THANK you, Penny Sparrow!
Not for your racist, ugly, hurtful, insulting, tasteless comparison of black people to monkeys, but for sparking off a sh…t storm that has inspired a nation to examine its conscience.
Who knows? Your Facebook rant might just have a happy ending.
It was like squeezing a pimple… the pus spewing everywhere. The suppurating zit now has a chance to heal.
Everyone, but everyone, has been talking about this festering condition – racism – that threatens to rip our country apart.
Surprisingly, not one person (in my circles, anyway) has condoned what Penny said, but the saga has encouraged them to re-examine their own prejudices.
Even the very thing that angered Penny (to such an extent that she basically ruined her life with her Facebook post) is now being looked at from another angle.
The penny has finally dropped. Huge crowds of people converge on our beaches at certain times every year and they will continue to do so, regardless of the fuss kicked up ad nauseum at local level.
Thanks to a flood of online and print responses to Penny, the moaners are now taking into account that there might very well be another side of the coin, so to speak.
These are not regular beachgoers we are talking about, but citizens from afar who save up all year for this traditional, annual seaside adventure.
Why begrudge them that? They can’t afford the luxury of Billabong baggies and bikinis or a meal from a restaurant.
But they have just as much right as anyone else to be on the beach.
Instead of bullying authorities into restricting beach access, we should open our arms and welcome everyone as a gesture of goodwill. We know the dates when the crowds arrive, so why don’t we prepare?
Portable ablution facilities, more dustbins, entertainment, service and sports clubs selling wors rolls, cold drinks at reasonable prices, etc., etc.
As a good friend, author and businessman Yacoob Moosa says: We might all be different on the outside, but on the inside we are all so very much alike.
All we need is a chance to get to know each other better, not in a meeting room, but in everyday life where all races can mix, socialise and have fun together.
This is where service clubs, sports clubs, churches and other community organisations can play such a big part.
Of course it’s not as simple as that, but we should all strive to bury our prejudices and actively fight racism in every form.
DID YOU KNOW?
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