I've written a post called "The Danger of Hope". It's a relatively long piece, so for those of you with less time on your hands I've summarized my arguments there into this "short" synopsis. An executive summary if you will. The link to the full article is below. Enjoy:
It's been an eventful six months. Riots in the UK, revolutions in the Arab countries, violent protests locally, councillors houses being stoned with their families inside, Malema's trust fund being exposed and of course one Mark Esterhuysen being fired from Radio 702 for a politically incorrect news report.
Signs of unrest in the minds of people if ever I saw them. People are slowly losing faith in the system and it's ability to deliver a better life for them. People are fast losing hope, and as we've seen in the Arab states and in the UK this can be a dangerous thing.
I think Mr Esterhuysen's (@MarkEsterhuysen) comments the other morning are signs of some very big and very real tensions bubbling under within our society. I won't repeat what he said on here, buy if you want to read his views follow him on twitter and follow the link to his blog. Obviously there is more to him than what I'm about to say, but taking liberties with my opinions, what I got from him was "enough with government's non-delivery, now is the time for non-pacifist anarchy."
To an extent I agree with this, but for the most part I think it's misguided, I think it's naive and it just smells of undercooked thinking. Sure, we need a change, but what happens after we overthrow the government? Add to that, whom are we directing our "non-pacifist" actions at?
The difference between fighting for freedom from racial oppression and fighting for freedom from economic oppression require two very different approaches. One hat does not fit all. Sure, the threat of violence got the apartheid government and the entitled whites of the day to back down because they knew their privilege was unfairly given. Dr Mathedimusa who lives in Sandton on the other hand won't take so kindly to the masses rising up and looting his property. He will fight back.
What then? A class war? Who wins there? No-one. It really is as simple as that. I really hope that the likes of Mr Esterhuysen who've given themselves a rare public platform use it in an intelligent manner which serves the country as a whole.
I hope that their loss of faith in society doesn't lead them along the ANCYL-esque path of prodding an angry bear. Taunting the masses into a false uprising - thinking they're uplifting themselves when actually it's all for the ideals and bank balances of a handful of individuals.
For the sake of this country, I pray that their coming words and actions are thought out, tactful and of a constructive nature. Not the type that will result in people bringing axes and cleavers to an open-heart surgery.
Link to the main article: http://ngwanamosadi.blogspot.com/2011/09/danger-of-hope.html
Showing posts with label BEE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BEE. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
What is racism really?
So, my other tweep Obi_Mike_Dexter (@Oobakeng) requested I write something more "tangible", so here it is. It's quite topical, but I believe it's relevant. It's a bit long, but I rate you'll like it. Enjoy:
What is racism really? Is it people looking down on you because of the colour of your skin? Is it your boss not letting you take on projects because you’re black and THEREFOR you are incompetent? Is it people rolling their eyes at you when you go up to present or offer a suggestion at a staff meeting because, well, what do black people know? This it would seem, is the post-94 brand of racism that’s being bandied around our “Rainbow Nation”.
Julis, his ANCYL cronies, senior COSAS members and certain ANC members and their tenderpreneur buddies run around, inciting furor in the masses of poor, black South Africans making statements like “We must declare an economic war on the white capitalists and burn down their businesses if they refuse to give us our dues” and crying foul every time someone questions their lavish lifestyles. “Is it because I’m black that I’m not allowed to live in a Sandton mansion or drive around town in a luxury German saloon? After all, I don’t own these things, the bank does, right?” Right.
My personal view, in response to the question I posed at the start of this piece is that the so-called “racism” we experience as described above is nothing more than ignorance. Stupid, idiotic, narrow-minded ignorance. The worst thing about it though, is that we as black people perpetuate it. When we sit in staff meetings with answers to questions or really pertinent points to raise but don’t, we perpetuate it. When we don’t put our hands up to take on projects that would showcase our skills and talents, we deepen the perception that blacks can’t do anything. When we mimic the cries that the media and the “opposition” parties are after our politicians “just because their black”, we further tarnish our image in the eyes of “the others”.
We need to realize that the majority of our leaders are of the mindset best described by a Smuts Ngonyama quote from a few years back: they “didn’t join the struggle to be poor.” As a public, surely, we need to at some stage wake up and realize that regardless of the reasons people are pointing out fraud and corruption, the fraud and corruption is the issue at hand, not the colour of the perpetrators’ skin. Is a murder less of a murderer because he is black? I would like to think not. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish to deny our political struggle icons and leaders, present and past any privileges or luxuries that may come with their positions, but the air of entitlement that they have and are instilling in the new leadership is scary.
