Thread: Do whites have role to play?

Of course they do, Rafiki. Any and every law-abiding citizen of our Republic has a role to play. Everyone. Our Constitution is rightly colour-blind and is quite clear about the fact that everyone is welcome in Namibia to contribute to national development. I know there are some brothers and sisters who would not mind seeing the back of whites, who are still angry and feel whites in general are disrespectful and racist. But I also know the majority of peeps are tolerant and know that we need each other, Black and white, young and old, fast and slow.....I say: I someone abides by the laws of our Republic, pays taxes, is mindful of and respect people of other races, or gender, or religion, or creed and of course they have to play their part in building our Republic. If they don't, they can feel free to leave....

With out the "Whites" the role play would be foul. They are part and parcel of the sollution. No "white" no sollution.

Get real man, stop being knitty-gritty, what's your problem?

Happy Valentines Day to all here.

Rafiki, it may be Valentine's Day, but I will still be blunt: That is the dummest question anybody has asked on "The Shebeen" for quite some time..........

Yes, why not? but before I continue I would like to say your question is to general because if you just say whites it means you refer to all whites (non-Namibian and Namibian and if the role your are refering to is for Namibian development I think you could be specific e.g. Whites Namibian may be without thinking of racist then it is well of understood.

To come back to the point, as its mentioned already by other frum members above, all Namibians irrespective of what color, gender and political affiliation, have full responsiblity of playing a role in the development of this country as granted by the Constitution. Furthermore, whites (Namibian) are employed in government, NGO, Private business etc as other country mates and are playing significant role in developing this country equally as non- white Namibian although they are less population.

Generally, we have non-Namibian whites here who are either business people, consultants, Volunteers, etc. They also playing a major role in the development of Namibia e.g. volunteers teachers teaching at schools, business people investing in Namibia and employed Namibian etc the list is too long.

I wouln't be so harsh on Rafiki, Oneword - there are still some people of other races who harbour deep resentments towards white people in general and would, as COmrade007 says, not mind seeing the back of whites. These people would not mind seeing what happened in Zimbabwe happen in Namibia, either. I think they are in the minority, but some of them are well-connected and they are eyeing farms, and businesses and properties. We all know that this is the case, and that for these people white Namibians will never truly be Namibians, whether they were born in the country or not. For these people the only role whites have to play is to pack their bags and leave so they can pick their properties at will. Should they be ignored? No, for they will use race to play their political games. Is there a current danger of this? I don't think so, but I think all Namibians should at all times guard against the political use of the race card. History shows that it never works, and the Zimbabweans have learned this lesson and freely admit to it now. I came across this article on Shebeen which attests to this:

Hayes Mabweazara, a Zimbabwean academic based in Scotland, said the year 2000 saw whites becoming victims of “reverse racism” which forced many to retreat from public life. “The post-2000 political upheavals following the farm invasions ignited an unprecedented form of ‘reverse racism’ that naturally forced whites to withdraw from public visibility purely for security reasons. A great many of these lost their relatives and friends in the farm invasions,” he told IWPR. “Those who have stayed on remain hopeful that one day sanity will prevail and they will find their feet again. It is a particularly sad story for many who have known no life outside Zimbabwe.”

The full article is here: http://www.theshebeen.org/governance....html#post7103

Maybe harsh, but true nevertheless.

You are right, though, Dude, maybe one separate the opportunists from those that really imbibe Africa in all its nuances and with all their senses.

NO! Let them all leave and take everything that belongs to the whites with them. Then only will we have true happiness !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EVERYTHING? Pietro? E V E R Y T H I N G ?

That is utterly unnecesary to have a statement like that, albeit understandable given our histroy. I myself were of similar viewpoints, but if whites, who indeed brought into Namibia additional black groups through cheap labor have to pack, whereas we accepted these blacks as indeginous and part and parcel of Namibia, then we are not entirely a just society. the issue with tribes can really result in unnecessary civil war, whereas we could learn to share and appreciate what we have as a country. there are better tools than intolorance we can make use of, one of which are forums like these