(Daniel) Under the heading: Dear Young White South Africans, a certain mr Esethu Hasane wrote a letter, dated 23 September 2014, in which he implicitly blames white South Africans for almost everything that is wrong with the country. (The letter is quoted below) I would like to Head my response: Dear mr Hasane, you have basically no idea what you are talking about… 25 September 2014 Dear mr Hasane, Contrary to the opening sentence of your letter, it did not only reach a handful of people. It travelled far and wide, as you full-well knew it would, because in the South African society black people learned to benefit from the noise the call of “racism” creates. Kindly allow me to correct you on a number of little things in your letter: Paragraph 3 opens with the sentence: “I was fortunate to relocate to the Western Cape for educational reasons.” Have you wondered why the Western Cape is the Mecca for a better education? Probably because it is the only province which is not governed by corrupt black ANC officials. If you could kindly show me how many white South Africans in the other 8 provinces voted for a black majority provincial government, thereby causing the collapse of the education system, maybe then we could understand how the white man is to blame. In paragraph 6 of your letter you use the phrase: “Sparked by racism events in two of our universities….” I gather that you are not referring to the incident where two white students of Bloemfontein were innocently accused by a black University official of assault and chased off campus by the rabid racist of a rector like mad dogs, without proper investigation. They, by the way, have been cleared of all charges in a court of law in the meantime, but the fact that a year of their existence was spent in absolute misery is of no consequence, because they are white, not so? Paragraph 8 is the most preposterous of the lot. “Your ancestors and parents were taught to hate black people and have put that to practice as laws that once governed this country.” Really? Ever heard of the expression “two wrongs doesn’t make a right”?. Because you see, mr Hasane, the CURRENT generation of black South Africans are being taught to hate. They are fed on the downright malicious lie that white people stole their land. They are fed on the lie that everything which is wrong in this country is the fault of apartheid. They are never told that the incompetence of black majority rule, which has failed in Zimbabwe and Zambia and Mozambique and Angola and in this once prosperous land, and all over war-torn post-Colonial Africa might have something to do with it. No, they are taught to blame the minority – they do exactly what the Nazi’s did with the Jews. Hide your own weakness behind hatred. I would love to know what, in reference to “…the laws that once governed this country…” has changed. Black Economic Empowerment, Affirmative Action, Land Reform Legislation are all based on race and are all designed to the benefit of the black majority. In fact, nowhere else in the world is affirmative action designed to benefit the majority population. Would you not call those legislation downright racist? You then proceed to express your concern about the actions of white students across South African Universities. In paragraph 11 you are very concerned that they are not taught to love. Need I redirect your attention to the Kovsie-affair which I addressed above. No? Well, let us talk about students who are not taught at home to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions – this being a life-skill equally important to loving. Kindly answer me this: Who is supposed to foot the bill for the virtual burning down of the Tshwane University of Technology? And while pondering that answer, kindly remind me of how many white students were involved in that? “Many of you will never tell blacks to get over apartheid…” Of course not. White South Africa went to the ballot and voted apartheid away with a yes vote. Thereafter it was buried and white South Africa was ready to start anew. Black South Africa, in typical self victimisation, refused to allow this. They kept returning to it over and over again. Black South Africa is keeping apartheid alive, not white South Africa. No, white South Africa will not tell black South Africa to forget apartheid, yet black South Africa tells white South Africa not to be concerned about thousands of farmers being massacred on their lands in a virtual racist genocide. Kindly have the courtesy to allow us to grieve for our murdered people, before you tell us that we are wrong in our disgust of this outrage. “Your white consciousness must acknowledge your privilege.” (Paragraph 14.) Would you call legislation allowing utterly unqualified and incompetent people to be appointed in senior positions, above people who have the skills and knowledge, purely because the chosen one is of colour, would you call that white privilege? Paragraph 16 is a revelation, mr Hasane. You say “It is OK for your parents to be racist.” No sir, it is not. I reiterate – White South Africa left racism behind. Black South Africa, in refusing to accept responsibility for themselves, is keeping it alive. You reveal that with the presumption that racism can be only white against black. How sadly wrong you are. It is as a result of this misconception that your plea for equality fails, because, you see, black South Africa’s understanding of equality is, in the words of George Orwell: “All people are equal, but some are more equal than the other.” In the 18th paragraph you claim that racism is happening because many have chosen to keep quiet about it. Wrong again. Racism is happening because black South Africa is feeding the monster. You wrap your letter up by stating that young black South Africans remain at the bottom in terms of skills and unemployment. Now, being in the sector of Higher Education and Skills Development in particular, myself, I can tell you that millions and