‘Coloured bravado killed King’
Comedian calls culture of violence a bomb waiting to explode
DURBAN comedian Carvin H Goldstone has described the murder of Montreal King during a local music festival as “coloured bravado” – meaning coloureds were fearful of being seen as pushovers and were stuck in a culture of violence.
The 19-year-old King, from Newlands East, was stabbed to death, during the annual East Coast Radio Durban Day event at People’s Park, outside Moses Mabhida Stadium this month.
“I call it coloured bravado! I’ve seen it on the school playground and in boardrooms. It’s the feeling because we are coloured we must never back down from a fight. I’m coloured and I don’t take s***!” he wrote.
Grade 11 pupil Tristan Augustus, 18, and Radley Warner, 19, a mechanical engineering student, were arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder.
Goldstone said that through his 26-year first-hand experience of growing up in Newlands East and playing gangster games, he knew that coloured youths were embroiled in a violent culture.
“From my own experience, I can liken growing up in the coloured community to almost like what you see in prison movies, where you show your strength, choose your side or become someone’s b****!”
He described the lifestyle as “knife edge” and “a fearful existence” for soft-natured people like himself.
The “bravado life” was not limited only to young boys, as young girls would act or appreciate violence to look tough, he said.
Goldstone called it a ticking time bomb that was waiting to explode “at home, school and the workplace”.
In some coloured homes, he said, violent and defensive behaviour was encouraged by fathers who didn’t want their sons to be pushovers.
He said this had robbed coloured people of respect, and they had been feared and isolated by other communities. He said he realised that coloured communities in Durban were violent only when he visited England 15 years ago.
“I couldn’t believe the polite nature of the people, so much so that I mistook it for a display of weakness.”
Goldstone said although he and his family had since moved out of Newlands East, he still has close relatives in the area and Wentworth. He said he was concerned his son would not know how to react to attacks when visiting the areas.
He then called on coloured youths to move away from violence and focus on education. He said if provoked, a person should negotiate peacefully.
Most of his Facebook friends welcomed his comments. Sandra Ingram said she prayed that all the parents in the “hood” should teach their children that life was a precious gift from God. “You did not give it, so don’t take it.”
Prashek Maharaj said: “As an Indian guy who spent a lot of time in Wentworth and Newlands East in the early 1990s, I can say this was a trend from way back then and long before.”