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Bravo!
07/12/2007 09:11
Very well written. I concur with your opionion, be Anglo-African and proud of it. Like me! Lesley - Lesley |
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Just in passing..........
07/12/2007 09:14
Why should you apologise just because you have English Colonial blood running in your South African veins? Be proud of what you are! And certainly you donot have to be ashamed of your past. Good article, I have read it twice, and I agree with your sentiments. - carol |
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Unrepentant Racist
07/12/2007 09:17
It is because of racists like you that the world has so many sorrows today. Surely God will not tolerate racists like you. What does skin colour have to do with anything.We are all human beings. - Chaka Zulu |
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Inheritance
07/12/2007 09:21
Such a nice, proud, humble and dignified writ. Am sure some will get going with some racial issue and miss the whole point. I am who I am and despite anything I do, I lok at my parents, grandparents, research history way back to the 10th century, and I see not just who I am but why I am, good and bad sides. - PolokwaneJohn |
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Flame of the hunter in my daughter's eyes!?
07/12/2007 09:23
I hear what you're saying Colleen, albeit a little melodramatic. - Lawrence |
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Right on !
07/12/2007 09:30
Well said I couldn't agree with you more. - mb |
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Unrepentant Racist
07/12/2007 09:31
Just pack away and go to your beloved English Roots. What the hack are you dioing in our motherland Africa. - Chaka Zulu |
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Media Spin to make us feel guilty about ourselves
07/12/2007 09:31
Why must the whites continue to be OH SO PC!!! and bend backwards all the time to satidfy some agenda. Somebody is trying to rob not only our material goods but also our 'ME' fiber. It is time we stand up, with character and firmness. We are becoming a bunch of weak ?oh I am so sorry I live? cowards. Faceless, 'characterless'. - P Basson |
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Proud to be.....
07/12/2007 09:32
Spot on! I can't undo the choices my ancestors made. I can't undo the way I'm brought up. I'm proud of what I am! Stuff that's a definite no-no today was totally acceptable 50 year's ago. In 50 year's time the world might think I was mad by supporting Mars missions - just think about polluting the solar system :-]. That's the way life is. I do not say my ancestors were always right. To err is human. I'm just proud to be their child, grandchild. - Jo |
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Ag Shame
07/12/2007 09:36
Like I said, bound to have pathetic, feeble minded fools will pop up and spout racist rubbish again. Dangerous people. - PolokwaneJohn |
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Unrepentant Black Racist
07/12/2007 09:38
Chaka Zulu. I'm sure your are very proud of the fact that you are black. Making sure the world knows that despite the colour of your skin, you are a worthy human being, and a productive memeber of society. What Colleen is saying that despite her being WHITE and the mistakes of her ancestors, she to is a worthy human being. And proud of her English heritage. No racist comments were made. Get back in your hole and be quiet untill you have something decent to say - Phil |
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Stop trying to be politically correct
07/12/2007 09:41
Whites and Asians can never be African,,its genetically impossible ! A black dude born in Sweden can never be European ! White people have South African citizenship but can never EVER be african,,,get over it please - BigDaddy |
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Unrepentant racist?
07/12/2007 09:42
Well said Colleen, no one should have to apologise for who they are and who their ancestors were.
To Chaka Zulu and others who think like him I will say only this: There is nothing of a racist nature in this column. Being proud of one's own ancestry and heritage, whether it be Afrikaner, British or Zulu for that matter, has absolutely nothing to do with racism.
- Jon |
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Can't change history
07/12/2007 09:43
I fully agree! We can not change the past. What happened, happened. That is why it perplexes me when some get upset if Apartheid is blamed for the many cruelties it inflicted. Unless we have doulble standards. - Mankhane |
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Agree Totally.
07/12/2007 09:43
I will too never apologise for who I am - and neither should anyone else. I know many previously opressed people will say you cannot forget the past, which is true - and they shouldn't have to. But you get many people that keep looking back, keep holding grudges and whom keep living the nightmare. To those people I rather say look to the future, your enemies are gone. Black and White CAN live together, but don't 'rectify' the past by becoming the new opressors. - ShRoOm |
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Tsk Tsk
07/12/2007 09:46
Chaka Zulu - This is not a racial issue, but one regarding a person's heritage and culture. Do not look for offense when there is no offense intended.
