Gotta get this off my chest

I have a few points to pose to the readers of this forum. I am an expat South African, and so have at least some idea of what is going on there as opposed to some of you who are obviously woefully ignorant about the country that you so passionately rant about.

To the poster on the top of this page: "whites have no idea"... uuurrrm who do you think invented that computer you are working on??? Certainly wasn't an African. So I guess we can presume that you are in fact the one who has no idea.

To the "white trash" poster further up the page; you are obviously not up to the task of informing yourself, so let me help you out a bit, “whites have no idea” you can listen in to if you like. Of the 6 billion people in the world, over 3 quarters are non-white. Ignorant, lower class, uneducated, whatever you want to call it, these people have been taken advantage of in every country in every part of the world; black, white, orange or pink. Colour makes very little difference. We as a world all owe a debt of gratitude to the working class Chinese for working 12hour shifts, mass producing almost everything we lay our hands on, for a fraction of what you probably earn. So please do not presume to lecture this forum on the indecencies of the "white trash" threat you so indignantly insult when there are non-white nations on this earth far richer than ours, whose working class suffer intolerable conditions for very little pay, as you sit on your comfy chair and sip your chenin blanc.

To Mary above: you need to realise that the people who bother to write in forums about racism in the first place obviously have some sort of history with the problem. This alone would make almost every viewpoint herein biased towards the negative. I lived in SA for 23 years and never once had crime done to me; other than paying taxes to a government which gave me little or nothing in return.

That being said I am not here to defend the white race; however pathetically castrated of its own pride it may be; the English, American, Dutch and Germans are almost certainly to blame for the state of Africa. They did not think to address the tribal issue in any of the countries they raped and then left, leaving a mass of angry, not to mention largely ignorant Africans to fend for themselves on a global economic playing field, which is at the best of times unfriendly. Faced with such a monumental task, it is not surprising that the leaders of said nations realised that such a thing could not be seen through in one lifetime and so decided to look out for themselves instead. Idi Amin, General Sani Abacha, and more famously Robert Mugabe are prime examples. What needs to be remembered though is that white people living is SA have only their colour to share with their ancestors, I think it’s a little unfair to blame young white South Africans (who are a vast majority in that demographic) for their forefathers mistakes.

I am not here to defend the black race either. In South Africa the opportunities are limitless for one blessed with tenacity, a will to learn, fastidiousness, and above all pride in their country and the realisation that neither white nor black created South Africa. The mountains have been there for longer than any of you could imagine, and will be there long after your whining and complaining about Apartheid, injustices and compensation has been silenced by the nothingness of eternity. To be honest, no one cares, no one ever will. Not because you are black or because every white child was born with an evil AVB plan up their sleeve, but because it is an old story heard in every generation in every country, regardless of race. A big yawn and rolling of the eyes everytime people hear it for the 60 millionth time. The only one who can fix your problems is you; regardless of race. One needs to study, by candle light if one has to, work hard, take advantage of every situation, and make SA better for your children. It probably won’t be better for you; that’s just the truth, but will you sit back and throw up your hands like the Amins of this world? I hope not, I love SA and would love to earn there, live there and make it better. I have my family to think of, and so my patriotism has had to take a back seat whilst facing the looming wave of financial ruin.

I hope that I have been equally insensitive to all race groups above.

And as for all of you foreigners who presume to tell us South Africans, black, coloured and white how to run our country. I have but one thing to say to you. Jou poes!

And to my fellow South Africans: Let’s just get over it, please. We are all sick and tired of all this fighting. I just want to love my country. Why can’t we all just do that instead of hating each other for injustices most of us never suffered or ever even did?

And onto yours 13 Apr 2009, 11:51 - Report