Since the publishing of David Bullard’s “controversial” column: Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing, much has surfaced in terms of debate concerning the message the piece sends. Many have called the piece racist and offensive, and others have found it to be satiric.
After lengthy discussions with media students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg campus, I have discovered that David Bullard has hit a nerve. It is not the insult or racist nerve that has been widely discussed; but the innate prejudice that lies within every human being that he has exposed. For you see, it is not that David Bullard criticised African heritage, but that he forced South Africans to think about their past and possibly where their future is headed if things carry on in this downward spiral.
The simple question of why can’t we just get along, pops into my head. Mondli Makhanya’s response makes mention of resentment, why is there resentment in South Africa? Surely the answer cannot be the infamous past? This might be too complex for my young brain to grasp, but I should think that at some point the present should have to take responsibility for itself? Yes, the past was a ghastly and vindictive contraption, but surely it cannot always stand as a scapegoat for the errors of today?
What I found rather disturbing in my discussions with students, was their belief that the piece was acceptable in other African countries because they have not suffered the same violent racist past South Africa has endured. Okay, maybe other African countries wouldn’t have a their knickers in twist about it, because let’s face it, they’ve got more important things on their minds, but the fact that their democracies are much older than South Africa’s does not make it any less violent or race driven.
The Bullard debate has given way for old prejudices to rear its ugly head, stopping just short of one group shouting at the other: “Oh just forget it, you can’t understand what we suffered”, but in a far more academic and eloquent way.
What the country needs is not the firing of a satirist like David Bullard, but an education on simple things, like letting go and moving on because as childlike as it may sound, what harm could it really do? Bullard may have insulted the culture of a great number of South Africans, which I don’t condone, but what is worse? Thirty years from now, when the now 22-year-old black man from my lecture, tell his son that he did not get a job because of that 35-year-old white man on the interview board? Likewise, the now 22-year-old white man who tells his son in thirty years time that the reason the economy is ravaged and the country is overrun by crime is the fault of the 40-year-old black man that just happens to work for the government.
All these people were born in the new democracy and are blamed for things they know nothing of. So what’s worse, one offensive satiric piece by David Bullard that would have gone unnoticed if attention wasn’t drawn to it, or generations of South Africans bred in hatred and resentment for their fellow man?
We can’t ignore the problems in our country, but it seems that we are focusing so much on them that we are in danger of becomming totally obsessed with race etc. Would it not be much better to focus on the good things? South Africans are much further ahead of overseas nations in terms of learning to accept each other and to appreciate each other’s differences. Or do I only speak for city people who are blessed with education? What could be done to improve the race relations in every part of SA? Good actions will speak very loudly to help break down prejudices and generalisations. We need to start from the simplest people with acts of kindness between the various groups because it seems that intellectualls and politicians are just enjoying discussing all the problems. It’s about the ordinary people who just want to get on with their lives, regardless of how different their neighbours might be. It’s about giving and not taking all the time.
I see a bright future for SA, but we all still do have a lot to learn, and we will have a greater reward for overcoming our problems becuase we seem to have been given a bigger load of problems to deal with than other countries. It will take a lot of determination, vision and humbleness to succeed, but we can do this. I believe in the South African people.
African countries … the fact that their democracies are much older than South Africa’s.
Were all those one-party systems democracies?
Satire is supposed to “prick the pompousity of those in power”.
Notice how many dictators make it an offence to ridicule them. It scares them when no amount of guns or sanctions will.
The ridicule of a fool making the king look a bigger idiot.
What I find annoying about Bullard is that his piece wasn’t even particularly well written, or historically accurate (Zim and Great Zimbabwe have been exporting gold for as long as at least the 8th century.)
One would have hought that you could find at least one competent satirist in the whole of SA.
Ah… it’s knickers in a a knot dear…not a twist.
Well said Michelle, about time we ignored the rubbish, and focussed on reality. Inequality can no longer be blamed on a skin colour and history, although some can be blamed on the past, while most can be attributed to “blame itself…
Hi Lady,
My butt is as white as driven snow and I am one of the most endangered species on earth, the WAM. (White Afrikaans Male).
I don’t know you but unbelievable as it may sound, I actually like you. while I am supposed to hate you. You display the kind of reasoning that could lead South Africa to a great future. I could actually share a country with people like you.
Pity you are one in a million. I am faced with Mbeki’s cows in parliament – that’s why I am an expatriate and will remain one until people like you take over South Africa. I guess I will die in a foreign country, far away from the soetdorings and kwevoels that I love. David Bullard is actually right, after all.
Hi Michelle,
Good piece, and does provoke the Q? At what point should people ‘let go’?
I can understand that a huge amount of damage has been done to the previously disadvantaged population via Apartheid, and I wonder how long this will take to be ‘history’ rather than current? I also understand that we need to ‘move on’ in order to foster close relationships with each other going forward. I guess what is needed is a sensible balance between ‘remembering the injustices of the past, so as to never repeat them’ and ‘putting it behind us, so we can move forward together’. It’s extremely sensitive in South Africa though, and highly emotional subject matter (as you can see from the various contributors to TL).
