South Africa
Jan Bosman
Whites are South Africans, too, said Jan Bosman in the Johannesburg Mail & Guardian. South Africa contains many different peoples, cultures, languages, and religions. The Afrikaner community, descendents of Dutch settlers, is just as valid a group as the Xhosa or Zulu. Yet whites who speak Afrikaans “feel alienated, marginalized, almost second-class citizens in their country of birth.” Affirmative action programs have resulted in whites being tossed out of jobs that then remain empty because no qualified blacks can be found to fill them. Most government departments cannot fill nearly one-third of staff positions. Given that so much infrastructure work must be done before 2010, when soccer’s World Cup will be held in South Africa, this country simply can’t afford to leave skilled white or mixed-race professionals idle. The government should give us a chance to help. Afrikaner history dates back more than 300 years. “We are part of Africa, we are proud South Africans, and we are here to stay!”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
