"Respect will make SA safer"

[Vox Populi Vox Dei]

What an idiot.

Charles Cilliers has a simple message, and possibly profound warning "for whites only" who are "pissing on reconciliation" - perhaps dangerously so.

"It can take only one match to burn a thousand trees. We don't realise the power we have, that every day our actions are going to build this country or break it down. We are not just spectators in this country; we are central to what is going to happen," says the 29-year-old author.

"And when you speak to a young black girl, or young black boy, speak to them as if they are going to be president," suggests Cilliers.

"Somewhere out there, in a classroom, taxi, township, village or informal settlement is a black kid who is going to run the country one day. "

These messages from the son of a former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) commandant become particularly poignant when you consider his background.

"Like countless others, I was taught racism from an early age. I was born into it, told that a ****** is a ******, and is to be treated like a dog, that the only thing a ****** understands is a fist," says Cilliers.

Source: IOL

 

[Nod]

First ubuntu, now respect? If ubuntu couldn't stop people from murdering, raping and stealing from each other, how will respect do it? A word won't change people, a person can only change himself/herself. Change can't be forced.

 

[Alan]

So no white/coloured/indian kid out there is going to run the country then?

 

[iDenTiTy]

So no white/coloured/indian kid out there is going to run the country then?

Pretty much.

 

[Natasha H]

He says he got an "emotive" response when he accused whites of being racist. He expected ????


# For Whites Only is available at CNA stores, Exclusive Books, Fascination Books and through Kalahari.net for R99. lol

 

[supersunbird]

Well "they" can shove it. "They" want to take the springbok away for reconciliation, "they" want to take Paul Kruger Street away for reconciliation. "They" can go **** themselves.

<*insert bunch of racial slurs here*>

Reconcile that you mother@%^#&*$.

 

[TheHiveMind]

I agree with treating everyone equally.

Treat nobodies like presidents, or treat presidents like nobodies like I do.

But I fail to see how that applies to white Saffirs alone. That applies to every human.

I think he is being unfairly critical towards whites, but I can assume thats because he wants to be the exact opposite of his father. Don't we all..

 

[Morgoth]

respect is earned and not forced on,

 

[Sherbang]

I think his point is that whites, for the most part, have been slow to embrace reconciliation.

There are still too many who think the country is doomed to failure
because it's run by 'blacks'. Who think that because a person is black they must be stupid, incapable, incompetent and corrupt. There are still too many white people who think that if only the 'blacks' hadn't taken over, the country would be paradise. You know the kind of people I'm talking about, there are still far too many of them around...

They are the idiots.
Unfortunately I suspect they might also make up the majority of white people.
Personally, I think he has a point.

 

[Nod]

I think his point is that whites, for the most part, have been slow to embrace reconciliation.

Unfortunately, reconciliation seems to be a one way street. The whites have sacrifice everything (street names, job opportunities, etc).

You should know (I think) how it feels if your government discriminates against you? Did you feel positive about the future in the country?

Also, how do you measure "embracing reconciliation"? What must the whites do, to finally get the thumbs up?

 

[QX6700RULZ]

This country is a paradise, but it is being destroyed by the stupid, incapable, incompetent and corrupt rulers that we presently have. It has nothing to do with whites and reconcilliation.

GREED GREED and more GREED

 

[PeterCH]

What an idiot.



Source: IOL

Agree 100%. The guy is transferring his own issues of guilt onto others. His daddy taught him that an abc is an xyz, well my daddy did not teach me that. He should take that diatribe to his counselling sessions.

 

[Sherbang]

respect is earned and not forced on,

Morgoth, I totally agree with you when it comes to adults, that respect should be earned, not given. I'm just not sure if the same applies to small kids who need to be taught about right and wrong, respect, self worth, self respect etc

Just as an example, I remember as a white kid, the 'garden boy' never had my respect because I was taught that he was different to white adults, he shouldn't be afforded the kind of respect I was to give to my parents' friends. He never did anything to deserve my disrespect, and today, I do respect him, for raising a family through difficult times (his 2 sons are both university graduates), for working hard and taking all the sh*t people dished out to him. I respect him more than I respect some of my parents friends who I was taught I had to respect...

I don't know, I'm not really sure on this one

 

[Divestar]

Why do 'they" always play the "racial" or "racist" card? Being white myself, I respect those who deserve it, but if you don't deserve it, you WILL NOT get it from me, white, black, brown and everything in between included!

 

[Arthur]

I think his point is that whites, for the most part, have been slow to embrace reconciliation.

On the contrary, for a few years after '94 every single (white) I knew was eager to reach out, be kind, treat all with respect. Then Macbeki came into power, and his anti-white racism was immediately evident. Then the Big Slow Grab got seriously underway, corruption became endemic, and crime skyrocketed. Daily (or is it nightly), people were murdered in their houses, shot in the cars, while Macbeki and his ministers denied there was a serious crime problem. Just like HIV/AIDS. Those who raised objections were called whingers and encouraged to leave.