I sincerely think the future lies with our childrens ability to see past skin colour. I have been so pleased to see that largely, the 18-21 year olds etc, seem to give no more attention to skin colour, than they do to hair colour. Sure, there’s a few die hards amongst them (mainly their parents fault, for refusing to accept change) but over all, they seem to get along fine. I guess the risk factor comes into play if things like AA and BEE have no sunset clause……eventually there will be resistance from people who were born after Apartheid ended, and still pay ‘penance’. It’s only a natural reaction I suppose.
At the end of the day, I think that we have a lot more in common, that differences, so I hope that eventually people do ‘move on’…….
Thanks again!
Satire as wot it is done like:
Unknown Author:
QUESTION: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Morgan Tsvangirai: Because it wanted a taste of life on the other
side of the road. It was exercising its right.
Patrick Chinamasa: No. The chicken did not cross the road. In fact we
need to verify whether in fact it was a chicken. As far as we know,
the chicken is still there. It could have been an eagle. We have to
wait until verification is done.
Didymus Mutasa: I do not think it crossed the road. If it crossed the
road it’s because the white farmer dragged it. But we cannot allow
that to happen. It will have to come back.
Joseph Chinotimba: The kichen, no, chicken is a sell-out against the
revolution. The `O’ vets will have to eat it!
Robert Mugabe: The chicken will never be allowed to cross the road.
Not in my life time! Let those that run away to Bush and Brown do so.
Not my chicken! My chicken will never cross the road. It will never
be colonised again!
Thabo Mbeki: Er . uhm . I don’t see any chicken at the moment. Er.
I think it is right for us to wait and see. Let things take the
natural course. If. if. if it did cross the road we will be told
officially. If it wants to cross the road we will see it when it
crosses. There is nothing to talk about at the moment. Er. I don’t
see any problem right now.
Tendai Biti: We have irrefutable evidence from those who were at the
road that the chicken has, indeed, without any shadow of doubt,
crossed the road. I hereby declare that Chicken Huku Inkuku is now
the legitimate resident of the other side of the road.
Bright Matonga: At the moment we know that it has not crossed the
road, despite imperialist efforts to push it. We know they will try
again and are now preparing to unleash the remaining 75 percent of our
effort so that it can never be pushed again next time.
Nathaniel Manheru a.k.a. George Charamba: How can a chicken, itself
a hapless bird, be expected to cross the road unless it is pushed
deviously and surreptitiously by the hand of the vicious and uncouth
imperialists? The only chicken that can cross that road is a stooge,
a puppet, an instrument of the West that will be rocket-propelled by
the loud fart of Brown and Bush . Icho!
Levy Mwanawasa: It knew the ground on that side was sinking like the
Titanic. It had to cross.
General Chiwenga: It can’t.
Commissioner-General Chihuri: It can’t cross the road.
Gordon Brown: It was running away from Mugabe.
Jacob Zuma: I think it is important that we be told whether or not
the chicken actually crossed road. That should be very easy to do.
Jonathan Moyo: Of course, the chicken crossed the road because it
could not stand the nonsense on the other side. But the shameless
securocrats will do everything in their power to prevent everyone
from knowing that it, indeed, and unequivocally crossed the road.
Judge of the High Court: Whether or not it crossed the road is a
matter for the officials to declare at their own time. They have the
power to order a re-check and verification as to whether it crossed
the road before they can make the declaration.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission: We are not in a position to say
whether or not the chicken crossed the road. There are some people
who have complained that it probably wasn’t a chicken at all and
others saying it was being pushed or dragged against its will. We are
currently considering whether to do a re-check before we can
officially declare if the chicken crossed the road. We will take as
long as we want to be fully certain that it was a chicken that
crossed the road.
Strange how a comment by a white man about blacks raises such a response. Like the comment by Dr Watson about intelligence. How do other Blacks in africa without Apartheid baggage respond to such things? This is interesting.
I Agree with Dr Watson – by Idang Alibi
A few days ago, the Nobel Laureate, Dr James Watson, made a remark that is now generating worldwide uproar, especially among the blacks.
He said what to me looks like a self-evident truth. He told The Sunday Times of London in an interview that in his humble opinion, black people are less intelligent than the White people.
Since then, some of us cannot hear anything else but the outrage of black people who feel demeaned by what Watson has said. So many people have called the man names. To be expected, some have said he is a racist. Some even wonder how a “foolish” man like Watson could have won the Nobel Prize. Even white people who, deep in their heart, agree with Watson want to be politically, correct so they condemn the man.
Why are we blacks becoming so reactive, so sensitive to any remarks, no matter how well-meaning, about our failure as a race? Why are we becoming like the Jews who see every accusation as a manifestation of anti-Semitism? I do not know what constitutes intelligence. I leave that to our so-called scholars. But I do know that in terms of organising society for the benefit of the people living in it, we blacks have not shown any intelligence in that direction at all. I am so ashamed of this and sometimes feel that I ought to have belonged to another race.
