Evening
all,
Well, I'm
the sad sack sitting at home trying to think of a first topic, and why not dive
right in to something that affects every South African, discrimination. I've
chosen to label it that specifically because I intend to touch on more than
just racism, though being an obvious point, I'll take the easy way and start
there.
Racism:
I think it's fair to say that every South African faces it on a daily basis, though rarely overtly, (the fucking morons who were been charged with forcing one of their workers to rape their dog comes to mind). Whether it's the white man turned down for a job because of his race, (please note that I am by no stretch of the imagination against affirmative action, though that's a topic for a later discussion) or the innocent black domestic worker who is accused of stealing and fired because her boss refuses to admit to himself that his kid has a drug addiction, we all experience it every day in some form or another.
Before I
continue I feel I need to clarify what I mean when I say discrimination.
Discrimination is an act, not a thought or vocalization, I
agree wholeheartedly that Penny Sparrows opinions are vile and
that we, the people of South Africa should boycott any business that even
vaguely associates itself with her.
What I
disagree with on a fundamental level is the South African governments attempt
to criminalize hate speech. Incitement to violence is a very different animal
all together and is and should be grounds for a criminal conviction.
Criminalizing hate speech on the other hand is censorship at the very least.
South Africans enjoy, (or endure, depending on your point of view), the fact
that our government is bound by one of the most progressive constitution in the
world, a constitution that specifically protects freedom of speech.
Comparatively,
if we are happy to criminalize Penny Sparrow because of her personal
convictions and utterances regarding race, we open the flood gates to include
the religious right for speaking out against homosexuality. I admit again that
not all of the religious right are outspoken against homosexuality but let's be
honest, that's a pretty hefty majority.
Note that
the constitution specifically excludes the right to freedom of speech should it
constitute advocacy of hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender or religion, AND
that constitutes incitement to cause harm, (I will point out the glaring
absence of the mention of sexual orientation). The point is that Penny Sparrow
cannot be effectively accused of inciting to cause harm. Are her views backward
and idiotic? Of that I have no doubt, but I for one believe that she is entitled
to her opinion, and to express he opinion in whatever medium that she chooses,
provided that she doesn't also incite others that share her opinion to cause
harm.
I've used
a few choice words and I hope that by reading the above, the reader gets a good
idea on what my point of view regarding racism is. Something that I always try
and do is back my opinions up with a few hard facts and/or case studies. I've
recently had the disconcerting experience of being subjected to the kind of
vitriol that one often encounters, sadly enough, particularly in older, white
South Africans and realized that, much like homophobia and sexism, is VERY
difficult to debate from a logical point of view with people who hold to the
irrational ideas of yesteryear. Having said that, I do feel it's my duty to
try:
- There is not a single study using the modern scientific method that links race with a propensity towards violent crime. Indeed, a study conducted between 1995 and 2002 in America found that far and away the biggest contributing factor towards a life of violent crime was socio-economic circumstances. (https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/www/external/labor/seminars/adp/pdfs/adp_ajph.pdf)
- The idea that particular
races are either superior or inferior is simply absurd. Humans have
studied the genome to the point where we can tell individuals within our
species apart and have come to the following conclusion: "IT'S JUST
FUCKING SKIN COLOUR!!!" There is NO reason on a genetic level to
believe that a Nigerian is all that much different to a Thai. Indeed, the
Thai may well have more genetically in common with an Ethiopian than the
Ethiopian to the Nigerian, (or German, or Indian, or Native American) Race
is indeed nought more than a human construct. For a more in depth look at
research pertaining to this:
(http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n11s/full/ng1435.html)
In
short, there is absolutely no scientific data that correlates the feelings
and opinions of those who discriminate based on nothing but race with reality.
Onto a lighter subject, though no less frustrating for me, smoking;
Is it
just me, or do we smokers seem to be driven further and further away from the
rest of society? I've noticed, (in Gauteng particularly) that there seems to be
less and less smoker friendly restaurants, and when they do have a smoking
section, (I'm looking at you Wimpy in Centurion Mall), it's absolutely tiny,
and stuck next to the children's play area. It used to be that you could enjoy
a smoke and some nice peace and quiet, now, not only do you have to put up with
being squeezed in like sardines but also have to endure the eardrum popping
squeals, crying and shouts of, "mommy, look at ME!" that comes with
being seated next the play area for the spawn of others.
Here's a
tip for restaurateurs, yes, we may be in the minority, but I'd be willing to
bet that if you properly looked at it, your smoking section generates more
money for your business than any other section of equivalent size. And yes, we
get it, smoking is harmful, I'm not saying that we need to be able to sit in
the non-smoking section and puff away, but we as consenting adults have decided
to continue smoking despite knowing the consequences. It's essentially the same
as deaminizing overweight people because of the choices they make. In short,
discrimination.