Another thing: there's no getting away from the fact that the ANC's rise to power was made possible only by the unilateral abdication of power by the Afrikaner-dominated NP. No ANC cadres won any skirmish, battle or war that even remotely challenged white rule. Before the NP's abdication of white power, no ANC group negotiated any political concessions. The real reason why white hegemony was ended is because the NP leadership had a change of heart, long time in the making (and strongly encouraged by international sanctions, primarily the financial ones from that other evil regime, the USA). The decision to unban the ANC, free Mandela, and negotiate for transition to majority rule was a unilateral act by the whites-only government. Whites as a whole supported this and were eager for reconciliation. It is the Africanist racists in the ANC who spat back in their faces, and embarked on a thinly-disguised program of expropriation and rapacious self-enrichment, all the while baiting whites with racist slurs. That is why race relations are worse today than at any other time in our history.

 

[PeterCH]

I think his point is that whites, for the most part, have been slow to embrace reconciliation.

There are still too many who think the country is doomed to failure
because it's run by 'blacks'. Who think that because a person is black they must be stupid, incapable, incompetent and corrupt. There are still too many white people who think that if only the 'blacks' hadn't taken over, the country would be paradise. You know the kind of people I'm talking about, there are still far too many of them around...

They are the idiots.
Unfortunately I suspect they might also make up the majority of white people.
Personally, I think he has a point.

Does it matter what people think? The current government has had 15 years to rule and no matter what a rich white guy thinks in his BMW, his thoughts
should not influence the government's performance.

To me this smacks of diversionary tactics. Distract the common man with
non-issues while you fail to address that man's plight, which is within your
power to do so.

 

[Sherbang]

Unfortunately, reconciliation seems to be a one way street. The whites have sacrifice everything (street names, job opportunities, etc).

You should know (I think) how it feels if your government discriminates against you? Did you feel positive about the future in the country?

Also, how do you measure "embracing reconciliation"? What must the whites do, to finally get the thumbs up?

Well, actually I am white, so no, other than being called a jew boy sometimes as a child I've never really been discriminated against.

As to your "what must the whites do" question, it a matter of respect I guess. not just respecting someone cause he is black, but for example:

When they decided to change the name of the airport in JHB to OR Tambo and got rid of "Jan Smuts" as the name, many white people were up in arms. Some, like you, see it as a 'sacrifice' others (correctly in my opinion) would say 'but Jan Smuts was a great man'. But very few white people would say that it is a great thing because OR Tambo was a great South African. A man we can all, white and black, be proud of. He was.
What is the problem there?

I know whites have to sacrifice, but that is the nature of reconciliation - white people had so much for so long, and black people suffered and continue to suffer because of apartheid - and we were not killed in our beds in a violent bloody revolution / civil war as many predicted, instead the ANC under Mandela offered a hand of reconciliation.

 

[Sherbang]

Does it matter what people think? The current government has had 15 years to rule and no matter what a rich white guy thinks in his BMW, his thoughts
should not influence the government's performance.

To me this smacks of diversionary tactics. Distract the common man with
non-issues while you fail to address that man's plight, which is within your
power to do so.

Well actually I agree with you. I'm not saying we must respect the current government because they're black, far from it. But by the same token people shouldn't just assume it's because they are black that they failed. I'm just saying that many white people will blame the governments corruption, incompetence and bad performance on the fact that they are black. But of course the white apartheid government was also corrupt, incompetent and oppressive. So race really doesn't have anything to do with competence.

 

[Divestar]

...

When they decided to change the name of the airport in JHB to OR Tambo and got rid of "Jan Smuts" as the name, many white people were up in arms. Some, like you, see it as a 'sacrifice' others (correctly in my opinion) would say 'but Jan Smuts was a great man'. But very few white people would say that it is a great thing because OR Tambo was a great South African. A man we can all, white and black, be proud of. He was.
What is the problem there?

The problem I have with this is that they spend MILLIONS (if on more) of Rands to change names in the name of "reconcilliation" while even more people can do with the money in job creation and social grants to "reconcile" the differences of the past...

 

[Nod]

When they decided to change the name of the airport in JHB to OR Tambo and got rid of "Jan Smuts" as the name, many white people were up in arms. Some, like you, see it as a 'sacrifice' others (correctly in my opinion) would say 'but Jan Smuts was a great man'. But very few white people would say that it is a great thing because OR Tambo was a great South African. A man we can all, white and black, be proud of. He was.
What is the problem there?

I know whites have to sacrifice, but that is the nature of reconciliation - white people had so much for so long, and black people suffered and continue to suffer because of apartheid - and we were not killed in our beds in a violent bloody revolution / civil war as many predicted, instead the ANC under Mandela offered a hand of reconciliation.

Please, you don't know me. I asked a question in order to understand your thinking. No need to label me as something I'm not. Personally I don't give a hoot whether they change every name in this country.

You gave the example of renaming Jan Smuts to Johannesburg International. I have no problem with that, as the reasoning behind it was sound, i.e. remove politics from place names. Changing it again to a political name, i.e OR Tambo, was a mistake and waste of money.

You do realize that if there is no answer to my last question, there will be no time in the future that we will all be equal at last. If there is no measurement, there can be no result.