Why Riot Torn South Africa Should Be More Hopeful For The Future Than The USA

While the thoughts I’m going to lay out here are mine, the underlying message comes from this fantastic article by Ilana Mercer.

Allow me first to paint a picture. A video is released of a police officer kneeling on the neck of a man in full view of a crowd who are recording the event on their cellphones. After the video is shown to the public it is reported that the man the police officer was kneeling on actually died well before the officer got off his neck. The video reveals clearly that the officer is white and the dead man is black.

In response, certain groups protest and march against what they call systemic racism towards black people by law enforcement. As night falls on the first day of protesting violence breaks out in several cities with innocent people being attacked and killed. Personal property including homes and businesses are set ablaze. And the public that was horrified by the video of the police officer kneeling on the man’s neck only a few days ago, causing them to question what was wrong with policing in America, are now begging those same police for protection against murderous and destructive mobs.

What do the “powers that be” do in response to rampant violence in the streets of America? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, they tell the police to stand down and only protect government property if possible. The lawmakers in DC take the side of the looters and rioters in the streets. Hollywood celebrities begin to bail rioters, looters and people arrested for assault out of jail implying they are heroes worthy of our praise. Those, with either the power of their voice, or the power of State force, do nothing to protect the victims of this rampant chaos and instead, chastise those who would speak out against lawlessness in the streets.

Compare that to what is currently happening in South Africa. After the contempt of court conviction and subsequent jailing of former president, Jacob Zuma, mass riots and violence erupted. Dozens were killed in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Transvaal, over 200 shopping malls have been looted/burned down and countless cattle have been stolen from farmers. And how did the residents who stood in the way of this destruction react? Black and white people came together to protect each other and their property from these animals. Comparing the American response to the riots here last year to how South Africans have responded to their violence, Ilana writes:

No such perverse sentiments have South Africans expressed during the riots, ongoing. Interviews conducted by BBC News’ Nomsa Maseko have revealed a rich seam of decency in ordinary South African men and women. All were united in condemnation of the criminality. 

The big difference is in how the elites in South Africa have responded to the destruction as opposed to those in America:

As bad and as broken as my poor former homeland is, South Africa’s ruling elites came out with powerful declarations of shared moral values. There was no blame game–no allusion to systemic racism. The system of apartheid was not conjured from the past as causality for criminality. Whites were not demonized as the Evil Other. Over 2000 criminals have hitherto been arrested and 117 killed, I imagine, some by cop. Five thousand soldiers are already on the ground. 

Ilana continues:

As the July, 2021 riots in South Africa have shown, moreover, informal militia appear to have reconstituted. Armed, law-abiding South Africans, black and white, have formed "defense squads" to protect neighborhoods and businesses in Natal and the Transvaal. This warms the proverbial cockles and gives hope. After all, we fondly remember the Commandos, a private Afrikaner militia that had existed since the 1770s as the sole reliable defense at the disposal of South Africa’s farmers, and which was disbanded by the African National Congress. 

After one of the worst periods of oppression in the 20th Century, South African apartheid, blacks and whites have come together to protect each other from mob violence and no one is bringing up the country’s sordid history as an excuse for the roving band of murderers. I find this absolutely incredible as I sit in a country in which certain white intellectuals want nothing more than the murder of white people in the streets for a system of chattel slavery that was ended 156 years ago. Please, step up and be the first offering. In fact, just kill yourselves from the guilt, “intellectuals.”

As stories continue to filter out of South Africa let us remember the open condemnation of violence we have seen from their ruling elite. And let this be a huge, fucking warning to those of us in America who lived through the riots and murders in our streets last year. If new riots begin, those of us who may have to raise arms against the savages roaming the streets looking to kill and rob people will be labeled as savages by our ruling elite. YOU will be the enemy for choosing to protect yourself, your loved ones and your property. Please tell me again how this is “civilization.”