Homophobia;
If you've been watching the news coming out of America for the past while you will have noticed this has reared it's ugly head again, personally I hate the word, it's not a phobia, you aren't afraid, you're just an arsehole, and I think that some of the more popular psychological theories on the subject are correct, homophobes are simply secretly worried that dicks are delicious, perhaps the better word would then be sexualism?
Something
I've noticed is the prevalence of sexualism within the christian black
community. I'll be honest and say that black christians confuse the fuck
out of me for a start. You are worshipping the very god that ordered your
enslavement in the first place! IF the Abrahamic god exists, (and that's a
pretty fucking huge if) why the fuck wouldn't you tell him to go fuck himself?
Many a time I've had discussions regarding homosexuality with black people and
the bible is almost always pointed at as the reason they feel that it should be
criminalized, yet when I point out that the very same bible not only advocates
slavery but gives specific guidelines on how to practice it, I'm suddenly
taking scripture out of context.
Unfortunately
sexualism in South Africa is alive and well, from "corrective" rape
of lesbians to the physical assaults and murders of gay men, it's something
that in our country ruled by a wonderfully progressive constitution needs to be
rectified with immediate effect.
Another
thing that irks me about both sides of the debate is the heavy importance put
on choice. What difference does it make? In almost all other aspects of our
lives we are given the right to choose, provided that our choices do not have
negative consequences to those around us. I would love for someone to explain
to me how my decision as to where to stick my dick has any bearing on their
life whatsoever. In fact, there are many studies that show that statistically
speaking, homosexuals make better, more considerate citizens than their
straight counterparts.
As a side
rant to this is the flip side to the coin, I know of people, (straight guys
specifically) who have been accused of homophobia purely because they turned
down a gay man hitting on them. WTF??? You have extra parts where I don't like
extra parts, period. Just because I don't want to fuck you doesn't mean I think
you are a freak, it just means I don't think dicks are delicious!
Sexism;
Another form of discrimination based on absolutely zero evidence whatsoever is sexism. I'd like to preface this section by saying that I am by no stretch of the imagination a feminist, (at least not in the modern sense of the word).
Men and
women are different on a biological level, that's a fact that cannot be
escaped. Do I believe that women should be afforded the same opportunities as
their male counterparts? Of course I do, your life, your choice. Having said
that, I'd love to challenge any feminist that insists that women are the same
as men to find a female rugby team that would be able to PHYSICALLY match the
Springboks. Not gonna happen. Why? Because physiologically, men are stronger
than women.
With that
in mind, one need only look at the world of business to realise that women are
just as, (if not often more) competent as men are in their chosen field.
Religious intolerance, (apparently there is no 'ism' regarding religion);
As an atheist, this is something that I personally face on a reasonably regular basis. I've been told I'm going to burn in hell if I don't repent, (the irony of which seemed lost on the person I was speaking to at the time). My girlfriend has been told by friends parents the same thing because at the time she held to the wiccan beliefs, (it was only out of respect to the friend that I managed to bite my tongue and not ask why her parents imaginary friend was any better than my girlfriends).
As mentioned
in the bit about racism above, I have no problem with my friends parents right
to hold their opinion, sure it made dinner a little awkward, (and diminished my
view of them as people) but whatever. What I DO have an issue with is when that
religious intolerance manifests itself in real world situations, I know of
people who have been fired for "coming out" as atheists, I've seen
video footage of muslims being assaulted and we've all seen the terrible things
muslim extremists do to people of other faiths, (I've mentioned the two biggest
Abrahamic religions but you can find similar examples globally by *insert
random religion here* against *insert another random religion here*).
Something
I do want to do is comment on something I have found good in the world for
every post, as such I guess I should give a shout-out to this kid: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/im-not-gifted-sa-pupil-who-scored-highest-maths-mark-in-the-world-20160419 who blew international
competition away to score the highest mark for maths in the world, (as measured
by the international Cambridge AS levels.)
Another
thing I’m going to try and do is find videos that I find amusing and are
hopefully pertinent to the topic at hand, as such, I give you, Tim Minchin’s
Cont(exct). It should
go without saying that I don't own the content, and please do check Tim's other
work out, the man is damn funny.
Well, I
think I'm going to leave it there for the moment, if anyone disagrees with
anything I've mentioned above, or just wants to add a rant of their own, please
feel free to comment. If you like what you read, please subscribe and share.
Ta,
G
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