I’m a black man who was born in the Republic of
South Africa. I descend from the Zulu kingdom and I now reside in Cape Town.
This is who I am, if you ignore my race, the clan I belong to or any
information I give you about myself, then you are purposefully choosing to
ignore my identity.
A few days ago there was an advert made by a
reputable advertising agency about feeding poor kids. The communication was
provocative and eye opening, but unfortunately it came off as racist.
The advertising showed a small black boy being
treated like a dog, by a rich white lady.
The message reads; “The average domestic
dog eats better than millions of children.”
The message is true and this is the crisis we
are facing in our country. I believe the message is correct, and it’s about
time we face facts.
Alza Rautenbach the founder and CEO of feed a
child was the lady in charge of signing off this advert. She was on eNCA
defending this advert saying; everything
was done with the intention of causing a reaction. What truly got me boiled up
inside was what she had said while trying to defend the advert. She said she
does not see colour or (at the very least) her organization does not see
colour.
I am a black man and I’m proud to be black, I’m
not ashamed of the colour that shells my skin, I’m not ashamed of the melanin
that covers my entire body. If you’re white I don’t think you should be ashamed
of your skin colour, the same goes if you green, pink, purple or blue. Colour
is part of your identity.
The colour on your skin is part of your identity
and if you don’t see the colour on my skin or anybody else’s skin colour, for
that matter, then you are purposefully choosing to ignore our identities.
I’m a black man who was born in the Republic of
South Africa. I descend from the Zulu kingdom and I now reside in Cape Town.
This is who I am, if you ignore my race, the clan I belong to or any
information I give you about myself, then you are purposefully choosing to
ignore who I am.
Here is the link to Alza’s response to the ad.
Surely the death of the ego is the ultimate solution. We are all deeply conditioned to see ourselves as separate from one another, even if you see it as your "identity". Why don't you change? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEIfMqM5wnM
ReplyDeleteI come from a country that has survived a time of suffering, I come from a country where pride was all a man would have if he didn't have anything. It's easy to say that I should change and be an individual that forgets about what happened and live as one with the country - or the people of its country - but the people of this very same country are not equal, one group exclusively associate and support themselves alone. I long to live in a country where everybody is one, regardless of race, but my current environment dictates that I roll over and pretend everybody is equal and continue living at the feet of my former oppressor, or I could make obvious the problems I face and do my best to make it right for me and the people who will live in this country when I'm no more.
ReplyDeleteThis is possible but first we need to go to work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZHDPTE4TXk