To hear an early twenty-something year old talking about “I deserve this, and the government owes me that” is a problem. For a twenty-something year old to be going on about the oppression and racism he has to deal with every day at work speaks to me of a nation headed fast into the obscurity and self-destruction that has plagued so many once great African nations. This attitude, this sense of entitlement is what leads to corrupt, fraudulent, ineffective BLACK people. How can anyone ever create wealth and opportunity if they are of the mindset that they deserve it? On what basis?
I say we, as a people, need to get up off our asses and say enough. Not with our feet, not with our mouths or placards, and definitely not through violence and vandalism. We need to say enough through our actions. Next time you have something to say in a meeting but are afraid the “other people” will look at you funny because you’re black, say it anyway. Prove them wrong. Next time a project comes up within your community or business, don’t sit back because you are of the notion that “they” will look down on you, volunteer yourself. Prove them wrong, and in the process learn from the experience, grow yourself as a person so you can move onto bigger, greater things. Finally, the next time you think of uttering the words “you’re attacking him and his riches because he’s black”, in defence of your so-called leaders ask yourself, “am I really helping the cause, or am I just perpetuating the stereotype and in effect, promoting the racism?”
What is racism really? Is it people looking down on you because of the colour of your skin? Is it your boss not letting you take on projects because you’re black and THEREFOR you are incompetent? Is it people rolling their eyes at you when you go up to present or offer a suggestion at a staff meeting because, well, what do black people know? This it would seem, is the post-94 brand of racism that’s being bandied around our “Rainbow Nation”.
Julis, his ANCYL cronies, senior COSAS members and certain ANC members and their tenderpreneur buddies run around, inciting furor in the masses of poor, black South Africans making statements like “We must declare an economic war on the white capitalists and burn down their businesses if they refuse to give us our dues” and crying foul every time someone questions their lavish lifestyles. “Is it because I’m black that I’m not allowed to live in a Sandton mansion or drive around town in a luxury German saloon? After all, I don’t own these things, the bank does, right?” Right.
My personal view, in response to the question I posed at the start of this piece is that the so-called “racism” we experience as described above is nothing more than ignorance. Stupid, idiotic, narrow-minded ignorance. The worst thing about it though, is that we as black people perpetuate it. When we sit in staff meetings with answers to questions or really pertinent points to raise but don’t, we perpetuate it. When we don’t put our hands up to take on projects that would showcase our skills and talents, we deepen the perception that blacks can’t do anything. When we mimic the cries that the media and the “opposition” parties are after our politicians “just because their black”, we further tarnish our image in the eyes of “the others”.
We need to realize that the majority of our leaders are of the mindset best described by a Smuts Ngonyama quote from a few years back: they “didn’t join the struggle to be poor.” As a public, surely, we need to at some stage wake up and realize that regardless of the reasons people are pointing out fraud and corruption, the fraud and corruption is the issue at hand, not the colour of the perpetrators’ skin. Is a murder less of a murderer because he is black? I would like to think not. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wish to deny our political struggle icons and leaders, present and past any privileges or luxuries that may come with their positions, but the air of entitlement that they have and are instilling in the new leadership is scary.
To hear an early twenty-something year old talking about “I deserve this, and the government owes me that” is a problem. For a twenty-something year old to be going on about the oppression and racism he has to deal with every day at work speaks to me of a nation headed fast into the obscurity and self-destruction that has plagued so many once great African nations. This attitude, this sense of entitlement is what leads to corrupt, fraudulent, ineffective BLACK people. How can anyone ever create wealth and opportunity if they are of the mindset that they deserve it? On what basis?
I say we, as a people, need to get up off our asses and say enough. Not with our feet, not with our mouths or placards, and definitely not through violence and vandalism. We need to say enough through our actions. Next time you have something to say in a meeting but are afraid the “other people” will look at you funny because you’re black, say it anyway. Prove them wrong. Next time a project comes up within your community or business, don’t sit back because you are of the notion that “they” will look down on you, volunteer yourself. Prove them wrong, and in the process learn from the experience, grow yourself as a person so you can move onto bigger, greater things. Finally, the next time you think of uttering the words “you’re attacking him and his riches because he’s black”, in defence of your so-called leaders ask yourself, “am I really helping the cause, or am I just perpetuating the stereotype and in effect, promoting the racism?”
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