We are all racists
THE LETTER “Racism in SA has many guises”, May 4, cannot go unchallenged.
Not a single person on this planet can claim “non-racist” status. We are born into racism, fed into us by our parents, schools and churches, our environment, the circles we move in etc. The two examples used are frivolous. There are only two kinds of racists: sleeping or dormant, and active, dangerous ones.
The way to find out in which category one finds oneself is to answer the eternal question: do you support, or oppose capital punishment?
In our colonial and apartheid eras, it was crystal-clear who the ethnic groups were who would face the gallows. More than 90% came from the apartheid categories, so-called black and coloured. The wealthy and influential, even today, can buy themselves out of it.
Statistics reveal that only about 4 110 people were hanged from 1910 to 1989 when the apartheid regime was forced to place a moratorium on executions, leading to capital punishment to be abolished in 1995. Many thousands must have “deserved” to be sentenced to death during that period, but the majority were reprieved.
People who consistently shout for the re-imposition of capital punishment are a country’s most dangerous racists. This writer’s whole outlook on life is a contradiction, a paradox.
A few years ago, a fierce exchange of opinions erupted with a former rector of one of our universities about racism. He was of the opinion that there was no racism in the Western Cape. Look at all the racist upheavals facing us in this volatile province all the time. It later turned out in his letters to local papers that he was also in favour of the return of capital punishment.
Another well-known Afrikaans playwright and author from the same university was also known for his support of it. Tony Leon’s father, Ramon, was the apartheid judge who sentenced prominent ANC cadre, Andrew Zondo, to death, yet he claimed to be an opponent of the death penalty. How contradictory is that?
Prof Chris Barnard, in his later years, wrote to local papers proclaiming his support for capital punishment. How can one spend one’s life proclaiming to save lives, only to advocate for the taking of lives? KOERT MEYER Welgelegen