For us as a nation to ignore racism or derogatory comments that fuel civil uproar is to be an accomplice to the crime, writes Sabina Essa.
The year 2016 is finally over – and on a sour note too.
Social media – and in particular, Facebook – has certainly unearthed many “closet racists” who act and are integrated in our society.
Some even hold exceptionally authoritative and influential positions in the workplace, such as Judge Mabel Jansen and more recently, Pieter Hattingh, former chief executive of Hattech, who was forced to resign on December 27.
Ben Sasonof of Sandton particularly caught my attention.
On December 19, he posted a picture of a crowded Durban beachfront and made a derogatory comment using words of a Bantu language and stated it must have smelt like the inside of President Jacob Zuma’s a**hole because the beach was crowded with many black beachgoers.
The fact that a statement of such a tactless and insensitive nature can come out of the mouth of a young Jewish man is incomprehensible to me.
Displaying a form of Nazism which previously led to the death of approximately sixmillion of his fellow Jews over 70 years ago is a gigantic slap in the face of each and every Jewwho suffered in the Holocaust or lost loved ones and were displaced due to the biological racism and anti-Semitism of Adolf Hitler in World War II.
However, it must be said that the South African Jewish Board of Deputies publicly denounced Sasonof’s statement, calling for a non-discriminatory South Africa with principles based on freedom and human dignity.
The ANC Youth League is pressing charges against Sasonof and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is investigating the matter further.
I have no doubt he will face the same consequences as the infamous Penny Sparrow, if not worse.
The young man shows no remorse for his statements whatsoever and continues to describe his comments as non-racist behaviour.
Sparrow was found guilty on charges of crimen injuria and fined R5000 for posting a racist comment on exactly the same issue of crowded beaches about a year ago.
Despite making a public apology, she has been on the receiving end of constant hate mail and telephone calls and will forever be memorialised as the personification of racism in South Africa, as will Ben Sasonof.
What is hard to believe is that there are this many and probably thousands more white supremacists in South Africa, the hub of Africa.
Social media exposure has caught out a number of closet racists who seem not to realise that what is posted on the internet will never truly be erased.
And somewhere in the world there are millions of servers that back up every single unit of data downloaded and uploaded on to the web.
What you say will immortalise you, either for better or for worse.
I have had to learn this the hard way. What you say in public (yes, social media is public) will follow you throughout your life, in your career, socially and even spiritually, and it becomes a question of what is right and what is wrong.
There is no middle ground. There is no grey area when it comes to race.
The only thing that needs to be separated by colour is the laundry.
For us as a nation to ignore the evil that is racism or derogatory statements that fuel a flare-up in xenophobic attacks and civil uproar is to be an accomplice to the crime.
We all bleed the same colour: red. Alex Haley once said, “Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic.
"It is learned behaviour toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.”
When I was five and living in Swaziland, the only thing I hated was being made to leave my pet frog in my bag while I had to eat.
Oh yes, and having a bath.
I had hundreds of black friends, white friends, Indian friends and every type you could think of. And I was never taught to discriminate because I, myself, was a person of colour.
People, and I mean parents and teachers, need to start considering what it is that they are teaching their children at home and school.Where does it come from, this ideological mindset of black skin that has been demonised and victimised over and over again.
Racists, your discriminatory behaviour by way of race, sexism, misogyny and bigotry are absolutely unacceptable.
So do us all a favour and stay off all media, social and other, forever.
The world is a better place when we don't have you rubbing salt into wounds, and then picking off the scabs.
* Sabina Essa is an LLB graduate who’s passionate about politics and gender issues.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.