THE irrepressible Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, this week threw the proverbial cat among the pigeons by using the word "darkie" in Parliament.
Responding to a question by the DA's Wilmot James about the matric results, Nzimande let rip, accusing the MP and his party of lacking confidence in a government run by "darkies".
In his response Nzimande also insinuated that this lack of confidence in "darkies" is driven by the DA's sense of racial superiority.
It is common knowledge that within some black circles the word "darkie' has been appropriated to denote a sense of brotherhood and solidarity.
For similar reasons, and to make nonsense of it, some Afro-Americans have appropriated the word "nigger" to express love and solidarity for each other.
The reality is that such words are derogatory and are used by racists to dehumanise black people.
They go against the spirit of the Constitution, which promotes human dignity.
Nzimande would have been within his right to accuse the DA of racism if he could prove it. But as a minister of a government that represents South Africans of all races, he had no business resorting to a tactic often employed by lesser men to stifle debate.
The racially charged word, used in this context, has no place in Parliament, an institution that symbolises unity among all South Africans as we strive to build a single, united nation from the fragments of our bitter, apartheid past.
True debate darkened
THE irrepressible Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, this week threw the proverbial cat among the pigeons by using the word "darkie" in Parliament.
Responding to a question by the DA's Wilmot James about the matric results, Nzimande let rip, accusing the MP and his party of lacking confidence in a government run by "darkies".
In his response Nzimande also insinuated that this lack of confidence in "darkies" is driven by the DA's sense of racial superiority.
It is common knowledge that within some black circles the word "darkie' has been appropriated to denote a sense of brotherhood and solidarity.
For similar reasons, and to make nonsense of it, some Afro-Americans have appropriated the word "nigger" to express love and solidarity for each other.
The reality is that such words are derogatory and are used by racists to dehumanise black people.
They go against the spirit of the Constitution, which promotes human dignity.
Nzimande would have been within his right to accuse the DA of racism if he could prove it. But as a minister of a government that represents South Africans of all races, he had no business resorting to a tactic often employed by lesser men to stifle debate.
The racially charged word, used in this context, has no place in Parliament, an institution that symbolises unity among all South Africans as we strive to build a single, united nation from the fragments of our bitter, apartheid past.
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