From Hunter to Huntley
It made headlines. A white male from SA has been granted refugee status by the Canadian government. It caused quite a stir. Made a few people quite angry and frankly, embarrassed a nation.
Brandon Huntley, at a mere 31 years old, has told the Canadian government and now the world, that he would be oppressed if he returned to SA. I tried to be impartial when I heard the story, I even tried to imagine Huntley's point of view. I tried to find him on Facebook to talk to him myself. I was conjuring up the most extreme scenarios that would make someone believe that their life was permanently in direct danger living in SA.
Here's what everybody who sides with Huntley thinks...Crime is everywhere is South Africa, we're always under threat, we're always on guard, someone always wants to harm us and our families, steal our belongings and the racism card can now be played by any contender, in any game. Foxtrot. Charlie. Delta. Tango. Dive, dive, dive!
We are hostile. We are paranoid. We are cynical. We (and by we, I mean all of us) have very little regard and respect for others and therefore their safety and well being. Victims of crime in South Africa are everywhere and criminals pose a real threat to the safety and security of SA citizens.
But is Huntley making a mockery of generations of people who have suffered because of racism, real oppression and white supremacy? White bread life no longer possible in SA? Wholewheat is better for you anyway. It separates those who are full of sh*t from those who aren't.
I'd love to hear Brandon's side of the story because until then I can't help but think that this man is a racist. I would love to be wrong, but it sounds very familiar, like the "white-male-in-South-Africa" story. Boring. Boring. Boring.
I can't respect that. The same way I can't respect someone who murders a family for a few cell phones, or rapes a woman for any reason, who harms children and threatens people with violence. South Africa is a democratic state, but we were once, not so long ago, an oppressed state. Did we think that there would be no effect from the Apartheid cause? Is that not how things work? Every action yields and opposite and equal reaction?
Does that mean that if you're white you should lay down and take it? If you're any race for that matter? No. It doesn't mean that. It means that you change your attitude, give power to the solution and not the problem. Take back control. Find out the truth and be brave enough to say it out loud. Be ambitious. Be kind. Stretch your closed mind. Have empathy and courage. Is that a little Barney for all the cynics out there? Too preachy? I can hear all the racists muttering about how they are "realists." Its probably the most over used argument to support a very subjective theory.
Brandon Huntley made a choice about his future, and he's free to do so - that's a freedom that a democratic South Africa affords him, so don't plead oppression with one of the most politically mute countries in the world. Don't do that.
I can't tell you how many times I've been met with the phrase..."I'm not a racist, I just don't like black/white/coloured/indian/asian people." What? I pulled a definition off dictionary.com so that we can all be clear.
rac⋅ism /ˈreɪsɪzəm/ [rey-siz-uhm]
–noun 1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Still not a racist? How about being a South African?
Brandon...ex pat...you're welcome to comment and prove me wrong, in fact, I wish you would.
I disagree that the guy is a racist. It is SO easy these days to throw that tag at someone, and frankly it is getting pretty old. The guy is simply not a patriot - but that really is no crime.
I walk in Cavendish every Saturday and see South Africans wearing All Black rugby jerseys, and when asked they say they do not support the Boks. But these guys are not put in the same bracket as good ol Brandon, because they are still living here. I find behaviour like that - proudly being anti South African at Cavendish, equally despicable as running away from SA to become an refugee elsewhere because you are too useless to make it work in SA.
Lets face it though - SA is not an easy place to live. And if your skin is later than a certain shade, it doesnt become easier. If our government can put corks in the mouths of people like Malema and that idiot from ASA who just cause racial division with their rants, then perhaps the perception that we as whites in this country are on a hiding to nothing will change, and the government will not look like idiots in the eyes of the world when another entrepeneur like Brandon makes a break for it.
The south african government brought this mess over themselves. I say go for it Brandon - you saw a gap and you took it. The cold is going to freeze your balls off and I bet you that you will miss SA, but at least you can sleep easily at night, not having to worry that someone is breaking into your car, or planning to rape your mother.
Hanging the racist tag over his head is stupid. Race has nothing to do with wanting to leave. Quality of life and freedom to pursue a career where you are appointed on merit is the type of freedom all South Africans should aspire to.
Thanks for your comments Anon. I can call you Anon can't I? I think we might have to agree to disagree on this one. Most of the violent crime that is committed in South Africa is a direct result of poverty. It is no excuse. But it is a reality. The previous apartheid government had a very clear plan to keep everyone but the white minority poor. The race card is very much a part of the game we're playing in SA. Race exists in every chapter of our history. I simply can't wrap my head around the fact that he wants to leave because he can't get a job? Why not? Affirmative action? No, you're right, race doesn't come into it at all.
Agree to disagree indeed. And Tourism Radio... you can call me whatever you want to...
Apartheid as an excuse is as old as the racism tag being hurled at the whites. Apartheid was a valid excuse for awhile, but let us face it... we're a generation into the "New" South Africa. Are the criminals going to keep telling us it is apartheids fault in 20 years from now? At the rate it is being used as an excuse, I would think so.
The inability of the government to fix the poverty problem is the issue. the biggest issue in this country to alleviate poverty is education and Instead of spending billions on isubmarines and corvettes, why not use that money to educate the people? Why spend my tax money on shit we dont need and not on shit we do? Why does the government think it is acceptable to spend (at last count) more than R12 million on new cars for only a handful of ministers? The fact of the matter is that the people running this country is in it for themselves and for how they can improve their lives with other's money, and by keeping the masses undeducated and poor, they are keeping themselves in power. Because few educated people will vote for a government wasting their tax money.
Food for thought? Or is their money grabbing ways also apartheids fault?
The gloves are off...Anon, I could draw a few parallels for you between the Apartheid government and the spending habits of the current government. Was the previous government not corrupt? Did they not make it policy to steal the futures of the black majority? Apartheid is a sore topic for most white people, mostly because there is no undoing it. I'm no a fan of the current government but that's another blog, the point that I want to make is that do you honestly think that when Apartheid ended it really ended? There were no reprecussions? What ever happened to cause and effect. We're dealing with those effects now. And yes, you are correct, the government does NOT do enought to ensure the safety and security of its citizens but to their credit (and this pains me to say) perhaps they have a much bigger job than we think, someone else's doing. I'm not advocating that everyone denies the trouble we're in, I'm asking that people be honest and real about ourselves and our past and deal with what that means. Money grabbing is most definately rooted in the apartheid government, they suppressed millions so that our parents could work at the Post Office and Spoornet. Stable jobs, pensions and a lifetime without crime. Its no wonder it didn't last.
But if you say that we must not deny the trouble we are in and that we must deal with our past then surely Mr Huntley has done as much and is now reaping the rewards for it in Canada. He didnt deny it - we ARE in trouble, and he dealt with it.
I am not saying that we do not have choices, in my blig I made it clear that he is free to choose, but don't call yourself a refugee. No, no. Thats not cool.
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