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Home / Councillor calls for ‘platform’ to address racism
Councillor calls for ‘platform’ to address racism
2013-10-31Staff Report 2 "WINDHOEK - The Councillor for Okahandja Constituency, Steve Biko Booys, says there is a need for a platform to be created nationally where issues of racism, tribalism and sexism can be debated and addressed . Booys who spoke to New Era on Tuesday said there is bottled anger within people stemming from the country's struggle for independence. According to Booys, the policy on national reconciliation alone will not address the deep rooted problems of racism, tribalism and sexism in the society. Booys said there are still white farmers who in an independent Namibia call, or refer to their black workers as ""kaffir"", a derogatory term that refers to a black as an indigenous uneducated person, and similarly some white people still want to be referred to as ""baas"" (boss/master). ""There is an anger in whites that they still carry from the colonial era, that they are still raising their children with. There is an anger in blacks they were maltreated. If we are shying away from these things and thinking that the policy of national reconciliation alone will deal with these things then I think we are wrong,"" Booys said. He added that such issues have become increasingly visible and it is time to come up with a “platform where we will address issues of racial division, racial hatred. Tribalism is taking place on a daily basis and we are pretending that it is not there. By pretending that such issues are not there will not solve anything. The fact that we do not talk about these issues does not make them non-existent,"" stressed Booys. By Alvine Kapitako" 2013-10-31Staff Report 2
