking and time is moving on, but all that you idiots out there can think of is the past. Yes terrible things happened, but are we still living in apartheid? NO! We have moved on. Stop bickering about a stupid word. The one’s that are still using the word kaffir, do you really think that they will change? I don’t. So let them go on with there little childish ways. I would put more effort in the children. Because if all our children are getting along, then race hatred will die out and the word kaffir with it.
On a completely different note.
To all you blacks out there, that think all the whites should go back to were we came from. Where would that be? Europe? I don’t see any blacks that are hurrying back from Europe or the Americas to there homeland because they were only guests. I am 29 years old and 100% white. I was born in Pretoria, South Africa, Africa. I am an African and I am here to stay, so live with it. Either you stand with me to build a better South Africa or you stand against me and many others.
We are part of the “human race” not the black and white race
Interesting article Conrad…thank you.
As for the other comments, do you guys always have to be so “technical”? I don’t understand a thing….
Siyabonga:
“I think it says a lot about the continued segregation of our society that some people are only offended by it in 2009.”
Wonderful!! Totally true!
Conrad. I do think there is an unwritten rule about not using the k word, even among people who are comfortable with debunking stereotypes which make other people invisible. The rule is broken when someone is unable to get themselves beyond the baas-boy mentality and acts in a submissive and stupid way that is embarrassing to other blacks, regardless of class. It means that the person is not really a black person, but a lesser being controlled by a white person. I wrote a piece in the Sunday Times a while ago on the word “lekgoa”. I concluded that “lekgoa”, which is a word with a root that denotes a person without shame, without decorum, always shouting, a social embarassment turns the tables on the oppressor. The fact that it is now accepted as part of common parlance means that it has, just like boer, or leburu, become just another word. The k word cannot be equated with other words as it so deeply offensive. It means you are not a human being, and are estranged from God. I know you well,and your involvement in land struggles of communities, and can assure others that it is not your intention to perpetuate dehumanisation and denying their relationshiop to the supernatural. You should know that you are loved by your comrades, even if they sometimes call you “leburu.”
When Arthur penned the song, it was not to humiliate white people, it was rather protest against it`s liberal use and broadly the White to Black abuse that was common place at the time. If u follow the song u`ll get.
Boer = farmer
Mlungu(nguni) = foam created when ocean waves crash on the beach.
Lokgowa(sotho/tswana) = an aggressor/one who used force to take possession.
Let`s only become sensitive about racism only when we need to defend our own position in the New SA, when a child was shot dead at close range because he was thaught to have been a baboon I did not hear a word.
Imagine trying to force African-Americans to stop calling one another “nigger”.
That is totally false. And for a essay which took so much time to present it self in this manner, could not have mistakenly qouted that term in that manner!! I do not know one Afro-American who refers to each other as ‘NIGGER”
@Conrad, Very interesting article.
I have been reading a number of comments and just wished I had seen this article when all these discussions started. With the word “Kaffir” generating from Arabic culture that I understand, though the context it was used in during the Apartheid time in south African should not be ignored, as it still has some historical and emotional attachments to it.
At the time the song came out it’s was just after South Africa had gained freedom and united and this song was not aimed in offending anyone, it is the same as those audio cassettes I have at home from the time of the struggle that remind me where we come from before this free South Africa we live in. Also today is today, the past has past that doesn’t mean anyone will erase the memories or the history but we should just learn to live with each other in this new South Africa and not live in the past.
I have some white friends that I call “mlungu” , some I call “dutch man” they call me “kaffir” that is just us playing with those words, no emotional or historical attachments to them, no one is offended instead we laugh around that. A word is always used in a certain context and at times when used in another it differs, some words have historical attachments to them as some white African individuals don’t want to be called “mlungu” or “boer” because of the historical attachments.
It’s a free, new South Africa for goodness sake, we don’t live in those days live in…