The old SA flag got the country in a flap last week.
A couple of drinking buddies got upset that it was on display among other flags at a bar in Sea Point.
CONTROVERSIAL: The old SA flag hanging in bar in Sea Point
There were angry words, followed by arrests and the inevitable social media slacktivism for and against both sides of the argument about whether the old flag was offensive or not.
Many of the comments were from people accusing those of flying the old oranje, blanje, blou of being racists who are longing for the “good old days” of apartheid.
It reminded me of both our statue issue and America’s current battle with racist displays of flags and monuments.
The prevailing argument seems to be that these things belong in museums.
That they shouldn’t be out in public where they remind people of our painful history.
This may sound insensitive, but I was left wondering whether I’m the only one who doesn’t care.
I feel like these things are all just convenient distractions; eye-blinds that divert our attention away from the things that truly hold us back.
So instead of being offended by a piece of material; let’s get offended by the things that really matter.
Let’s get mad at the gangsters who destroy our communities and who drive fear into our children.
Let’s get offended at those who buy drugs from those gangsters, supplying them with ongoing business.
Let’s get offended at a government that does nothing and expects us to vote for them over and over again.
Let’s get offended at politicians who live in luxury and steal from us without fear of prosecution.
Let’s get offended over the poverty that surrounds us.
Let’s get offended at our children and our women being raped and murdered daily.
A flag harking back to the old days doesn’t hurt me nearly us much as these issues.
Hiding racist symbols from the public eye doesn’t rid society of racism.
It simply sweeps it under the carpet and creates a beautiful front for the world to see, while we rot from the inside.
I would rather the racists show me their true colours openly. It doesn’t offend me knowing that they hate my skin colour and think I’m inferior to them. It would offend me more if they pretended.
I say let those who want to fly the old flag do so openly.
I actually do want to be reminded of our painful past. I don’t want these things in a museum where they are out of sight and out of mind.
When I’m going around enjoying my freedoms on the beaches, pavements and restaurants, I wouldn’t mind seeing an old flag somewhere.
I will use it as a reminder to do everything in my power to make sure that that flag never flies over Parliament again.