Nigeria my dear country is a prime example of the inferiority of the black race when compared to other races. Let somebody please tell me whether it is a manifestation of intelligence if a people cannot organise a free, fair and credible election to choose who will lead them. Is it intelligence that we cannot provide simple pipe-borne water for the people? Our public school system has virtually collapsed. Is that a sign of intelligence? Our roads are impassable. In spite of the numerous sources that nature has made available to us to tap for energy to run our industries and homes, we have no steady supply of electricity. Yet electricity is the bedrock of industrialisation. When you agree with the school of Watson, some say you are incorrect because all these failures are a result of poor leadership. Why must it be us blacks who must always suffer poor leadership? Is that not a manifestation of unintelligence?
In the name of international trade, bilateral co-operation, globalisation and other subterfuges, the norm in the world today is for smart people to appropriate the wealth of other people for themselves and their countries. But more among the blacks than any other race, the practice is to steal from their own country and salt away to other people’s country. Is it intelligence that our leaders steal billions of naira and hide in other people’s country?
Anywhere in the world today where you have a concentration of black people among other races, the poorest, the least educated, the least achieving, and the most violent group among those races will be the blacks. When indices of underdevelopment are given, black people and countries are sure to occupy the bottom of the ladder. If we are intelligent, why do we not carry first when statistics of development are given?
Look at the African continent. South Africa is the most developed country because of the presence of whites there. This may be an uncomfortable truth for many of us but it exists nevertheless. If the whites had been driven away after independence, we would have seen a steady decline of that country.
In terms of natural endowment, Africa ought to be the richest of the continents but see the mess we have made of the potential for greatness which God in his infinite wisdom has bestowed upon us. We have proved totally incapable of harnessing the abundant natural resources to become great. Today, there is a renewed scramble for the wealth of Africa. China, our new “friend”, does not bother about the genocide against fellow blacks in the Sudan by the Arabs who control the affairs of that country. They say they do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of any country. All they want is the oil in Sudan to run their industries. Yet, we blacks have not seen the Chinese action as an affront to our sensitivities. Every race takes us for granted because we are so weak and so foolish, if you permit me to say it.
I am really pained by our gross underachievement as a race. Instead of regarding bitter truths expressed by the likes of Watson as a wake-up call for us to engage in sober reflection, we take to the expression of woolly sentiment. For me, this type of reaction is a further evidence of our unintelligence. A man of intelligence recognises genuine criticism against him and takes steps to improve himself in order to prove his critics wrong. But for us blacks, our reaction is to abuse the man who expresses worries about our backwardness.
Other races are deeply worried about us because we are a problem to the world. We suffer from the five Ds: disorderliness, debts, diseases, deaths and disasters. Our disorderliness affects others or else they won’t be too bothered about us. Many are afraid because our diseases could infect them. Polio has been eradicated all over the world yet it is still found in Nigeria. When they give us money to help us eradicate it, our thieving officials will embezzle the money; the virus will spread and endanger the health of not only our people but other people as well.
Out of a shared sense of humanity, some cannot bear to see how we die in thousands almost every day from clearly preventable diseases and causes. For years now, our people die extremely painful but perfectly preventable deaths from buildings which collapse because they were poorly constructed. How can you tell me we are as intelligent as others when we set traps for ourselves in the name of houses and others do not do so? Some people are extremely frustrated about us. If they have a way of avoiding us, they will be only too glad to do so because we are a problem.
As I write this, I do so with great pains in my heart because I know that God has given intelligence in equal measure to all his children, irrespective of the colour of their skin. The problem with us black people is that we have refused to use our intelligence to organise ourselves socially and politically.
It should worry us that we do not invent things. We do not go to the moon. Our societies are not well-organised. We have the shortest lifespan of all the races. Something must be wrong with us. Why are we not like others? Our scholars will be quick to say that these are not the only ways of measuring intelligence. They will quote other scholars to adumbrate their point, but the fact remains that we are not showing intelligence. Others are showing it more than we’re doing. If they are not more intelligent than we are, let someone tell me how to put it. God himself must be frustrated with his black children. They must be an embarrassment to Him. He has given us everything He has given to other of his children; why are His black children not manifesting their own gift?
A few years ago, the whites used to contemptuously call the Japanese “little Japs”. Today, the Japanese and other Asians have pulled themselves up by the bootstrap and have arrived. No one speaks of the Japanese or Asians with contempt anymore. When people like Watson speak about us in unedifying terms, we should take it as a challenge to prove them wrong by sitting down to plan how we can become world-beaters.
If our political leaders are the reason for our backwardness, we should resolve to get the kind of leaders who will be instruments for our rapid progress. I may not know how intelligence is measured, but my limited knowledge of intelligence is that it can also be measured by the kind of leaders a people decide to have. If, for instance, our professors preside over the massive rigging of elections, it means that we do not have very intelligent professors. Such rigged elections will no doubt produce unintelligent leaders. Such unintelligent leaders will do stupid things, which will prove that we are not as intelligent as other races. Do I sound confusing or intelligent?
I am ready for some of our ‘patriotic’ intellectuals who will write and abuse me for the ‘outrage’ I have expressed here, but I stick to my guns: we lack intelligence and as stated in the Bible, anyone who lacks intelligence should cry unto God who is the custodian of wisdom to bestow some upon him. We should go on our knees today and ask God why we do not appear as intelligent as our other brothers. I am confident God will reveal to us what we must do, and urgently too, to change our terribly unflattering circumstances.
Well written and intelligent article- we need women like you in politics Michelle!
