talk is cheap, but we will pay for it

talk is cheap

speech is free,

we will have our say

in fact, we demand it…

but we will pay for it,

even though we cannot afford it

http://www.theconmag.co.za/2014/10/13/jou-past-se-poes/

an “I” for an “I”

our heritage

… where have we come from?

… where are we right now?

…and where are we going to from here?

is it in any way reasonable to assume one can initiate healing and effectively shake off the devastating effects of generations of abuse by legislating the self same abusive acts as the historically abusive perpetrators once committed?

what results can one expect if the previous victims of abuse are legally granted the inalienable right to perpetrate the exact same abuse as they themselves historically suffered, and this allegedly in order to access restoration and healing?

it has been suggested that to do the same thing over again and expecting to get a different result is a sure indication of insanity

maybe the braaing of  “boere” wors as a collective national act on heritage day is the real “state of the nation” keynote address?… unwittingly endorsed by all

… and could this indeed be a tragically succinct declaration of our real national heritage leaking out unintentionally and being exposed and publicised for all to see?

as wrong and undeniably evil as the previous system of legislated abuse was, have we lost sight of the chillingly scary idea that an eye for an eye can only result in all becoming blind?

5 sentences past

this was posted on Facebook  recently and it is indeed a sobering cluster of ideas

when I saw this for the first time it was posted by a person of “white” race in South Africa – a minority cultural group in the country who are now feeling the very real pressure of racist legislation and the resulting reality of legislated dis-empowerment and intimately perceived unfairness under the powerful hand of the present government which was democratically elected into power by the majority of South African citizens nearly 20 years ago

as a member of this same “white” cultural group I immediately resonate with the sentiments and ideals expressed in the posting

I also feel all manner of emotions bubbling up inside me as it is a very tangible reality we face every day

and yes, in the posting there a strong linear thread of ‘logic’ in these statements and the wisdom of what is stated is to my mind self evident

… however what is seemingly less evident is that without too much lateral thought and perspectival gymnastics the same set of principles can be seen at work in the present political legislation as those which entrenched and under girded the now disgraced and ousted Nationalist Party’s policy of Apartheid and “Separate Development” prior to the political shift in 1994

with these policies legislated during the days of Apartheid the White race in South Africa was entrenched as exclusively privileged recipients of preferential access to resources … material, economical, political, social, cultural and this spilled into all other sectors of society including job reservation, education, land ownership and many other arena’s …

what a man sows is what a man reaps… whether just or unjust

and yes, the circle will turn again, and again…

and it’s always amazing how the same thing can look so completely different seen from just another angle

… and perhaps now, with the shoe on the other foot so to speak, so many of us “whites” seem to all so easily think of many reasons and linear justifications not to share this sobering  aspect of the equation, publicly, privately, even within ourselves – in our own private thoughts

… don’t you think?

how beauty turns to ugly in the blink of an “I”

A beauty, celebrated by a significant sector of our society is stripped once again and exposed, only this time in disgust and to public outrage.
This beauty was once on display before us and we gazed upon her with desire and lustful admiration but now this beauty has turned ugly by simply saying something that somehow cuts us deep, causing us to react in anger, even disgust.
And we turn towards her again… all of us, from all sides…

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/05/04/racist-tweet-model-stripped-of-title-by-fhm

One concerned person, perhaps speaking for most of us I dare to suggest, posted this sentiment:

“No kidding? This disgusting behaviour keeps dragging us back into the dark ages.”

She was stupid to tweet what she did, no doubt,… (and she has acknowledged this already) and the expression and its sentiment is without any doubt unacceptable, but I think on all sides of the politico-cultural swamp we think and feel the same things.
Perhaps some of us are more “socially appropriate” about it all and don’t succumb to that many ‘irrational’ outbursts and also not in such a public forum, but I believe it’s deep in there… in all of us.
Yes, she is totally out of line, but we perhaps should consider that it might not be any more than just us turning on her in a bestial “pack-mentality” … Perhaps vainly to purge ourselves of these inner demons through her vicarious substitution?
We are a sorry bunch, hiding behind the illusionary veneer of the vanity of our belief in ourselves that we are the worthy possessors of a superior intellect…. That we are above the other creatures, that we are good and upright, civil and morally just?
Instead, I’m sorry more for us as a species than for her alone…. It’s sad, very sad.

“Mi Raza”, (My Race) – first published in Patria (16 April 1893)

I was introduced to this article (via a friend) and I found it on Wikiquote http://www.thefullwiki.org/Jos%C3%A9_Mart%C3%AD

It is by  José Julián Martí Pérez (28 January 1853 – 19 May 1895) who was a leader of the Cuban independence movement as well as an esteemed poet and writer. He is revered as a great national hero, and often referred to as El Apostol de la Independencia Cubana [the Apostle of Cuban Independence]

I think it very pertinent for us today ….

My poems please the brave:
My poems, short and sincere,
Have the force of steel
Which forges swords.

My Race (1893)

“Mi Raza”, first published in Patria (16 April 1893)

• “Racist” is a confusing word, and it should be clarified. Men have no special rights simply because they belong to one race or another. When you say “men,” you have already imbued them with all their rights.
  • Variant translation: Men have no special right because they belong to one race or another: the word man defines all rights.

• Everything that divides men, everything that specifies, separates or pens them, is a sin against humanity.

• To insist on racial divisions, on racial differences, in an already divided people, is to place obstacles in the way of public and individual happiness, which can only be obtained by bringing people together as a nation.

• What right do white racists, who believe their race is superior, have for complaining about black racists, who see something special in their own race? What right do black racists, who see a special character in their race, have for complaining about white racists? White men who think their race makes them superior to black men admit the idea of racial difference and authorize and initiate black racists. Black men who proclaim their race — when what they are really proclaiming is the spiritual identity that distinguishes one ethnic group from another — authorize and incite white racists. Peace demands of Nature the recognition of human rights; discrimination is contrary to Nature and the enemy of peace. Whites who isolate themselves also isolate Negroes. Negroes who isolate themselves incite and isolate whites.

• In Cuba, there is no fear of a racial war. Men are more than whites, mulattos or Negroes. Cubans are more than whites, mulattos or Negroes. On the field of battle, dying for Cuba, the souls of whites and Negroes have risen together into the air.

• Ostentatious men who are governed by self-interest will combine, whether white or black, and the generous and selfless will similarly unite. True men, black and white, will treat one another with loyalty and tenderness, out of a sense of merit and the pride of everyone who honors the land in which we were born, black and white alike. Negroes, who now use the word “racist” in good faith, will stop using it when they realize it is the only apparently valid argument that weak men, who honestly believe that Negroes are inferior, use to deny them the full exercise of their rights as men. White and black racists would be equally guilty of racism.