Wednesday, September 02, 2009

White is the new black

I am astonished. A white South African man has been given asylum — in Canada.
Asylum seeker Brandon Huntley claimed he had been persecuted, abused and repeatedly stabbed. … Huntley, 31, from Cape Town, made his asylum claim in April last year. Citing violent crime and racism, he told the Canadian immigration and refugee board that he lived in fear of returning to South Africa. He said he had been attacked seven times by black South Africans, including four stabbings, and was called a "white dog" and "settler".
And the People's Republic of Canada accepted his claim! Can you imagine any immigration official in Obamastan doing the same? That there is such a thing as black racism is a Forbidden Thought in the land of the free.

South Africa's ruling party has diplomatically swelled up like a puffer fish and spat out its riposte:
"The ANC views the granting by Canada of a refugee status to South African citizen Brandon Huntley on the grounds that Africans would 'persecute' him, as racist," the party said in a statement. "We find the claim by Huntley to have been attacked seven times by Africans due to his skin colour without any police intervention sensational and alarming.Canada's reasoning for granting Huntley refugee status can only serve to perpetuate racism."
Forty years ago, most of the Western world was aghast at how white South Africa treated its blacks. White South Africa said, Hey, it's our business what we do with our blacks. Now black South Africa says, Hey, it's our business what we do with our whites.

I'm loving this:
Frans Cronje, deputy director of the South African Institute of Race Relations, said he sympathised with Huntley as an individual but there were myths around white victimhood. "If he has been stabbed so many times, I can understand his state of mind," he said. "The impression of persecution is very real but it doesn't stand up to scrutiny."
Well, being stabbed four times by people calling you a "white dog" can certainly make you believe in the myth of white victimhood or give you an impression of persecution. Perhaps if Brandon Huntley had only had a little chat-up with Mr. Cronje, he would have understood why his fears didn't stand up to scrutiny. And if the Canadian officials had consulted the South African Institute of Race Relations, they would have realized that allowing Huntley to escape was a racist act.

Huntley's lawyer, Russell Kaplan, emigrated to Canada to escape apartheid.
Kaplan’s sister, Lara, who emigrated to Canada last year, testified about the torture and murder of her other brother, Robert, by robbers in South Africa in 1997. Both Lara and Huntley gave evidence in camera in a full-day hearing on August 18.

Between 30 and 40 newspaper clippings were presented as evidence of life in South Africa. “One article exhibited was published in [the Daily Sun in 2004] by Africa Ka Mahamba. [It was] entitled ‘Taking from whites is not a crime’,” Kaplan said.

The article quotes the leader of the “Uhuru cultural club” as telling youngsters who attended a Human Rights Day celebration to steal from whites because “it is the right thing to do”.
For Huntley's sake, I'm glad he had sense enough not to apply to the United States.

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3 comments:

Scott H. said...

Rick,

Looks like the Canadian government is having none of that:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8237418.stm

"Canada's government has launched an appeal against the granting of refugee status to a white South African man after protests from Pretoria.

Whitey must pay, forever...

Why We Are White Refugees... said...

WwAwR: Why we Are white Refugees is a joint project, by various RSA bloggers, and concerned individuals....

(a) LETTERS: Emails/Letters sent to Canadian, or South African Officials;
(b) NEWS ARTICLES: White Refugee Main Stream News Stories;
(c) BLOGGER OPEDS: Blogger OpEd Opinions on White Refugee Issues,
(d) REFERENCE: White Refugee Supporting Documentation.....

If you have written a letter to a Canadian Official, on the Huntley White Refugee issue, please email us a copy, so that we can put it in the letter database.
Email it to: jmc.pa.tf.white-refugee@blogger.com

Leos Tomicek said...

I am still amazed how the authorities and media act as if this was something unexpected and rare, when in reality it was all very predictable and Huntley's case was not the first one.