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News & ArtsFriday, March 1, 2013
Crime "Pistorius shooting Steenkamp dead was a logical conclusion of South Africa’s segregated past"
Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 7:47 AM
Africa is a Country offers an excellent analysis of Time Magazine's article on the rise and fall of Oscar Pistorius:
The narrative goes something like this: South Africa is steeped in a racially unequal and divided history and present. This makes the haves, especially the rich white ones, like Pistorius, bloody scared of the black male have-nots coming to pillage and rape their women and children, which is why the haves are armed to the teeth, have a private security force and mistrust the criminal justice system run by the country’s first post-colonial black-led government. It makes them so scared and irrational, in fact, that they might mistakenly shoot dead their loved ones three times through a locked bathroom door for fear of the poor, black bogeyman.SA is a lot like USA in so many ways. After all, who is Pistorius claiming he thought he shot in the bathroom? A person who did not not look like Trayvon Martin.
If you beat a police officer to death with your bare hands, for example—as rugby player Bees Roux did when a black officer, Johannes Mogale, tried to pull him over on suspicion of drunk driving—it was because you thought you were being hijacked.
1
I've often wondered how much of the American Conservative White Male's need for an unrestricted arsenal was based in fear of minorities. All the ones they fucked over and over and over again.
2
Irrational fear as an excuse for murder is odd and hopefully will fail in court. But it's self destructive result is not unexpected.
3
@2: considering that control and capture of slaves through armed patrols was part of militia duty in southern states, the perceived "need" is a historical fact. slavery is a gift that keeps on giving.
4
The fear is farr from irrational. SA has a huge murder and rape problem, for whatever reason. Correct that, All of Africia has this problem.
5
Jeffy@4- large parts of Africa have much lower violent crime rates than the US. I feel much safer in Dakar than in Baltimore. But SA is a spectacularly unsafe place and affluent blacks use just as much cemented broken bottles on their compound walls as whites do.
6
@5: Agreed. The houses in SA are like small prisons with razor wire strung around them. I've been to restaurants where they lock the front door behind you, and you need the attendant to unlock it so you can leave.
7
This quote very much misrepresents the thesis of the article, which is that without evidence we can't simply accept the story of Pistorius. At this point in time, it is still very plausible that this was a domestic violence type murder.
8
Thanks for the screamingly dumb headline, Charles. I really appreciate it when you make it so obvious that something is a Mudede article; much better than being tricked into reading a sentence or two before hitting "neoliberalism" or "we are all" or other inanities.
9
Thank you #7 - once again Charles overlooks the real story (domestic violence and a dead woman) to point out how black men are the real victims in this and, apparently, every scenario.
11
I don't think anyone is surprised that a country where apartheid just ended in the early 90s is still steeped in racism. Government sanctioned segregation ended in the US back in the 60s and Americans are still caught up in racial strife.
I think Pistorius' situation involves domestic violence (he and his girlfriend had a bad relationship) much more than racism though.
I think Pistorius' situation involves domestic violence (he and his girlfriend had a bad relationship) much more than racism though.
13
@7, 9, 11, etc.:
It should be possible to hold two distinct thoughts at the same time:
1. Those who commit crimes - armed robbery, rape, murder - are responsible for their actions and should be held accountable.
2. Various social forces - history, politics, economics - can provide an explanation for why a given individual who commits a crime - breaking into a mansion, or shooting someone through a bathroom door - is in a position where that is something they would choose to do.
These are not contradictory statements. And 2 must be understood if we are to have less of 1.
It should be possible to hold two distinct thoughts at the same time:
1. Those who commit crimes - armed robbery, rape, murder - are responsible for their actions and should be held accountable.
2. Various social forces - history, politics, economics - can provide an explanation for why a given individual who commits a crime - breaking into a mansion, or shooting someone through a bathroom door - is in a position where that is something they would choose to do.
These are not contradictory statements. And 2 must be understood if we are to have less of 1.
14
Right you are, @13. Which is precisely why the opinion of almost everyone here who blathers away about gun control (including Mudede) can be immediately discounted.
15
I was reading that the "holed up in a farmhouse while the world goes crazy" Night of the Living Dead was eerily popular in late 60s/early 70s white South Africa. It his a little too close to home that one day the powder keg would go and the embattled white minority would be left fending for themselves (load up on the guns!) against a roving majority bent on violence.
Interestingly in the book World War Z they kind of play on that: Mandela authorizes the current South African government to find the retired, reclusive military strategist from the Apartheid era who designed the "rescue the whites in a race war" contingency plan. They employ it during the zombie apocalypse, and soon other nation's governments begin using it as "the South African plan".
Interestingly in the book World War Z they kind of play on that: Mandela authorizes the current South African government to find the retired, reclusive military strategist from the Apartheid era who designed the "rescue the whites in a race war" contingency plan. They employ it during the zombie apocalypse, and soon other nation's governments begin using it as "the South African plan".
16
In South Africa the majority of 50 million fear the minority of 2 million whites....