Well said Michelle! There needs to be a time limit on blame and it takes everyone as individuals to stop trying to outtalk each other and just get on with being responsible for our own actions and start getting on with each other. This is the best country in the world to live in, lets keep it that way.
When I at last got to read the Bullard article and the resulting fall-out, a thought came to mind: it takes a racist to recognise another racist. If you are not a thief yourself you might find it hard to catch another thief as your mind is not focussed on thieving. It seems that Michelle is at least trying to focus on the present which is refreshing. Hopefully she is one of a new breed of South Africans who can make the country worth living in. Those who are obsessed by the past are condemned to re-enact it.
Michelle it is people like you that gives a whitey hope for the country.Actually it should give us all hope irrespective of colour.
Take a deep breath, re-read the bullard piece and chill, people. Good satire pokes fun at pomposity, narrow-mindedness and fascist jingoism. Bullard’s primary point is that south africa would have been better off without the evils of westernisation: he’s really ripping off the settlers and colonists (migrants in today’s terminology) and the pernicious influence of the cultures and technologies which they brought with them. But since the death of the rainbow nation (contemporaneous with the ousting of Madiba by Mbeki and the preaching of his doctrine of retribution and anti-white racism) the readership has been schooled to interpret opinion such as bullard’s satire as racist and to react in predictable knee-jerk fashion resulting in the current point-scoring storm in a teacup.
There are more important things to worry about, of which the resurrection of the rainbow nation should be primary. This is a time for choices: We can get on with nation building and realising the long term potential of our country and all our people or we can continue to slither about in the muck and slime of cheap shots, point scoring, short term benefits and narrow-minded self interest…This is a time to make choices
South Africans have become so hyper-sensitive and anal retentive that genuine racism (a la Jon Qwelane and semi-sentient carbon-based life form that calls itself Abbey Makoe) become clouded and mingled with satire and even hyperthetical truth (a la Bullard, Trapido, Kriel, Ncobo et al). I believe they should all be tolerated and read and considered. NEVER BANNED.
It is not the overt public debate we should fear – no matter how offensive (billions of monotheists find Richard Dawkins’ self-styled “militant atheism” blasphemously & profoundly offensive – much worse than snide racism). It is the subtle, govt-sponsored “projects” that alienate people, set community against community under the guise of “criminal acts”, the ineptitude of Thabo and his thugs that we should fear.
Llewelyn Kriel’s great quote is so appropriate: “A sure way to prevent your head getting jammed up your own arse is to wind your neck in regularly”. It means don’t be so uppity about the little things or you could become too anal to recognise who are the real bad guys are.
The time is now. The trick is, how will we do it?
Until the people and government bring about real change in the lives of the disenfranchised, the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the squatter camps. Until human rights are respected and real action takes place to bring about authentic, meaningful change, the rich will just continue to get richer and the poor poorer and the race divisions that exist will become, as they are already, class divisions, with the poor being left behind. Hungry, resentful and sad. Unfortunately, many South Africans only look after themselves and leave all expectations for change in the hands of the few. It’s time for the people to wake up, stand up and do something good for their country and for those who most need help. Living behind walls pretending everything is ok is a worryingly selfish approach. Stand up and be counted. Rally the troops. Let’s get it together!
I had a good friend who used to say: “At least I want to be kissed while I am being f****d.” Many white people feel that the government is f*****g us but we are not even being kissed.
Nothing would give me more pleasure than to get on with nation building, like I am quietly doing every day. Yet how is that possible when we are subjected to a barrage of racist legislation and murderous crimes based on the political lies and hate speech propaganda of the past? For example; consider the anti-white racist discriminery actions that will take place again under the new Expropriation Bill now under promulgation, yet we are supposed to pretend that everything is cool.
I go with what you suggest and you have my admiration for your courage. However realistically, this can only happen effectively once ant-white discrimination is eradicated; remember the black reaction against discrimination under “apartheid”. Until then people like me, who have lived through those times, will continue to highlight the truth and expose the convenient political lies, to borrow a phrase from Sandile.
Could someone perhaps point out to me what Bullard said that was actually wrong, in the light of similar comments directed against whites every day in every newspaper, in government speeches, on TV, on these blogs, etc., e.g. “white colonials are responsible for this, and that, and the other blah blah blah, and therefore all white South Africans are responsible 350 years later on”. Give me a break.
People like you give me hope because things will only change if we show our dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs through our vote. Will people vote for the same bunch of dinosaurs still engaged in the battles and hatreds of the past or are we going to use our immense base of expertise and natural resources to get on with building with what could be the Jewel of Africa? Now, that is an exciting thought.
If everyone was left alone to get along without the catastrophic results of the social engineering of the ANC, we could probably get along okay. Unfortunately the policies of the ANC are ruining everything for everyone in SA, and I see no end to it either. Which is why I too am an expatriate in the ME but who also loves SA. Very sad and totally unnecessary situation created by teh ANC.
I have to start by stating that I miss David Bullard’s Column. Apart from cursorily going through the headlines, his article was ALWAYS the first piece that I sat down to read before taking my time to go through the rest of the newspaper. It was like my mood and pace setter. And although I always admired his courage, I did not always agree with him.
