Let us unite through music

BERTHOLD AUERBACH once described music as a universal language which needs no translation, and local DJ, Kurt Robson, could not agree more.

Kurt, who is also an ambassador for the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), says that he feels that local music and entertainment still has a long way to go in terms of breaking barriers and bringing people of all races and colour together.

“Entertainment is a form of art and we should not restrict ourselves to only exposing certain people to our art,” said Kurt referring to his career as a dj.

Kurt says that he has been speaking with a few local artists, Dj’s and bands on the possibility of some day holding a music festival that could be a melting pot of all the different music genres Vryheid has to offer.

“Such an event should be hosted at a venue where everyone, irrespective of their race, will feel comfortable and welcome. Music has no skin colour, it is a language that speaks to any and all races,” he continued.

According to Kurt, racism has no place where music is concerned and locals should not feel restricted to only going out to certain pubs or bars because the others are seen as being dominated by a particular race group.

“Music is music, and we should all keep an open mind in terms of how we can expand and grow the local entertainment industry. Let’s be open to each others musical tastes,” he said.

Growing up on a farm, Kurt said that he was never exposed to racism or made to feel inferior because of his racial background.

“We lived at the farm just before 1994 and although this was during the apartheid regime, I had friends from both black and white racial backgrounds there and the colour of our skin was never an issue,” Kurt recalled.

Kurt went on to say how seeing a young person, who was born long after the struggle, being racist is always sad as he feels they have no reason to have so much hatred and anger in them.

“We need to stop speaking negatively about other races in front of our children as this is how we plant the seed of racism in them,” Kurt said in conclusion.

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