Good article. - JaWelNoFine |
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Chaka Zulu - "Unrepentant Racist"
07/12/2007 09:48
I don't think you even know the meaning of the word 'racist' - no doubt the fault of the previous Apartheid government who made sure you were not educated. In fact it is people that have the same way of thinking as you that cause more racial prejudice. There is NOTHING racist about being proud of having a Colonial past... My mother is British and my father is South African and I love them both. If you got that chip off your shoulder maybe you too could be proud of who you are... - ShRoOm |
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Chaka Zulu
07/12/2007 09:50
I think you are missing the point that the writer is trying to portray. Try reading the article again, and think beyond the *racist* thing. - carol |
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COLONIAL ROOTS.
07/12/2007 09:50
BRAVO COLLEEN-HOW REFRESHING TO READ SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THE APOLOGETIC,POLITICALLY CORRECT GARBAGE THATS BECOME OUR STAPLE INTELLECTUAL DIET.THANKS,YOU MADE MY DAY. - ANTI-PC |
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My ten cents......
07/12/2007 09:52
It is the time of year to become melodramatic... But i agree. A well written piece. Never forget who you are, your morals and principals. And Chaka Zulu - there is no racism in this piece. Merely memories of some one she loved. And to remember that strenght lies in diversity and not being a blind sheep. - High |
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Why why why
07/12/2007 09:54
Brilliant writing Colleen.Despite what certain cognitive challenged folk might come up with.Every single human being should embrace their ancestry , good or bad.Ideally it will help us avoid the mistakes we've made, and build on our success.But I'm guessing that might be a concept too complex for some to grasp. - Xobile |
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Packing away my colonial roots
07/12/2007 09:57
Good for you Col. It is time that we all feel empowered enough to honour our roots without a sense of shame or pride. As the saying goes "something gained - something lost" and perhaps that is what many of us have lost in the changing face of South Africa. May I say that this applies to each and everyone living in this country today. Thanks for a though provoking article and also for painting a wonderful picture of your grandfather. I feel that you you were extremely fond of him!!! - Noelene Van Bosch |
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Well said Colleen
07/12/2007 09:57
Indeed, I endorse your sentiments so well expressed. I refuse to be anything other than what I am as we all contribute to the fabric that is developing our future in South Africa. I also refuse to distance myself from my forebears woth whom I clodely relate. Frank - Frank |
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Colonialism and Chaka Zulu
07/12/2007 09:58
Respect others! May I remind you that the 'colonialists' you so clearly hate were here in Cape Town long before any Black race. All they found here were 'Strandlopers" who certainly were not Black. To tell these people to go pack their bags is ignorant... Do you tell Australians to all jump into the sea because they didn't always live there?? - ShRoOm |
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Pride in yourself is not ...
07/12/2007 10:02
... a crime.I'm amused(and saddened)that as a 'whitey' with strong Colonial roots,I'm somehow expected to apologise for what my ancestors were. I voted for this government(admittedly,there are times when I wonder why...but it had to happen!) - yet I am 'white' and somehow guilty by default.Same absurd argument that Germany should STILL be assuaging guilt over WW2 atrocities. Jeez,it's 62+ years later.The world needs to get over that.And SA needs to get over the Colonial/white guilt thing ... - not-so-Cynicus |
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Perception
07/12/2007 10:03
In his much quoted I am an African speech president Mbeki included all sectors of SA's heritage. Voortrekker kappies en al. We all from a part of what has shaped this country. - Journeyer |
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@ Chaka Zulu.
