By: Mbalenhle Zondi
I just came across an article in this week’s Drum magazine about a brutal assault on an elderly golf instructor. The instructor, Nathan Maluleke, suffered severe injuries which resulted in him having to have metal plates inserted into his cheeks and he also lost two of his teeth in the attack. His crime, you ask? BEING BLACK; Maluleke was savagely attacked by a white family at a golf club in Johannesburg as he tried to intervene to stop a white woman from chanting racial slurs at black employees.
Every time I read or hear about racist incidents’ such as this one I am filled with so much disgust and sadness; I mean this is really unnecessary! I wonder if South Africa will ever truly heal from the wounds of the past. Incidents’ such as this one are a wakeup call to all of us because they are a sad reminder that racism still exists in our beautiful country. What saddens me even more is that some ‘bornfree’s’ (people born post apartheid) have also developed racist views. Where is all this anger and hatred coming from?!
Does such hate and anger really help us in any way? I mean if we all looked the same the world would be quite a dull place, don’t you think? We should take pride in the fact that we are a ‘rainbow nation’, a rainbow is an arch of different colours and it is just beautiful to look at! By hating someone because of the colour of their skin we are saying that we are ashamed of our beautiful rainbow nation and would rather have one that is dull and boring.
Nathan Maluleke after his brutal attack.
I think of South Africa as being quite a religious country as well; although we have a variety of religious beliefs in our country (another thing that makes us a rainbow nation) ,the one thing most of us have in common is that we believe in a higher power. I don’t think that there is any religion (Well at least I hope there isn’t) that condones prejudice and hatred.
Since I am Christian, I will talk from a Christian perspective: We are all created in the beautiful image of God and God is a God of DIVERSITY that is why we come in an amazing variety of colours, shapes and sizes; God does NOT make mistakes! In his book The Purpose Driven life, Rick Warren says: “God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the colour of your skin, your hair and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way he wanted it. He also determined the natural talents that you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality. Your race and nationality are no accident!”
Mind you, racism is not a ‘white thing’ as some people tend to think. ANYONE can be racist, Black people can be racist, White people can be racist, Indians can be racist. Your race does not determine whether you will be racist or not, it is the anger and hatred that one develops in their heart and mind that makes them a racist, nothing else! Let us all love our neighbours as we love ourselves and unite as a nation to fight racism, because it is through being united that we will ensure that our country prospers.
