Xenophobia, or hate your neighbour like yourself 1

9th Jul 2008

Hello lovely people

I have recently returned from a trip to South Africa, where I was born and spent my first forty three years in this life.

A week before I went there, serious xenophobic attacks broke out and sadly, many people met a violent end.

I was asked by friends in the UK whether I thought it was wise to go there, and my answer was yes, of course, because South Africa is a country with forty four million caring, loving, hospitable people, and one million people that represent our dark side.

The day after I arrived the Sunday newspapers were full of news about the consequences of the attacks. The focus was on people that had gone out of their way to help the victims of the attacks. Some people risked their lives and the safety of their properties to accommodate families that they did not know. Those people saw fellow brothers and sisters in need and did not even think twice about reaching out. Their main focus was to remove children from violent situations and provide shelter in areas that were already bitterly cold at night.

I read about one family that immigrated to South Africa twenty years ago. They carry South African passports and the children do not know another country or culture. They had lost everything – their livelihood, their memories, but luckily not their lives.

During the week in South Africa, I met many family and friends, and of course this topic was being discussed all the time. What struck me was that the discussion was about “them”. “This has nothing to do with our world, except that it made us wary when driving to work.” All the victims of the xenophobic attacks were black, and this touched a white world only in the sense that it was newsworthy, confirming what “we” “know” and think, and at times being inconvenient.

I often have to explain why it is important for me to love all people that I encounter.

“Yes, the Bible says that you must love your neighbour like yourself, but surely we choose our neighbours? Surely we choose the neighbourhood that we live in, based on our socio-economic status? And people that have a lower socio-economic status are in that sense not our neighbours? I mean, they smell and steal and kill, for goodness sake – don’t be so naïve. And when we go to church, we associate with people that believe and think like us. Of course we love them, but it is important that we associate with like-minded people. They are our neighbours, nobody else. We will love our neighbours on our terms, and we will continue to select them. I mean, just look at these xenophobic attacks. These people cannot possibly be our neighbours?”

Is this different elsewhere in the world? Sadly, no. In England the hoodies (young boys and men who wear jackets with hoods that cover their heads and disguise their faces) are “not our neighbours”. The chavs (council house, aggressive and violent – as if any of us had a perfect life up to now!) are also “not our neighbours.” To be continued.

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Love and Light
Elsabe

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