TOMapleLaughs Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 Quote South Africa’s ruling party is seeking to strengthen laws to criminalize racist speech after a woman described black people on social media as animals, sparking a public outcry. Current laws aren’t sufficient to “punish and dissuade racists,” the African National Congress’s chief whip in Parliament, Stone Sizani, said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. “We will soon investigate creating a specific law or amending the existing legislation to ensure that acts of racism and promotion of apartheid are criminalized and punishable by imprisonment.” South Africa is still afflicted by racism more than two decades after the end of apartheid, a political regime under which most black South Africans were denied political rights, stripped of their land, provided with inferior schooling and confined to doing menial jobs. While South Africa’s Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of expression, it outlaws hate speech based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or religion. “Racism in speech and behavior is already outlawed by the South African Constitution and in the common law accusation of crimen injuria,” Lester Adams, managing partner of Johannesburg law firm Lindsay Keller, said by phone. “Just like any other crime, one would have to prove intent and behavior, and in this case, it would be based on race.” The racist comments were made by a real-estate agent who’s a member of the main opposition Democratic Alliance. Party leader Mmusi Maimane condemned her statements and said the alliance had brought criminal charges against her for infringing the dignity of all South Africans. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-06/south-africa-s-anc-considers-tougher-laws-to-criminalize-racism Related comments from white real estate agent Penny Sparrow that sparked yet another New Year's Eve firestorm: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383844/Estate-agent-forced-hiding-Facebook-post-deriding-black-people-monkeys-dropping-litter-beaches-causes-storm-South-Africa.html No, you probably shouldn't call black people monkeys on social media. Yes, you should be held accountable in the court of public opinion for doing so. Yes, you may even lose your job over it, sorry. But should you go to jail as well? Hmmmm. Sigh... Why can't we all just.... GET ALONG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ossi Vaananen Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I'm with you. I mean having laws against hate crimes should be broad enough. I don't mean to make racism casual at all, but to serve time for an offhanded comment or ribbing with a friend could be a dangerous precedent. We all can't be held to the political correctness of public figures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theminister Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 37 minutes ago, Ossi Vaananen said: I'm with you. I mean having laws against hate crimes should be broad enough. I don't mean to make racism casual at all, but to serve time for an offhanded comment or ribbing with a friend could be a dangerous precedent. We all can't be held to the political correctness of public figures. National context though. Just like the way Germany deals with certain groups and behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elvis15 Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 19 minutes ago, theminister said: National context though. Just like the way Germany deals with certain groups and behaviour. Yes, they do seem to recognize it as a specific problem they're still trying to dissociate themselves from after the end of apartheid. I'm sure it'll be used in an appropriate context (or I hope it will) rather than abused. Related story, a guy I play soccer with ran afoul of being a little too loose in a comment to an opposing player who was trolling our bench after a bad call for us by clapping slowly and deliberately. Our player made the mistake of calling him one of a wind up clapping monkeys (you know, with the cymbals) and not even connecting the thought through to the fact that the player was also black. He definitely didn't mean it that way, the image of the clapping is what brought it to mind, but he can see how that'd be offensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockhart Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 I think a private citizen should be able to say whatever the &^@# they want on social media or in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortorella's Rant Posted January 6, 2016 Share Posted January 6, 2016 If they interpret racism as all the soft people do here - there's going to be a lot more people in prison. G'bye "free speech." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 6, 2016 Author Share Posted January 6, 2016 1 hour ago, Lockhart said: I think a private citizen should be able to say whatever the &^@# they want on social media or in person. Key word: Private. Public though? Sure, you could, but be prepared for the backlash. This person went into hiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianLoonie Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 How many of you here are cognizant that black South Africans have displayed acts of xenophobia toward black immigrants from other African countries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electro Rock Posted January 7, 2016 Share Posted January 7, 2016 No to mention South African "coloreds". IMO this is nearly equivalent to the old Apartheid regime announcing that they're outlawing racism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucks Prophet Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I believe the only true way to combat racism is through education. Build a community that accepts differences, rather than shuns it. Let children grow up in a diverse environment. But sure, they can try this approach if they like. It's not my country, so I can't say if this will or won't work for them. I don't think this would work in Canada, people would abuse it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tortorella Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 No one on earth seems to get that we are all homo-sapien-sapiens. Aka the same race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etsen3 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Thou is all advised I think. There's the obvious free speech issue, then there's the question of how exactly to define racist speech. Where is the line drawn? Racism today is not just a matter of calling black people monkeys, it's far more coded to the point where people make racist comments without even mentioning a specific race. I don't even need to get into the issue of free speech. This won't eliminate racism, it'll just push it out of sight. Racist people will still be racist, but you won't know who is racist and you won't be able to debate them or call them out on it. People who say offensive things should absolutely suffer the consequences for their words, but they should never ever face criminal punishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckster19 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 This must be what it's about right? http://stop-hate-crimes.com/2015/08/14/can-the-murder-of-south-african-whites-be-called-genocide/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_farm_attacks Oh wait? Them 90% feeling oppressed again despite an overwhelming political majority? Jesus. If white people still remain successful in a political climate built against them, then uh, maybe it's time to start pointing the finger somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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