I was also shocked by the silly generalisation of the piece that he wrote. His assumption, that had Europe not colonised Africa, the latter and its people(s) would have remained culturally and technologically stagnant, was an insult and it certainly deserved all the anger that it received.
But I’m not sure that trying to silence the man “forever” was the right way to go. We, South Africans, are quite an opinionated lot. David Bullard has angered many over the years. He has also made us laugh, opened our eyes, made us think. Millions of us were even angry on his behalf when he got shot in his own home, like thousands of South Africans do on what seems like a daily basis now. As Editor, Mondli Makhanya should have seen the piece before the paper was published and decided then whether it was a good decision to go ahead with it or not. The fact that he failed to “edit” the piece is not a good sign from the editor of the Sunday Times. Or, was Bullard allowed to walk into a trap so that they could finally get rid of him? I do not know.
I do not want to compare the young South African democracy (with all its imperfections) with the many one-party states in Africa, most of which have been governed by the same klepto-gerontocrats since they gained independence.
I think that we should allow voices to be heard, even the ones that we do not agree with. The lesson that the likes of Bullard should draw from the recent saga is that no form of generalisation is good, nor will ever be good!
Bullard’s article has to be the lowest moment in our present climate – just when we thought we could sink no lower:
Oh, I know we are virtually the leading murder-country in the world – I know we have more serial murderers, captured, uncaptured or escaped than just about any other country.I know our brutality defies belief.Yes I know our Commissioner of Police was somwhat dubious here and there.Yes, body dismemberment performed on the living has been known, and muti-murders are frequently recorded. Yep, I know our road deaths buggar belief, as does ATM bombings, AIDS denialsim and silent diplomacy in the face of almost unprecedented infringement of human rights across our border. Yes, it’s true that many of our leading politicians have either been in the dock, or soon will be, again. Still, I think that Bullard’s article takes the cake.Shame on you, Bullard.’What immortal hand or eye framed’ you, I wonder?
TJ Ruthenberg
Lovely piece, Michelle.
The answer to your puzzle is that old people, like old politicians and old generals, fight old wars.
Great piece, Michelle. I look forward to reading more from your pen. Like the other whiteys have said, people like you give us confidence in our future.
@Michelle
I suspect you are blue. I think I’m blue too. Doesn’t matter if light blue or dark blue. Congratulations! There should be more like you.
@Alisdair Budd
Great adaption. It fits them all.
What you say is actually very true and I think many young ‘born free’ Africans regardless of race do have this ideal picture. I grew up in multi-racial Zimbabwe and even though the ruling classes shouted and screamed in one voice on the gains of liberation struggle, the tune of the young ‘uns was very different. This is not to say that it was looked down on, but a forward looking and thinking attitude ready to build on what the liberators had fought for.
Late in my teens I remember my dad remarking just how thirty years ago he would have never imagined seeing a huge transformation in people’s hearts and minds, and the equal footing which I and my friends (both black and white) had. In the same breath, I couldn’t imagine growing up in a different setting and must admit that my naive mind at the time had trouble understanding him.
Maybe South Africa needs the downward spiral that you mention. A huge wake up call. Zim had it (or is busy having it, gradually!!) – and people (black, white, brown, pink, whatever) had stood up to the status quo and said sorry, we’ve had enough. Just get over it already! Pundits can write all they want exchanging blows on Bullard but at whose benefit? Methinks Bullard is the one who will have the last laugh.
@ Dennis: Dennis dear, can you speak any languages fluently besides English?
Dennis your spelling ain’t so better either,…….. sweety!
If Mondli had not lost his cool the whole thing would have died down. Seems to me Mondli was flicked on the raw, which makes him the racist in my book.
What appals me is the lack of logic. EITHER Africa would have retained a traditional rural lifestyle OR they would have developed to a modern state. They could not have done BOTH!
to Filipu
South Africans that are committed in making their country a better place for their children.
Let me assure you, South Africa will never make a u-turn.
1. We will defend our democracy like we did as an oppressed race in the past.
2. we will continue with fair discrimination as our constitution allows, e.g. affirmative action.
3. in the end, we will achieve our second objective that is economic control of our beloved country.
I wish you a wonderful time in your new country.
South Africans…. yawn… we’re so B O R I N G… So caught up in PETTY issues while we should be focusing on DEVELOPMENT INNOVATION PROGRESS around our challenges of POVERTY ALLEVIATION, CRIME, AIDS and EDUCATION. Pull yourselves towards yourselves, STOP being BORING, focussed on either RACE or on YOURSELVES and your plans to immigrate or your money-hungry BEE plans. Sorry to generalise, but South Africans are boxing themselves into such stereotypes. What happened to individualism? Why are we able to stereotype ourselves so easily??? Because we’re still caught up in the past. MOVE ON. Stand up, be SOUTH AFRICAN and start spending your precious life thinking about how you can make your street, community, COUNTRY a better place rather. Going round and round in circles is boring.