07/12/2007 10:05
Who is the 'unrepentant racist', brother; you or me? - Colleen Figg |
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Oh dear ... Chaka,
07/12/2007 10:06
you may wish to reference a dictionary & see what the definition of racism is. If being proud of your roots is racist, then that would make you (Chaka) a racist too. Take off the blinkers, Chaka. Yes, we're all human and all have something to be proud of. How on EARTH is that racist? Wishing you a great life as a fellow Human Being! - Slightly Cynicus again ... |
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Proud of my ancestors
07/12/2007 10:06
Well... my great-grandfather was Scottish. I am from French descent - in fact i bear the surname of the first teacher in South Africa (now everyone knows my surname). I am proud of who I am and where I come from. I will NOT apologise for anything my ancestors got up to... in fact: They did the best they knew how... we now know better and we can do better AND... we can do without racists such as Chaka Zulu. - European-African |
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Chaka Zulu
07/12/2007 10:10
When I read Chaka Zulu's first comment I thought "he can't be serious - must be having us on" and then when I read his second comment I realized that his type feed on sowing dissent and perpetuating hatred and division and I felt sorry for him. - Gail |
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Chaka Zulu
07/12/2007 10:10
I think you are a pot that's calling the kettle black!? Remember, that the blacks arrived in Southern Africa at the same tie the whites did. The whites expanding a successful civilization, the blacks being pushed out of Central Africa by the stronger tribes up north. - KoosS |
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Chaka Zulu
07/12/2007 10:13
So no one who is purely African is allowed to stay in this country? Who are you to decide? Colleen is not racist just proud of who she is, with a great love of her grandfather, again who are you to take that from her.You want to be accepted but does not offer acceptance to others. - LB |
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40 lashings please
07/12/2007 10:14
I will be naming a teddy bear after Chaka Zulu. Come on people, don't get on the poor guy's case - he obviously doesn't know any better, feels inferior to others, has a chip on his shoulder, presently lives in the past and is hopelessly uneducated. At least we can help him with the latter so he can become proud of who he is. - ShRoOm |
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Your Choice
07/12/2007 10:15
Colleen while your father was hunting on the plains of Africa and travel all over the world my grandfather (who was a colourd man) and others like him had to go and fight in world wars in Europe under the flag of Britain and upon his return did not received any recognition or respect from the your great British government. And if that was not enough he was disposed by apartheid laws of his house his land and everything he had which enabled him to provide adequately for his family. Thereafter all his children and grandchildren were denied proper education or an equal opportunity to compete in business or in the employment market. Being British is directly linked to dispossessing people of there land denying them to practice there culture and rape and in slaving our people as this is what your forefathers did. I guess it is your choice to be proud of this. - colin |
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I am proudly African...
07/12/2007 10:19
I don't for a second believe that I should carry the title of Anglo-African. I am an African, I am a South African, always will be. I was raised with good christian principles (although I am no longer one)and good morals, I am a good person. I love my country, I love the diversity, I love the people of this country to me that is all that matters. My blood is green and gold. - A DJ |
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Past
07/12/2007 10:24
I am not in control of my past. My great-grandfather and grandfather were both Captains in the Royal Navy, and my father was an engineer who came out here and helped build Sasol into the giant it has become. Now I should cower in the corner and appologise for be a previously advantaged. No, I am proud of my heritage. But I was born here, and am a proud South African. - MJ |
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No colin...
07/12/2007 10:32
Neither Colleen's grandfather nor mine had anything to do with Apartheid and the atrocities you or your family endured... it's high time you realised that. - A DJ |
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colin take off your rose-tinted glasses
07/12/2007 10:32
So what you are saying is that Colleen should not be proud of who she is... should no longer enjoy her life or her past and give all her possesions and all the things she has worked hard for over the years over to the previously oppressed/disadvantaged - even though she DIRECTLY had nothing to do with your plight?? That is ridiculous... and stupid! Why can't you just be happy she did not turn out like her mentioned 'forefathers'...why carry this burden and the chip on your shoulder forever? - ShRoOm |
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Your choice
07/12/2007 10:32
Colin, I wouldn't habour to many ill feelings if i was you. Your Grandfathers kids and grand kids probably still got a better education then the kids in the uk who leave school and cant read and write. - Chris |
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Colin 2
07/12/2007 10:33
My friend was brutally murdered by a black man. Do I hate blacks? No I do not, so please stop hating white's for a minority of white's hideous crimes.... - A DJ |
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It's a shame..
