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Lover of South African Apartheid

No warning did I ever get,

That I really should have been born white,

Before the shooting and the bombing,

That ruined our economy.

How silly of me to not be white,

What’s more, I’m not indigenous;

My adoptive dad’s lived there for years,

He’s white (but not indigenous),

And a fluent speaker of the Queen’s English,

So I guess he ticks all the right boxes.

I’d love to live next door to him,

In a humble little terraced street,

But Hodge’s BNP friendly criteria I can’t meet!

How silly of me not to be white,

And to not be indigenous,

By fate I have been doubly cursed;

My life’s deemed of less worth than dad’s.

 

https://spotlight-newspaper.co.uk/politics/12/25/margaret-hodges-shameful-legacy/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-11-20-dame-margaret-hodge-mp-a-very-british-apartheid-profiteer/

 

South AfricaapartheidBNPQueen's English

◄ Thanksgiving for Sunday 23rd April 2023

Dethronement Haiku ►

Comments

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Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh

Thu 4th May 2023 11:28

Thanks Manish and Russell.
It's a hastily somewhat clumsily-written piece on a subject that's been preoccupying me for a while.

Several decades ago, I came to the conclusion that as far as UK politics were concerned, the terms "right wing" and "left wing" were, for my purposes, now redundant.

I now see some people in the UK supposedly on what I naively once considered to be traditionally the "far / left", espousing philosophies and causes which are equally popular with people on the traditional "far / right".

I refer in this specific case, to their hypocritical suppport for, and their personally profiting from Apartheid regimes in several countries, and to their "dog-whistling" to racism in general.

Those very same people are amongst the first to loudly cry "racism", in their efforts to denigrate innocent people in a malicious, specious, and slanderous way.



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Russell Jacklin

Thu 4th May 2023 09:48

I worked in Zambia during Apartheid. technical advisor to a conference held by the ANC in Lusaka. The descriptions of the atrocities moved me to tears and towards inclusion for all.
Loved Zambia and Botswana, maybe one day I'll get to see South Africa

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Manish Singh Rajput

Thu 4th May 2023 08:35

A thought-provoking poem that has moved me. The racial segregation by the South African government was one of the most unfair and unjust decisions ever. This poem depicts the backdrop and emotional trauma behind the decisions taken.
Thank you for this.

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