[A black ex-Co-worker sent me this, and he sent it to all his friends. These comments are obviously written by a black person in S.Africa. Its interesting that there is self-analysis going on among blacks. Its a good sign. Maybe there are small glimmers of hope? Jan]

Painful as this letter might be, it’s true. How many of us are genuinely happy when one of our own succeeds? We’re quick to point fingers and try to explain their success. It’s easy for us to say: ‘she slept her way to the top’; ‘it’s his father’s money’; ‘the husband bought her the car’, ke tsotsi’ etc. There’s always an explanation.

Somebody once said that most Black people suffer from the ‘crab syndrome’; i.e., if you put crabs in a bucket, the one at the bottom will pull down the one trying to get out, so that IT can be on top.
Why can’t we adopt the push-push method? I push you, you push me?

How many of us have seen job ads in the paper but never passed those to the next person because they are better qualified than us? How many people have started their own businesses and instead of saying all the best we’d rather say,’ re tla bona’. How many of our Black brothers and sisters do you know of have died after hitting the big time? It’s easy to blame Valoyi but it’s not; it’s our hearts. We wish and hope for their demise so much that it happens.

Again, look at the number of Black men who’re marrying white chicks. We think they have betrayed us; they haven’t, they probably just wanna get away from people who hold them back. How many Black people have turned to other religions and adopted other cultures? Ba lapile ke belonging to a culture that does not celebrate their successes. How many of us get angry
and embarrassed when another Black person does not speak ‘proper’ english or speaks with an ‘African’ accent? However, if a white person speaks one of our Black languages, no matter how much kak they say, we laugh and say ‘mara wa zama’. There should really be no excuses for them; they had as much time as us to learn OUR languages. I’m still waiting to see a white person write an e-mail in Sotho.

Look at other African countries; Sierra Leone has some of the most beautiful diamonds in the world, but they are living below the poverty line. This is all because of greed. I want everything for myself; sharing is not an option. The primary objective of most Black people is being employed by someone else (especially the white man). Think about our brothers and sisters who work behind the scenes at places like Ocean Basket, Dros, etc. They are the ones who make the batter, fry the fish, grill the steak, etc. Don’t you sometimes ask yourself gore why don’t they start their own places ko gae and then expand? You know why they don’t – they are too comfortable and always want someone to look after them.

Another problem with us as Blacks is thinking that we’re entitled to anything and everything. We think that it’s somebody’s responsibility to ensure that we’re comfortable; we want free houses, jobs, food, etc. We think that all these are gonna fall from the heavens like manna. Yes, there are those who are really in need and are really trying. But for the rest of us, we need to get off our behinds and work. I give props to all Black people who’ve stood up for themselves. They also have the responsibility to push and encourage the rest of us who like saying re nyaka go berekela makgowa.