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.