I am not the child of a struggle icon. I am but the child of a humble man, who struggled hard to ensure that I had a future that is worthy of icons. I am not born of a fallen soldier. I am the birth-child of a woman who stands today, braver than any soldier, in the front-line against poverty. I do not wish to have land handed to me on a silver platter. I only wish to have the chance to work hard and buy the world with my sweat. I do not care how much Economic Empowerment there is in BEEs. I only care that the bleeding land of my ancestors, still has the enrgy to give me milk and honey. YES, I am a young black person, but what I really want to be, is a young SOUTH AFRICAN.
"Kaptein/ Spaan by die suille/ want sy as sammer myne/ blah blah blaah blaaah want hooooo vir my" - The terribly misspelt lyrics of Afrikaans Pop icon Steve Hofmeyer.
As young people in this beautiful but badly scarred country, we need our uncles, fathers and mothers to guide us on a path that is not only going to lead us into wealth, prosperity and happiness for ourselves, but also to the happiness and prosperity of our country. I spent most of last year dancing to JR's "Make The Circle Beeger" and Steve Hofmeyr's "Kaptein". Although I did not understand the lyrics, I loved how the music was universally loved by ALL South Africans. So, when Steve labeled me, my brother, my mother, my sister, my uncle, my grandmother and my late father as criminals who felt "entitled to everything, including land quotas and low matric-results" and only gave my distant cousin the slight benefit of the doubt, I felt betrayed. Not because I loved his music, but because he falls under the same group of people that I feel should be guiding us young South Africans.
You see, I don't think racism will ever die, as long as we have a distinction between people based on colour. And, unless we cross mate all the colours of the world for 20 generations until we have a single-colour population, we will never shake the colour differences that are both the source of our discrimination AND of our beauty. We won't get anywhere if we keep pointing fingers. The truth of the matter is, most of us young people don't even know who was the one person that had the initial idea to segregate blacks from whites. But I am pretty sure that he is now dead. Why do we not allow Apartheid to die with him? Because most of our elders (black and white) are still clinging on to it's legacy. I have a lot of young friends, of many colours, and all we want to do is grow old in a country where "Farm Murders" are not a race issue, but a crime issue that everyone is working to fight. Where NO ONE is shot and mistaken for an ape. We just want to be South African.
So, Steve Hofmeyr and Annelie Botes, start teaching us something we can teach our children and stop pulling the clock back. After 2010 can only come 2011. You cannot make it 1976 again. And quite frankly, we've come too far to allow you to take us back to our starting point. I AM, PAT RIOT!
