Xenophobia according to COD is a deep dislike of foreigners.
According to the media we are a nation of xenophobes. I resent that, and I question the lack of investigative journalism and any levels of credible scepticism amongst intellectuals in our country.
The word xenophobia is sufficient to sell newspapers these days, but are we really a nation of xenophobes?
Take away illegal immigrants that steal because they're desperate, work for less than locals because they're desperate, sell drugs and women because they are desperate and smuggle people because they are desperate.
Take away Thabo Mbeki and his pilot project in Zimbabwe. Take away price increases of staple foods and you would find little evidence of xenophobia, a dislike of foreigners, amongst us, South Africans.
Take away the sensationalistic portrayal of the outbreak of violence in Alex and it would not have reached the Western Cape on the level it did. Somalians have been attacked in Khayelitscha for years, nothing new there, but it's economically driven not xenophobic.
This pattern revolves around desperate people and criminal opportunists and somebody needs to build a timeline to identify the smoking gun in the media that first termed sporadic outbreaks in Alex, xenophobia, and led to the whirlwind worldwide that South Africans are reaping and will continue to reap for decades to come.
COD is the Concise Oxford Dictionary.
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I resent it too
Every single time it's been raised this week I have said the same thing:
"Sure, a lot of crime is committed by illegal aliens (eg.Jeppe shooting), but the chances of million-buck heisters coming home to their shacks are minimal. If you know that an illegal alien is involved in criminal activity, hand him/her UNHARMED over to the authorities with ALL their possessions noted and intact - THEN we'll know that your motives are pure. Anything else is simply bulldust."
And for every person that's employed an illegal alien because they could pay them less than minimum wage,
for every South African that sold their RDP house and then got back in line,
for every retail clown that took advantage of a petrol price hike to slap another ten cents on some vital product,
for every contractor (and you come in ALL colours) that stuffed around with a tender for something like housing or healthcare..... NICE GOING, EINSTEINS!
who are we?
I don't understand why you say "Take away illegal immigrants that steal ... , work for less than locals ..., sell drugs and women .... and smuggle people..."
Why take it away? People are expressing their hatred of foreigners, so let's unpack that, not set it aside. (the sentiment has been expressed before, and often, just not as sensationally as in recent weeks).
And no, I don't think the actions against the Somalians were economically motivated, that's a simplification. I think what you get is:
economic disparity = resentment
economic disparity + foreignness = resentment + retribution
(Just ask the Jews of Germany 1930s)
We seem to be a nation that hates and fears the "other". This is a common trait amongst human beings, but here in SA we've had apartheid, we've had Zulus against Xhosas, we've had English against Afrikaners ... the list is pretty long.
Now we're going into greater economic hardship than before - bond rates are up, fuel prices are up, food prices are up, and jobs are hard to find. We suffer, and we look around for someone to blame. The immigrants are an easy target. Let's blame them for everything - this smallish number of people who commit all the crimes, take all the jobs, and still have time and energy to make successful overtures to the women folk - talk about industrious.
In short DO, I think we have violent and unsatisfied SA citizens who will happily rape, rob and murder anybody - fellow citizen, tourist, refugee - and they are even happier when they attach a reason to their actions, and feel vindicated.
I think the actions come first, and then the rationalisation. This week's flavour is "xenophobia", pretty soon we'll go back to ordinary "you've got more than me".
These guys were not avoiding...
...the feared stimulus...
pho·bi·a (fb-)
n.
1. A persistent, abnormal, or irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid the feared stimulus.
2. A strong fear, dislike, or aversion.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
xeno- or xen-
pref.
1. Stranger; foreigner: xenophobia.
2. Strange; foreign; different: xenophthalmia.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary