Racism must fall

After hearing that a little girl was denied a lift to a local youth group because of her skin colour, Ballito’s Bridgette Allan spoke out about racial intolerance during this anti-racism week.

“I have seen kids excluded from play dates and told not to “mix” with others who are in some way different,” said Allan, who is married to an Indian man and has two Indian stepchildren.

“Children are not to blame. Racism is learnt. Parents who are raising their children to discriminate against other races are, in my opinion, criminal. It is unlikely that your child will live in a single race society, regardless where in the world they go, so raising him or her to judge people based on race is a huge disservice to your child. ”

She said racism always divides, separates and generates conflict.

“We need to work together as a community to end racism and to teach our children tolerance and acceptance.”

While Allan said she has heard a number of stories from mixed race friends and family who have had racist incidents in Ballito, she was happy to see how many positive responses her post on the Dolphin Coast Neighbours Facebook page received:

Carla Viljoen: “#SouthAfricaUnite My daughter has friends of all colours and they are all welcome in my home for play dates. Well mannered people are welcome in my house – that is where the judgement ends. Come on South Africa, we can do it.”

Chantel Damant: “I was recently told a true story which made me smile, and it fits in so well with this topic. A boy came home very excited and told his mom he made a new friend at play school called Bobo. Mom knew straight away that Bobo is an African boy, which was great. Next day, mommy arrives at the school and in his group of friends is only one African boy. The boy says to her “mommy, mommy this is my new friend Bobo. He is the one with the yellow shirt!” He identified him by the colour of his shirt. I thought this was the sweetest thing, and in the perfect world, this is how it should be.”

Aneesa Vally: “I come from a mixed race family, I married mix race and my children know no difference in race and colour so I know no racism. Time to move on.”

Join the Anti-Racism Network of South Africa (ARNSA) and be part of the social movement working to end racism in SA with their campaign #TakeOnRacism during this anti-racism week. Share your tweet, add the hashtag and join the anti-racism revolution.

Do you want to receive news alerts via WhatsApp? Send us a WhatsApp message with your name and surname to 061 718 4438.

Please read our WhatsApp broadcast list disclaimer.
Join us on BBM at 59015786
Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.