According to dictionary.com (accessed 13 February 2012 at 15:09) Xenophobia is defined as “an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.” So the definition in itself already beautifully states my opinion here. It is unreasonable, irrational, hatred of something or people who are different to you. Fear of the unknown is the oldest phobia in the world, just my opinion. From the Israelites, the Jews, to the Mass slaughters in Rwanda the principle stays the same. Cultures differ, believes differ and being obsessively hateful of a tribe because you do not agree with them is primitive. Learning about the culture, trying to understand and eventually learning to embrace is the key, in my uneducated opinion. I can understand the fear of losing jobs because of cheaper foreign labourers (which I think is one reason Xenophobes use to justify). In a speech given by N. Barney Pityana at the Human Rights Commission’s: Racism and Xenophobia Consultative Workshop, 15 October 1998, in Johannesburg, Pityana says:
“The feature of the new South Africa is that it offers a window into the kind of society states could be across the Continent. South Africa is attractive as the land of Mandela because it represents a set of values about leadership and statehood which many Africans wish to associate with. South Africa is the country many identified with throughout the struggle against Africa. Many African states taxed themselves to support the liberation struggle. Others suffered economic ruin because of their adherence to policies against apartheid. All this to say that there is an understandable emotional lure to South Africa for many people in Africa. Many of these are asylum-seekers or professional people who wish to be associated with the new South Africa. But there are the more obvious economic reasons for migration to South Africa. People come here in the hope of a better life or to trade in goods and services.”
What South Africans have to remember is that during a time when we could not speak out against our government, when our own people could not live a good live here, in a time when apartheid caused many to flee into exile other African countries opened their doors to our people. To now repay them with hatred is shameful and ungrateful not to mention completely against our Human Rights.
and THANK YOU for all your support.
Hopping from box to box 