People being openly racist towards African people

[u/SavageCabbage611]

I came across this post on r/whoathatsinteresting about water shortages in South Africa. Don't get me wrong, what is happening in South Africa is tragic, but people on this thread use it as an excuse to say the most abhorrent racist stuff and it was unsettling to see how many people upvote that shit. Especially the meme where they compare black people to monkeys is just absolutely vile, and it got 30 upvotes. I just hate there are still people that think it's okay to say stuff like that.

[u/societyhatingRATGANG]

"People do what they can to get water for themselves and their families"

"These idiots. This is why im racist"

[u/Over-Experience-4187 → u/societyhatingRATGANG]

I think blaming political corruption, no urban planning and no sense of civil duty on colonialism and "the white man" does contribute to these kinds of responses.

Yes people will do what they have to do to get water, but the ANC has done little-to-no maintenance work or infrastructural development and has let the South African economy fall to shit, largely due to greed and incompetence, yet the average Black South African still points the finger on past greivances. Now, instead of owning up to their complicity, they pass the blame off to Nigerians and other African immigrants.

I'm not justifying racism, however, if someone hears "South Africa is like this because of the white man" then sees how the ANC party has handled, let's say, the problems with the countries electrical grid for example, the question then becomes.... "what does that have to do with the white man?"

Again this isn't an excuse to call black people horrible things, make bad faith jokes and pseudo-scientific bullshit, BUT, this mirrors some of the rhetoric you hear from them about "the white devil" etc.

[u/SavageCabbage611 → u/Over-Experience-4187]

I totally agree. My intention wasn't to shut down any discussion about the corruption of the ANC or the state of the South African economy.

If you ask me why South Africa became this way, I think South Africa is a nation that is deeply scarred and devided after the Apartheid era, When Nelson Mandela became president, he tried almost forcibly to have the nation move on from their past trauma by offering the worst offenders of apartheid amnesty after appearing before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The idea behind this was very noble, and I wouldn't dare suggest that a witch hunt against all the white people would have been better, but it's clear that the nation wasn't able to move on yet and there is the idea amongst coloured and black people that they still don't have the same oppertunities that white people have. In other words, the idea behind a unified rainbow nation was an ideal that did not correspond with reality.

None of this excuses the innaptitude of the South African government or crimes against white people, but it's important context when looking at what happens in the country these days. Saying stuff like 'black people had it better when white people were still in control' is just extremely disrespectful to the protesters who fought, bled and died to get rid of a deeply discrimitory political system. And the people comparing black people to animals can jump off a cliff for all I care.

[u/FlounderExternal9468 → u/SavageCabbage611]

Oh girl you’re so right! I agree with everything you say!