07/12/2007 10:35
To see people hating all the wrong people... - A DJ |
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Lets face the facts
07/12/2007 10:37
Ladies and gentlemen call me uneducated or whatever you might think of under this earth but if I was to run this country I would take every cent of wealth that the white man made as a result of repression. I would investigate all those who benefited from the slave trade and racism and make sure they pay back the money to the state.I would use the money for charity to the previously disadvantaged who still live in absract poverty as a result of racism.I pray Polokwane makes me powerful next week. - Chaka Zulu |
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Colleen
07/12/2007 10:39
I enjoyed your article, though I have serious reservations about the perceived guilt white people feel they have to carry in modern Africa. All of this is, in my view, self-inflicted. The victim mentality quickly asserting itself in white suburbia today only reinforces notions of 'othering' and will only ensure that gaps between the races are never bridged. Being politically correct is certainly no onerous burden. - VLS |
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P Basson: Proud to be ...
07/12/2007 10:42
Ms/Mr P Basson if your intended meaning "Somebody is trying to rob not only our material goodnessbut also our ME fiber" is to say you are better than people of African origin - you are wholly wrong. Are you suggesting that you (caucasian) are material than Africans? Your "ME fibre" has caused Africa a lot of goodness because your "ME fibre" is all selishness and greed that led Africa to where it is today. Figg & Basson: I think you are morally obliged to make Africa right - not worsen it. - JR |
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get over it
07/12/2007 10:47
yes... the world is full of granddaddies who were so amazing to their cute little grandkids, giving them lemondrops etc at home. And then outside the home treated the black population like dogs. truly something to be proud of....
your article made me want to vomit repeatedly... - Jeanine Cameron |
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Try balanced reporting
07/12/2007 10:50
All I am saying is that this report should have been balanced. Not just glorify your forefathers whom we all know what they did to humanity. If I was alive then I would have shot them all dead for inhumane treatment of blcak people. It was so dehumanising I can even get to think of it without sheding tears.I am actually shacking with rage right now. - Chaka Zulu |
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Proud to be ...: Jo
07/12/2007 10:52
Jo, I am Mosotho ("Southern"), my King is Moshoeshoe and am proud to be a Mosotho because Basotho have a history of uniting peoples of the world. We have a history of pride in our roots, a history of love. We had to defend ourselves from people of your origin just to claim what is ours. We're satisfied with our lanlocked land but we were squeezed in by your ancestors. I would not be proud if my ancestors would have crossed into Europe and wreaked havoc as Europeans/your ancestors did in Africa. - JR |
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Blah-Blah-Blah
07/12/2007 10:53
"Well I flatly refuse to bury or apologise for parts of what make me who I am; "
Good article but who asked or forced you apologise for being who you are? - Gonzo |
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Jeanine...
07/12/2007 10:59
...Do you have proof or evidence that Colleen's grandfather was a racist? No? Then you are the racist. See how it works? - A DJ |
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Chaka Zulu "I would take every cent of wealth that the white man made as a result of repression"
07/12/2007 10:59
And I will take it all back as payment due to me for money I could have earned if it was not for BEE and Affirmative Action. I will also take back all the taxes I pay to feed people who hate my colonial past and who don't pay tax. I will take my skills and use them rather to benefit myself. Don't you know how selfish you sound?? Leave the past in the past and get on with life dude...be proud of your heritage and let others be proud of theirs! If you take from us, we will take it back later.. - ShRoOm |
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"Not just glorify your forefathers whom we all know what they did to humanity"
07/12/2007 11:07
Chaka, my grandfather was a Captain of the British Royal Navy and helped stop Hitler's war machine from world domination. He received a comendation from the Queen for his courage. If it wasn't for people like him you would probably have a Swastika as your national symbol and would be living in concentration camps! So tell me... how did a man like my grandfather do you wrong?? Please enlighten me... - ShRoOm |
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Proud to be
07/12/2007 11:08
Hey Coll! Nice article once again. We miss you over here (there, you know where)!!
- Metoo |
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Thank You
07/12/2007 11:15
I think you speak for most white south africans when you elucate your position, thank you for this. I think in this current political climate it sometimes helps to remember with reason your roots and where you came from. Yes we are all Aouth Africans, but our variagated histories mesh to creste who we are today. Oh an by the bye any black readers that was not ar acist article...anyone who does should have their heads examined. Well written. - Noctus |
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Set the record straight
07/12/2007 11:17
I would like to make one thing clear that I do not hate white people and believe that they have as much right being part of this country as myself. But if any white person gives half truths or romanticise the facts of what happened in the past then I believe it is my right as a person who is living the results of the atrocities that was inflicted on my people to speak out and set the record straight. - colin |
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KoosS
07/12/2007 11:28
I think some of us need to read our history books again. Too many older generation white South Africans seem to retain completely false information on South African history. I find it quite disturbing. "Remember, that the blacks arrived in Southern Africa at the same tie the whites did". If by "the same time" you mean over a thousand years apart. That said, well done Colleen. We have to accept and understand our past so that we are able to move forward in a new direction. - young white english south african |
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no longer
07/12/2007 11:30
Colleen, stay proud of who you are, as will I stay proud of being who I am, a White South African Afrikaans male.