Nice piece Atanga. Nice piece. Wait until you hit the corporate world and see if you’ll echoe your own words in this article. We all – hopefully want to live in a peacefull South Africa – but one thing I haven’t seen is people honestly wanting to collaborate. The racism is there from all sides and there’s a lot that can be done about it. And that lot doesn’t include people demeaning each other through articles or any other form of communication. I’m glad you find being belittled as a human being ammusing ’cause you certainly are going to enjoy the corporate world. Even some responses/comments to your article have racist undertones and South Africa is beutiful country. Great article, I like your thought process and the ideal world that you live in. Spend some time with the black folk who’ve been directly hit by the apartheid bullet and kicked by the boot of an uneducated cop who could only spell his name and surname and see what 300 years of slavery does to generations of souls. Do your research and stop being like our government people, ya’ll be sitting up there and don’t know what the people at the bottom are going through. You aint doing nothing to sort out the situation, you’re just scoring brownie points for yourself. What would you know anyway, you’ve just been around for a few years. You wouldn’t what real South Africans have been through. Do your research and know what you are going to write about. Does it say you’re an editor in your profile? Get someone to edit your lettering ’cause with an editor like you, we’ll definately have another Mondli situation and you’ll have to fire someone.
Michelle,
Good questions you’re asking – even though we don’t find the answers, I commend you for asking them – it should be done more frequently, on more issues that often are swept under the carpet…
My questions on the matter of Bullard being fired, is this: Where is his right to freedom of speech? Don’t we in SA have one of the ‘apparently’ most progressive Constitutions – where even criminals, murderers, rapists, corrupt politicians have more rights than Bullard has been given the luxury of?
Whether one agrees or disagrees with his statements is to me less relevant than the fact that he excercised his right to freedom of speech, and has been fired for it… What the Bullard incident highlights is that we are living in a country where the Constitutional rights of individuals / certain groups appear to be a matter of ‘interpretation’, as has been proven with Bullard being fired for ‘satirically speaking’ his mind. Where is the freedom in that?
And you ask about all of us ‘getting along’ –
getting along means individuals within each culture, race, needs to be allowed the freedom to live without discrimination. Has the constitution given Bullard that right? No, it wasn’t consulted, and apparently didn’t count, this time – seems to have been ‘interpreted’ against his favor…if the shoe was on the other foot, and Bullard fired Mondli for speaking his mind, there would’ve been an outcry of ‘racist discrimination’.
The constitution is not applied across the board, and a disparity has resulted, allowing certain parties absolution, but others have no recourse. Isn’t this blatant manipulation and discrimination, which implies ‘legislated discrimination’? You and I maybe question this, but you’ll find that 80% of the population don’t question. They simply respond to stimuli – and the stimuli eggs them on to be discontent, tells them they’re being done in, and the other party is in the wrong…
Isn’t that one of the reasons why we ‘can’t get along’? We’re forced by legislation and selective implimentation of the constitution, for instance, to disagree with each other, to be alternatively branded / absolved by propaganda advertised as democracy. Where’s the freedom in that?
It reminds me of the saying that there is no justice in the law – it’s simply a matter of interpretation, who has the most money and smoother attorney. Looks like our Constitution fits the profile…it’s just another law, open to selective interpretation and application…
Seems a bit unbalanced to me, but that’s just my opinion.
@ Michelle
Great piece that brings hope to many. Great to see almost universal support amongst contributors of all colours.
How is probably the key question?
I do believe that we must do away with all racial classifications, and all race based programmes to have any hope. We must replace them with ‘need’ based incentives, to help the poor/homeless/sick/oppressed. It can’t be based on skin colour.
wena Michelle
in your own words “Bullard may have insulted the culture of a great number of South Africans, which I don’t condone”.
You don’t sound like a South African and which would inform your glib and facile deliberations on such a critical thing as racism. It is laughable to hear an out of touch coconut-like student utterings from a Masters student. Your interpretations of responses from a few UKZN maritzbug campus students who hardly took the trouble of buying sunday times and if they had a glimpse at it it would probably be careers and life style part of it.
Where do you get the balls to underestimate the degree of hurt and discomfort the fired Bullard has caused to intelligent black people. We also have achieved (against all odds) academically and professionaly but we know that there are many more black people by virtue of the color of thier skin will take ages to make it in the corporate world.
The problem with many academics is that they spend 90% of thier time in libraries deliberating theories that are far from reality and they even go further to try and impose thier theory confined thought to gifted people on the street.
agaa man sis!
Ok so this piece is making a little bit more impact than I thought. Good… well I guess I need to respond to a few things that have cropped up… firstly in case it was missed this is not about David Bullard, yes he was the catalyst that launched the thought wave that resulted in this piece but it’s not about him. My piece is not here to be part of a battle of who is right or wrong; because quite frankly it’s a tiresome debate that one. I simply just felt strongly about the innate prejudice we as human beings carry around without realising. Because the truth be told we are all prejudice people, whether we mean to or not, a simple remark like “since you’re not from South Africa you don’t understand racism” is quite insulting to other African countries; one party or not. Does the fact that South African named its own racist experience make it worse or more deserving of mention than other countries? Because colonialism happened pretty much all over even the British were colonised. Racism is very real and I am not naive enough to think is does not exist. I simply feel that as a society we should perhaps work toward a better and peaceful future than sit in anger and hatred because honestly speaking what will that achieve? Racism is ignorance and if you are willing to brood over such ignorance instead of moving on and striving for better then my pity lies with you.
