Oneword, I hope you actually read the article and note I did not write it?

So, I will leave your post unanswered?

HMMM! You may not have written the article, but from the tenor of the first submission to Mr Marples, even I get the feeling that the topic is close to you heart and that you may associate yourself with that opinion as well.

I do agree that Oneword comes across as quite aggressive, though.

Yes the issue is close to my heart. The problem is that most people who do discuss the issue seem to skirt around it for some reason.

It reminds me of the documentary HAIR. Most black woman will not discuss relaxers or weaves, yet most would use it.

I am closing off my book with a chapter on integration and I need to find a way of understanding how this affects me and the political future of our country. In essence, I always stated, "Until Independence you called me coloured, now I'm Namibian."

However, if someone else in Namibia has to ask me who is my role model in my community, I got to see we have none? WRONG. Who do have them, but they are seen in politics, government, etc and this is because of the prejudice of others.

So, we no longer discriminate against women, yet still classify this difference, what would the difference be if we did the same with culture in our country?

Interesting debat.

Anyway,Race color, creed, traditions, language, citizenship,nationality...etc...etc...All important things which help point out out who are indeginous to a spcific geographic confines and who not. What the history of each are and the lessons inherent in them...how else would we determine who was disadavantaged in the past and deserves xyz and who is currently being marginalised and needs awareness created to address such marginalisation? how else would anyone differentiate for the sake of allocating wealth, land, etc etc if the cinfinements are not there? just saying ;-)

I am Khoi by the way, specifically from the /Gobani clan from the Damara people, but if I grew up in elsewhere, I might be deemed coloured, of te wel, baster neh...since i have german-herero roots too, funky aight!

Sorry for the crosspost

I keep bumping into the same word even though contributing to a different discussion: "INTEGRATION". Whether it be the race/culture issue, or the broader African future.

What is integration? Why is it an issue? Most importantly, why is it an issue for me?

The dictionary states that: Integration (from the Latin integer, meaning whole or entire) generally means combining parts so that they work together or form a whole.

In my own mind I find it difficult to integrate who I am, what I am, where I am and what I wish to become. To this end, I have seperated integration and its application (ah no not again) into the following levels:

• Personal Acceptance
• Marriage
• Local
• National
• Regional
• International

Personal Acceptance
In psychology, we often refer to the three concentric circles that a person is made up of. In the innermost circle, we refer to our own psyche or personality. Here we have the ability to change what we desire without any thought to others. Things like giving up smoking, or a preference for the colour blue.

In the second circle, are the things in the immediate vicinity we can change or influence. These are often environmental factors such as air-conditioning, or dependent factors such as the behaviour of our children or pets that require our care.

In the outer circle, are those external factors that we cannot change or alter. These are the issues such as the price of fuel, inflation rates, or whether my ex-wife has a new boyfriend I detest.

THUS, as the first part of my journey to implement integration I have to understand, and accept, what I am and what I am becoming.

Marriage
As a divorcee that was married for ten years, I can understand the difficult task of integrating two peoples lifes, and more importantly their future dreams. For myself, I was not willing to give up my dreams and plans because my wife wanted to be married to a "civil servant" with an eight-to-five job.

Integration in marriage thus means not only loving each other, but more importantlly understanding that this is a legal partnership that should be able to achieve more than the indivdiuals concerned would do on their own.


Local / Community
By local integration I am referring to the relationship we have directly with one another as individuals within a specific community. This is also at the level where the differences in our culture, morals, religious views and methods of thinking differ.

Many of the problems we have around the world can be traced to the inability to integrate people with these type of differences into a community or even a nation. For example, Palestine-Israel, Irish Catholic-Protestant, Muslim Shia-Sunni, etc.

National
National Integration refers to the lump sum off all of us as citizens of a specific country. It is the pride we have when singing the national anthem, our support to the members of our national sporting codes, or identifying with a Namibian that has done well on the world stage.

The best way to illustrate this is: "Before Independence I was Coloured, now i'm Namibian".

Regional
Regional Integration refers to the membership of various bodies such as the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), SADC and the African Union. It is accepting the colonial differences such as language (francophone, etc.) as well as the religious differences such as Christianity and Islam and working together for the improvement of all our lives on the African continent.

International
I am not sure we will ever be able to have international integration unless there is a threat from outside. Perhaps global warming is such an issue and will allow us to work together, or die together.

Hallo, Meine Schwester von einer anderen Mutter! LOL!