To Chaka Zulu, imagine for a second that you did land in power, and you do the things you said you will do. What do you think will happen? The lion share of tax paying citizens will leave South Africa, leaving this country in the hands of small minded idiots like yourself, and 5 years later S.A and Zimbabwe will be one and the same...
Ons sal nie langer jammer se nie...
- Chris |
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To Colin
07/12/2007 11:31
Colin - Colleen said she's proud of who she is, not proud of what some people who happen to have the same heritage did to others. If someone says they're proud to be African would you point out to them that they're saying they're proud of the racial cleansing perpetrated by Africans that took place in Rwanda? - C |
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A DJ
07/12/2007 11:38
yes, ADJ..colonialism and apartheid managed to exist without the support, or lack of opposition from people who lived in those times..yes..all the years that there was only one opposition leader in parliament in SA (Helen Suzman), white South Africans weren't actually being racist by voting to keep a racist regime in power..
ADJ, you're right..white privilege was not built on the colourd and black backs of this country..in fact no-ones grandparents ever benefitted or supported oppression.WAKE UP - Jeanine Cameron |
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syrupy nostalgia
07/12/2007 11:41
is this some nostalgic trip about your brave grandfather who shot the living daylights out of anything that moved ("... sometimes terrifying encounters he had with animals ..." - no mention about the terrified animals he blasted away, a skewed set of values if ever there was), or some hang-up about being white, black or whatever.
My suggestion to you is hang his false teeth on the wall since, like the legendary beasts he brought down, he can be the legend you hanker after - k
- roy |
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Packing away my Colonial roots
07/12/2007 11:44
Great article, Colleen! BigDaddy, I have to respectfully disagree with you. Nationality has nothing to do with race. Swedens can be black, and whites can be any African nationality if they were born in an African country.
There is no denying that in every culture there are good moments that are celebrated and bad moments that are regretted, but to highlight the bad moments of a culture and make that the identifying feature of that culture, surely limits your understanding of that culture. - Fabjewel |
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chris
07/12/2007 11:45
Cheers!! That was a good response. I feel the same way. - carol |
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Chaka Zulu - "Not just glorify your forefathers whom we all know what they did to humanity"
07/12/2007 11:47
My dear friend, perhaps you should do a little reasearch into the great king Chaka Senzangakhona and let me know if his assegai never spilt the blood of the innocent? You are ignorant to your own roots, and should therefore not comment on others! - TR |
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Well done
07/12/2007 11:47
Well done you should feel proud of your roots! - Loulla |
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On being what you're not!
07/12/2007 11:50
I think the article is quite a honest way in which most people feel in this nw politically correct society. The whites, the indians, the older coloureds and the older blacks. The younger blacks are trying to find an identity in the new PC world. Be who you are and say it like it like it ought to be said. Scientifically it has been proven that some races have lower IQ's than others, so be patient when they don't get the gist or vein of the article. They're just being themselves, a bit short on IQ! - Fire Starter |
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To COLIN and CHAKA
07/12/2007 11:55
Colin I agree the article was romanticised however that was not the point she mas making, but I think we can see where you are coming from.
However to Chaka, you have to laugh - he is simply here to cause sh!t and fire the debate - take nothing seriously from this man and lets not get caught in his trap of firing back racist comments like his. I think South Africa needs to public televised forum of debate about such issues so we can resolve all this under lying tension and deal with it propery - young SAfrican |
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Jeanine...2
07/12/2007 11:55
You generalizing and not only that you still habour hatred to people who lived a long time ago. You look at any white person and you relate them to past atrocities, don't you think that is unfair? Especially to those of us who work so hard at putting things right? Where is your respect if not dampened by your blinded opinions? - A DJ |
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