Calling me a coconut might have been intended to hurt my feelings or belittle me in someway, it does not matter because it’s all sticks and stones really. I am a 21yrs old media masters student, I believe in the possibility of utopian ideals; I believe in people and humanity heck I still think I can save Darfur! And I am going to hang on to those ideals for as long as I can because I know society will one day rob me of them and that is what I dread.
to Michelle,
Thanks for the heart-warming article, albeit out of touch with some realities of the consequences of our prejudices, be they racial, religious, tribal etc, but nonetheless heart-warming. I agree that the whole ‘issue’ is NOT about David Bullard.
I’ve recently migrated to South Africa, having spent some time across the globe, primarily in Western Europe, North America and Asia and I must say I have experienced some classification-based discrimination everywhere I’ve gone. Most societies have their issues. the sectarian violence I experienced in Northern Ireland was remarkable (and this is White on White), the caste system in India was another. It just happens the most prominent in South Africa is racism, hence gets a lot of attention.
It is very ignorant to purport that only black South Africans understand South African racism. Sadly most who hold this view are very racist themselves and typically come with labels like whites are this or that, or ‘our’ Africa only belongs to the blacks.
I find it very unfortunate that the racism that gets the majority of the headlines in SA is the so-called ‘white’ racism, ie perpetrated by ‘the former white oppressor’. Many of us turn a blind eye if blacks are dishing it out (eg FBJ), but racism is racism, irrespective of what happenend in the past – retaliatory racism is in fact worse. Somehow it is supposed to be acceptible for one to defend their racism along the ‘I was a victim in the past lines’.
I’m afraid I’m a bit like Michelle in some of my Utopian ideals and I hope believe the best way is to move on. Someone (ie us the current generation) should bite the bullet and forgive each other for our past and move on for the sake of future generations. Previously disadvantaged should not have racial definitions, but more a reflection of social group, irrespective of colour. Under the current climate ‘black’ Patrice Motsepe is more previously disadvantaged than my ‘white’ friend whose father was a primary school teacher in a ‘black’ school during the apartheid years (and did not have enough money to send her through university)!… all because she has the ‘wrong’ skin colour. She’s worked hard through UNISA etc etc but now she cant climb the corporate ladder because she does not score good BEE points! Sad. Really sad.
Let’s learn to co-exist and build this wonderful country together.
@ Michelle
Your last line was fantastic, although a little bitter sweet. It reminded me of a fabulous interview with Helen Zille for British Tv.
She said she had fought under apartheid for a non-racial south Africa, and now she was fighting again under the ANC for the same thing. The interviewer asked her if it was a realistic goal, and could it really be achieved.
She said something like “I hope so, but either way i am going to spend the rest of my life trying”.
I was touched by your comment and hers.
It is a great article girl!Keep up the good work.I got from where you are coming:you are out of range of whatever guns he may have fired….he even may not exist in your world….David Bullard? who is that?….the bullets have bounced back….strayed…backfired…this I gather is your experience…you are bouyed up by your youthful enthusiasm….idealism
All the comments are good…try to learn from them…Mandla and Dithabana are the best…except i know ‘coconuts’ to refer to articulate, beautiful,brilliant black girls like those at UCT
You are great Mitchell!
I’m afraid I am repeating myself all over this ‘thought leadership’ platform as I read around. My feelings are, however, pretty much the same. I think that we ALL have some work to do. For instance we can all be more open-minded, respectful, less aggressive, less blaming and more tolerant. But more importantly, could we perhaps consider moving forwards instead of beating the same old stick on the same old scars? That does not mean being disrespectful of our past nor ignoring the very real issues of race. It just means having vision, moving forward, looking to the future. What about one of these ‘thought leaders’ talking about ideas, concepts, solutions, way forwards… Or will we continue to enslave ourselves by drowning in our own feel-sorry-for-ourselves pit? Without being dismissive of our history, can we not be inspired by other countries in the world who like us, have been through extremely divisive regimes and horrific persecution and rally together and try to move on and up? Come on. Inspire us oh ye thought leaders.
@ sarah
“Come on. Inspire us oh ye thought leaders.”
Here is an inspiration. Let us abolish all the anti-white, discriminery, racist legislation such as AA, BEE, EE, PIE, the Land Redistribution Act and let the evil new one i.e. the Expropriation Bill, be killed in its tracks and you will see racial hatred disappear like the mist before the sun.
In addition, let us stop blaming “Apartheid” and “colonialism” for all failings and corruption today and of course, the biggie; let the black man take responsibility for the development and future of his own race instead of waiting for the “redistribution of wealth”.
Sarah, i wrote to you a rather good response but unfortunately the M&G team tends to censor as to create a perception of me that is completely false.