Funny how the roles are changed when it comes to racism. You fear those the most you don't understand. How many of you know the truth about Afrikaners, or try and reach out other than what you read? Not many. There are 2 million Afrikaners. You read about individual cases of racism, and then the whole ethnic group is tarnished by an igorant and prejudiced media, which ads fuel to the fire of ignorant readers. 2 million boring Afrikaners are never news, yet, it's ok to be racist towards people you were made to believe are all "racists". Ah. The hypocrisy.
You hear some people saying....ah, but you did this to the poor blacks. However did anyone ask what made the Afrikaners so paranoid as a minority to instate Apartheid? Im not saying it's right but if you can ask questions like that, then why not be consistent? Africans mass raped, tortured and murdered whites before and during the Anglo-Boer war when women were left alone at their farm steads while men were out on commando. The British concentration camps which nearly wiped out 1/3 of Afrikaners didn't help much either. There's two sides to a story, yet Americans, as theyve been controlled for years by the media, only get one side. Ignorance is power.....to goverments or media with political motives. Dig deeper and you will find the truth as you are only getting one side.
Most Americans don't know the truth about South Africa, except what they hear or read in the media. The media controls what the populace needs to know.
Americans need to get more involved with South Africa, as it would be an early warning system before something happens in the US. South Africa over the years were used as a social experiment by western countries testing things in SA, before trying it in other countries. (Not many people know this unfortunately)
If you want to truly know whats going on in South Africa follow CENSORBUGBEAR. Uncensored and translated news that the main stream media feels is not "pc" to report on:
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
More...
Funny how the roles are changed when it comes to racism. You fear those the most you don't understand. How many of you know the truth about Afrikaners, or try and reach out other than what you read? Not many. There are 2 million Afrikaners. You read about individual cases of racism, and then the whole ethnic group is tarnished by an igorant and prejudiced media, which ads fuel to the fire of ignorant readers. 2 million boring Afrikaners are never news, yet, it's ok to be racist towards people you were made to believe are all "racists". Ah. The hypocrisy.
You hear some people saying....ah, but you did this to the poor blacks. However did anyone ask what made the Afrikaners so paranoid as a minority to instate Apartheid? Im not saying it's right but if you can ask questions like that, then why not be consistent? Africans mass raped, tortured and murdered whites before and during the Anglo-Boer war when women were left alone at their farm steads while men were out on commando. The British concentration camps which nearly wiped out 1/3 of Afrikaners didn't help much either. There's two sides to a story, yet Americans, as theyve been controlled for years by the media, only get one side. Ignorance is power.....to goverments or media with political motives. Dig deeper and you will find the truth as you are only getting one side.
Most Americans don't know the truth about South Africa, except what they hear or read in the media. The media controls what the populace needs to know.
Americans need to get more involved with South Africa, as it would be an early warning system before something happens in the US. South Africa over the years were used as a social experiment by western countries testing things in SA, before trying it in other countries. (Not many people know this unfortunately)
If you want to truly know whats going on in South Africa follow CENSORBUGBEAR. Uncensored and translated news that the main stream media feels is not "pc" to report on:
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
17
I give you guys and ladies a quick good read to help you understand.
America is not South Africa. White or black. If you don't understand this, you will never understand South Africa.
To be a minority since day one depended on survival as the Africans did not understand things like "integrity" or western values like keeping your word. Many of our forefathers that were quite liberal in those days learned the hard way, or were totally wiped out.
Like i say. What you "think" you know of South Africa, is not what the reality is. I say, reach out to find out, and do research. You might be very well surprised what you thought you knew, and then find out.....
In my personal life i believe experience, outdo opinion. I rather find things out for myself.
Start with these 4 links:
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb…
http://www.rhodesia.nl/mission.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/28/world/…
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fre…
America is not South Africa. White or black. If you don't understand this, you will never understand South Africa.
To be a minority since day one depended on survival as the Africans did not understand things like "integrity" or western values like keeping your word. Many of our forefathers that were quite liberal in those days learned the hard way, or were totally wiped out.
Like i say. What you "think" you know of South Africa, is not what the reality is. I say, reach out to find out, and do research. You might be very well surprised what you thought you knew, and then find out.....
In my personal life i believe experience, outdo opinion. I rather find things out for myself.
Start with these 4 links:
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb…
http://www.rhodesia.nl/mission.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/28/world/…
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fre…
18
Before you will understand what im saying in these links, you need to read the 4 links below. There so much history to understand and blacks were not always victims. Maybe in the US, but not South Africa. They were, and still are "warring" nations. That last link will show this fact long before Apartheid existed...(THe one from NY Times of 1891)
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.co…
19
"If you beat a police officer to death with your bare hands, for example—as rugby player Bees Roux did when a black officer, Johannes Mogale, tried to pull him over on suspicion of drunk driving—it was because you thought you were being hijacked."
I looked up this story and you are distorting the facts Charles. He claimed he was kidnapped by the officer, driven by him to his atm where he was forced to withdrawl money, and that he feared he and his girlfriend would be killed afterwards, which would probably happen since the cop would not want witnesses. The man making this claim has no history of questionable behavior.
I looked up this story and you are distorting the facts Charles. He claimed he was kidnapped by the officer, driven by him to his atm where he was forced to withdrawl money, and that he feared he and his girlfriend would be killed afterwards, which would probably happen since the cop would not want witnesses. The man making this claim has no history of questionable behavior.
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