millions are spent annually by the Extended Public Works Programme, by Seta’s and Government Departments and Local Government to give education for free to “previously disadvantaged” students. They are even assisted in finding jobs and skilled in entrepreneurship in order to create jobs. The fact that the government has created a welfare state where it is very beneficial to be unemployed defeats the entire purpose. There is no incentive to work, because government pays me for not doing anything. How long this utopia can last remains to be seen – probably until the white taxpayer runs out of money. It was an interesting letter to read, mr Hasane, but it was of no use because it missed the target entirely. I also hope through my limited English fluency you will get the context of this short letter and the message it carries. Sincerely A (fairly) young white South African By Esethu Hasane Tuesday, September 23, 2014 I write this letter knowing it will reach a handful of you but hoping you will spread the message it carries. As a person who spent most of his life in rural areas, I did not interact with white South Africans for many years. I was fortunate to relocate to the Western Cape for educational reasons. I was more fortunate that I met many young white South Africans who love our country and its people. Through societies in school and university, I’ve interacted with many who want to move our country forward. I’ve grown as an individual, politically, spiritually and academically because of the friendships and networks I created with those young passionate people. Please then read this letter further knowing I am not putting a blanket over all of you or treading you like a homogeneous group of people. Sparked by the recent racism events in two of our universities I wanted to write this to alert you of a heavy responsibility you have. A great man once said “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” This old man has since departed, and we can assume he said this because of his unpleasant experiences with your older generations. Your ancestors and parents were taught to hate black people and have put that to practice as laws that once governed this country. Since 1994 we’ve been going through a process of teaching your parents to love through this great man and others who dubbed us a rainbow nation. But love in some of their hearts has not come naturally as the old man thought it would. I guess it is hard to unlearn something you have personalized and normalized for decades, for it is harder to teach an old heart how to love when it knows hate. The actions of white students across South African Universities are worrying: Free State University, University of Pretoria and recently University of Stellenbosch. Their actions have made me wonder if in some of your homes you are taught to love as the old man thought you to. As I have said, you are not a homogeneous group of young people. Many of you understand racism, many of you are aware of your white privilege, many of you understand how white supremacy has entrenched itself in our society and how it often goes unnoticed. Many of you will never tell blacks to get over apartheid, just like you would never tell Jews to get over the holocaust. You have a great responsibility of then teaching other white young South Africans, those whose parents fancy moving to Australia, those whose parents think Orania is a great “country”. Your responsibility is to create a white consciousness, similarly black consciousness. Black consciousness does not teach blacks to hate other races but it teaches them to love themselves without stepping on other races. Create a white consciousness of loving your fellow humans and understanding that we are all equal. Your white consciousness must acknowledge your privilege. It must be a consciousness of a South Africa we all want to live in, one free of hate and racism. Unlike your parents who have been taught to hate for many years, your peers are young, love will come more naturally to their hearts such consciousness will never be hard to learn. Its OK for your parents to be racist, it’s not because of their own doing, they have been taught to. It’s not OK for you because you’ve had an opportunity to grow up in a society that preaches love and aspires to equality. For many years through movements black people have called for equality and justice. Black people have never called for laws that would make them more powerful than your ancestors and parents or be treated differently unfairly against them. In this they’ve always tried to show love and an understanding that we are all equal. Blacks taught themselves how to love each other and show love to those who oppressed them. But their movements have failed; failed to teach whites how to love. Its time you teach yourselves how to love yourselves without climbing onto the white supremacy ladder. Racism is happening because many have chosen to keep quiet about it when its the huge elephants in the room.. It’s not until we speak about race and you confront racism in all its forms that we will see an ending to it. Contrary to some of your parents’ thoughts; that you are disadvantaged in the new South Africa, statistics have proven that to be incorrect. Young black South Africans the same age as you remain at the bottom in terms of skills and remain very high in levels of unemployment. StatSA recently showed us that it’s easier for you to get more jobs than your black fellows. Use this information to debunk the teaching from your parents and teach others about white fears and black fears in our country. Teach each other about the history of black-face, white privilege and supremacy. I hope through my limited English fluency you will get the context of this short letter and the message it carries. Sincerely A YOUNG BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN Follow on Twitter :@EsethuHasane
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 06:33:03 +0000