Anyways, consider that for the past few years since 1994 we have been fed the reconciliation lie which basically means that we have to do whatever it takes to make white people safe and comfortable. For e.g. if we say that we want the job of the top job in the department, we aren’t working towards reconciliation. That amounts to taking white people’s jobs. If the whites rebukes you for even thinking of taking a job that so obviously belongs to a white man, then you lobby the government to make it possible for you to not be discriminated against in the white domainated corporate world where you are not suppose to be too ambitious. So the government listens and implements a policy that we shall call, Affirmative Action. Of course, the whites are very upset that you went over their head in trying to get a job that you are more qualified of doing but would not get because the whites who run the department thinks of that job as belonging to another white person. So you have fought for your rights and then the media starts a terror campaign against this thing called affirmative action and anything that has to do with giving the impression that black people can succeed. Maybe you have this president, let’s call him Thabo, who tells the masses that they can become succesfull and even buy up white houses and white areas and go to white malls and buy things that other white people can’t really afford. That last part where you can afford more things that other white people can buy is so wrong. So, what the white media does is construct a reality in which a rich black person is a thief as to create the perception that black wealth is perverse in order to stop black people from becoming wealthy, taking over the economy and then giving more jobs to black people, jobs that belonged to white people and that is really just a case of us not trying to reconcile.
I think you’re clever person with lots of potential but before you create rainbow falacy in your mind, understand of where we come from and where we are at right now. The above scenario is just the tip of the icerberg.
Before we can start giving rainbow scenarios, let us first round up our brothers and sisters and tell them, “YOU DO NOT NEED THE APPROVAL OF TE WHITE MAN”. You may have white people working with you and will always find that they try to create a clique and then attempt to dominate over you. This is because they believe that you are suppose to submit to their will and that you are merely a slave being given the privilege of partially accessing the white man’s world. You wil always be dog to them, albeit for some, a more prefered dog. Being tossed a bone and being given top grade dog food does not really make a difference. A dog is a dog and what David Bullard does on a weekly basis is try to convince is that we are dogs.
There is really no such thing as free speech. Free speech is something that has to be regulated to some extent as to not hurt the masses of people within a country in which that free speech is exercised. If the ANC decides to regulate the media and even imprison a few journalists, i won’t have a problem with that. The media is the most destructive force in our country and it needs to be put on it’s place.
@ liansky
You are one sick puppy man. Blacks have always outnumbered whites by 10 to 1 in South Africa. Why are blacks then not the dominant rich ones?
And before you start with the story of white discrimination, why did the Dutch when they came here in the 1600’s before any white man set foot in South Africa, not find the black population to be rich and well-educated as was the case with the populations of England, France, Portugal, Italy etc. etc. Then whites would not have been able to colonialise and dominate you.
Oh stop moaning Liansky and get over yourself.
hey wena Michelle,
Who do you think you are to tell us “what we really need”? Are you so bored with your studies that you would rather risk your chances of being perceived as smart by shutting your mouth instead of opening your unlearned mouth and creat me a doubt that education can damage ones mind.
Bega la you cannot bring your heaven on earth fantacies in my face and arrogantly defend it by saying poop like “I believe in the possibility of utopian ideals; I believe in people and humanity heck I still think I can save Darfur!”. I must admitt that I suddendly got a feeling that you really can save Darfur which gives me reason to advise you to kindly pack your world saving hogwash and fly to Darfur.
Don’t worry I will save South Africa.
@Liansky
So you getting censored as well? I though it was only us whiteys that got silenced when we dont seek the approval of the Black Man and White liberal.
But you seem to want no free speech if it is ANC to silence its critics, but when you are the one silenced, then you have a problem with it.
I am a white/asian/portuguese okhuluma isiZulu ngokuba bengihlala KwaZulu Natale eNgotshe. I have seen many different South African’s from different backgrounds and I must say one of the frustrating things is how much of what is happening is made a racial issue. This present government is not the ‘Black’ government. It is the ANC which has a huge Communistic contingent to it. When the present government is criticised by whites it is criticised because ‘it is black’ rather than on the basis of its policies and implementation or lack of implementation of its proposals. If we just stuck to policies and proposals we might see a reason for black and white to bat on the same team for or against the present Government. I think it is such a shame that the ANC had such a great opportunity to bridge the gap between white and black but has missed the opportunity by habouring on the past. But I suppose it was inevitable considering the grievances. May I suggest that, rather than eradicating Afrikaans or European place names they might have done what they did with the 2 places of KwaZulu and Natal. Instead of wiping out one name over the other they joined the two together. I seriously doubt the term umlungu referred to the white scum on the surf of the sea. The word for scum is (um)engulo which is not similar to (um)lungu. I am not saying I am a hundred percent right in this. But whether or not it started as a negative label for white people it is not so today and so what is the big deal? In fact there doesn’t seem to be anyone with an etymological explanation of which word exactly it came from. The word ‘lungu ‘ actually has to do with peeping. But one thing we should all learn from this is that no nation or tribe is without its dirty laundry. Us Brits put the Afrikaans in concentration camps. The Akfrikaans and Europeans treated the blacks as animals or at the best, noble savages. The Xhosa stole and killed from the Boers, the Zulus persecuted other black tribes. In mid africa blacks sold blacks into slavery, Arabs had their fair share of slave selling and of course there are the unspeakable horrors of the white slave ships. We are all equally sinners in need of a saviour. We think we all have ubuntu but look inside and we will see we all have ububi in the pit of our souls.
Leave South African problems to South Africans and go and worry about hunger in your country.
Satire, what makes you think we need a lecture about it.
We have our own way of laughing at ourselves.