Of guns, pit bulls, racism and vicious hate speech

GUNS are kept for protection. They hurt and kill people.

But in the wrong hands, they can hurt and kill innocent people.

And the fewer of them in society, the less the risk of people being hurt or killed by firearms.

This we know to be true. Interestingly, all of the above is also true of pit bulls.

This is the argument presented by groups who are calling for the breed to be banned, following multiple reports of deaths in attacks involving the powerful animals recently.

Are these incidents on the increase? Or is the media simply giving them more attention, highlighting a crisis that has always been with us?

Whatever the case, the authorities are under increasing pressure to intervene and review by-laws regarding the ownership of the dogs.

The subject has evoked ferocious debate between pit bull fans and phobes, bringing out the worst in some people.

It unleashed the most nauseatingly racist tirade from one Belinda Magor, who reckoned that instead of banning pit bulls, black men should be banned, and black women’s uteruses and ovaries should be removed.

Her shocking utterances were regarded as prima facie hate speech and before long, Magor was duly arrested for crimen injuria.

And rightly so.

The rant lent credence to the theory that South African dogs indeed become socialised into anti-black racism by their owners.

Magor’s remarks were condemned by some quarters, but not by all.

There were those who saw fit to point out that “when Julius Malema sings kill the boer”, he is exempt from any persecution and prosecution.

And that “when black people are racist, then it’s fine”.

No. Racism is never fine. And this popular narrative just isn’t true.

Yes, the EFF leader is known to shoot from the lip, but his comments have landed him in court more often than he’d like.

He’s been convicted of hate speech at least twice in his relatively short political career, and has had to pay fines and publicly apologise for his sins.