‘No human is born racist’ – Naresh Gopie
"It is a worldwide phenomenon ," he told the Courier, adding that he first experienced racism in the 1980s when Indians were still not allowed into Vryheid without a Government-issued permit.
Racism may be defined as the hatred of one person by another or the belief that another person is less than human because of skin colour, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person.
Naresh Gopie, Tourism Dundee chairman, lamented the turn of events commenting that ‘suddenly racism is now a burning issue (again) in our country’. “It is a worldwide phenomenon ,” he told the Courier, adding that he first experienced racism in the 1980s when Indians were still not allowed into Vryheid without a Government-issued permit.
“No human is born racist. Racism is something that is created. What do we do to overcome this killer infection?” Mr Gopie appealed to all residents to tolerate one another because racism divides the community and ends up destroying the economy. He said we must learn to attend all local social events. “Each event must not be seen as connected with a certain sector. For example, the Dundee July is seen as an event for black people and the Dundee Biltong Fees for white people. We must now learn to attend all these events to educate ourselves about other people’s cultures,” he said.
He appealed to people to make sure that they know what their neighbours do. He said learning other people’s languages will play a very important role in addressing the issue of racism in the country. “Dundee is a small community, let’s speak one language and have one common goal.
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