Tear down the whole of South Africa

by Louise 30 Replies latest jw friends

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  Louise

  There was a statue outside the Rhodes University. A 30 year old black student then threw his pooh on the statue and that got the ball rolling to pull the statue down. The black student was protesting that the white Rhodes was a racist and that in a nutshell his presence reminds him of the torture black South Africans endured under white South Africans. This black student goes to the Rhodes University, built by Rhodes and those same white South Africans. The board of this university built also gives out burseries and grants to previously disadvantaged black South Africans and not disadvantaged black South Africans.

  There has been a huge debate in the country and now the statue has been removed. Other statues at other universities have now been targeted - all because those people suppressed black south africans and it reminds them of the torture endured under white south africans.

  Now Ghandi's statue has been defaced and black south africans are calling for it to be pulled down. I don't recall indian south africans torturing black south africans. The indians suffered under apartheid too....

  Where does one draw the line?

  Does pulling statues down change anything?

  Should all buildings / roads / businesses built by whites and indians be pulled down?

  What about Shaka Zulu? He tortured and killed 10's of thousands people from other tribes? Should his statue be allowed to remain standing?
• 

  EdenOne

  Racism is racism, no matter what color of skin of the one exercising it.

  Eden
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  Interesting OP, Louise. I feel it's a real shame when some black people can't seem to draw a line under the past. Some black people, even in the UK or USA, still seem to view themselves as slaves. I know it's easy for me to say it, but these kinds of attitudes do no good and won't help them in the long run. Indeed, these attitudes have lead to a grown man throwing his own faeces at a statue he didn't like.

  Where does one draw the line? - exactly. I once worked with a black Jamaican Rastafarian. When he saw me drinking tea, he commented about how tea and sugar involved slavery. This is correct, but the way he commented seemed to suggest that tea should be boycotted due to past slavery!

  I deeply admire the many black people who rise above this nonsense, believe themselves to be as good as the next person, and achieve things in their lives.
• 

  AFRIKANMAN

  Louise it seems like open-season now in the land - on so many avenues.

  Maybe its part of a larger political picture eg Julius trying to divert attention from all the Tax issues he is up to his neck in.

  Why after 24 years of "democracy" is it now an issue [Statues] ?? Many PD people have gone through the self-same universities in that time.

  In Moscow that are still 80 statues of Lenin to be seen. Spoke to Moscow-vites over the weekend and their attitude is 1- Its a reminder of an awful past and 2- it forms a counter-point for discussion and debate.

  We had some other fun just down the road from me this morning:

  https://twitter.com/anwaltwp/status/587499459325644800

  btw What is happening with the Sharkies ?? Good match all the same !
• 

  konceptual99

  Interesting OP. There will always be people adhering to polarised, even extreme, viewpoints. Militancy and confrontation will always be a driving force for some. I have been to South Africa and overall it was a very positive experience. From what I saw, however, there is still inequality and poverty that affects a disproportionate number of black citizens. My impression was within the government there is a significant minority of people prepared to focus blame on the legacy of the oppressive white regime for continued problems in the country.

  There is no doubt some truth in this - the impact of years of apartheid cannot be undone in even a couple of decades - but what better way to distract attention away from the failings of the government than by encouraging continued resentment of white authority and colonial history.

  Of course, all of this spoken by a middle class, reasonably educated, white male with absolutely no history of persecution (other than as a JW at school!), oppression, lack of opportunity etc... So what the hell do I know really?
• 

  paulmolark

  I would think for many black South Africans it is similar to having a statue of Hitler in Jerusalem.

  Cecil Rhodes was truly a disgusting man if you look at the things he did and they way he felt toward the native peoples of the continent. I may be wrong here but wasn't Hitler sympathetic to this guys feelings because Rhodes also had this intense love for the Aryans and hatred of everyone else? It has been awhile since I read anything about this guy but he really was a disgusting man.

  As for Ghandi, most people like to remember Ghandi as this lovable fasting pacifist but again he also held the same racist feelings for the kaffirs" that most people did during his time and prior. History has a way of letting us forget about the filthy pasts of people and only the positive things that they have done.

  Like you said Shaka Zulu killed tens of thousands of Africans, which is also deplorable. This young person not throwing poop on Shaka Zulu yet being upset with the white guy and the indian guy is probably the same reason you would bring up the black guy as an alternate example. I am sure if South Africa was always under the control of the native peoples that statue of a murderous Caucasian who hated Africans would never have been there because of the obvious pain it would have caused.

  That young man should pay for his actions of poop throwing. Regardless of how painful that edifice of a notoriously hateful and bigoted man makes him or any one else.
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  LoveUniHateExams

  ^^^ good post, paulmolark ^^^

  You've made several good points that I, being a white male living in the developed world, hadn't considered.

  Past and present situations can be complex.
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  Barrold Bonds

  Ah how I missed Louise's rants against black people.
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  prologos

  Isis destroying the pride of their forefathers' civilisation too. Who ever lifted the continent out of it's squalor?
• 

  AFRIKANMAN

  I really appreciate the insight some of you posting here have on the affairs "Sud-Africaine" !

  More disturbing down here right now is the Xenophobia being expressed by........... Black people against ............Black people, especially in an area very close to where Ms Louise lives viz KwaMashu [Google it if you like].

  Barrold ! You seem to really have it in for Louise don't you ! You enjoy displaying power over females - especially those whose lives have been hammered a bit ? Eh ? -Finis-

  I think the "Poo" protesting and daubing of the statues of all and sundry countrywide is just people with nothing useful to do - maybe some are being incited by those with political ambitions.

  So now we await the first "attack" on a statue of Madiba [Mandela] !