South Africa - A Reversed Apartheid? (2018) - A documentary shining light on the white boer minority's current situation living in SA. Crowdfunded and made by a swedish political science major from the The Swedish Defence University.

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEDU0xIILKA

[u/lmac7]

Be clear what the argument was here. The op was taking aim at the claims of a reverse apartheid going on in South Africa and demonstrated how cynical the film makers were in passing off lies.

If your point is that there are dangerous racial tensions in South Africa that have white farmers very worried, and some deaths have occured, one would hardly bother to correct it. I would expect such a situation in a nation with the problems of South Africa. The question is what is scale of the problem and how has the government sought to deal with the issue. If people want to have that discussion, its not trivial. That's where the relevant statistics can really help the conversation.

Your point that the issues deserves more attention is fine.

But lets be honest. There are many nations around the world that have issues of racial and religious violence. Some far worse than what the post apartheid South Africa has faced so far. Some are even neighbors of South Africa.

But for some, it is the case of South Africa that has really seized some people's imagination outside of South Africa. It is no great mystery why.

Its because it's serves a wider ideological view of racial segregation. Its pretty damn obvious. I don't know that this applies to you (and I won't presume) but it does to the original content discussed on this thread.

Your McCarthyism example is not apt here. The fundamental problems of South Africa are not hidden or mysterious and the dangers are not unknown.

Knowing the issues and dangers does not always mean they are fixable, and sometimes goverments struggle just to manage them. One hopes for a government that can achieve some political and economic stabilty in the country. That serves all parties. Hopefully you agree with that much.

[u/Mr_Loose_Butthole → u/lmac7]

There are plenty of issues that deserve attention. But not all of them are useful for the sake of propaganda. This one is.

Issues that have the potential to be used for propaganda should be given extra attention so we can drag them out into the public sphere of opinions and prevent occurrences of radicalization. Tinge them with the air of common and expectedness so they are not particularly interesting.

In the case of south Africa, there are many uncomfortable issues left leaning people would rather avoid all together and in doing so, younger generations pick up on this vacuum of coverage and develop a fascination, like they have discovered something new and significant.

Such a dynamic is highly exploitable. Preventing this should be high on the list of things we can do here locally to reduce violence, entrenched partisanship and rampant conspiracy theorists.

[u/lmac7 → u/Mr_Loose_Butthole]

If I understand correctly, you are suggesting that the case of South Africa has quite great potential for right wing propaganda primarily because it is ignored by people on left. Is that so?

I am going to suggest that you are assuming that which is very much in question here.

Does the plight of white farmers in South Africa represent a social and politcal crisis on the scale that would normally attract world attention?

If so, then the charge of demanding more attention seems to hit home.

If not, then one really has to ask, where does the propaganda value actually come from? I would say it is manufactured by racist agendas that simply pretend a moral failing for the left exists.

The posting that began this discussion provided an analysis of statistics that show there is in indeed violence but it doesn't not at all reflect a particluar anti white racial bias in South Africa.

The sort of people who have raised this issue in South Africa about white farmers have tried to make exactly this false claim to give the issue more weight and ideological import.

If you are suggesting the political left must assume a responsibility for giving fair treatment to all events of racial and ethnic violence, i won't challenge such a position. Does a largely fabricated reporting qualify as worthy. I can't see anyone arguing this.

And further to the point, think how absurd this comparison looks if we invert it and charge the alt right with the same obligation. A group that doesn't the even pretend to care about such things.

These are the very people who point the finger at the left in this example. Honestly fuck them.

One last thought. It is astonishing that we can argue about what events deserve attention and not note that at this moment the largest humanitarian catastrophe in the post war period is unfolding in Yemen. Millions are being starved to death in a blockade during its war with Saudi Arabia. Since S.A. is considered an important ally of the US, there is truly scant reporting about the situation from msm.

Humans rights groups have repeatedly warned about the situation that is unfolding but the story cant make its way to more than the occasional 30 second report about the war. Compare this to the daily reports about Syrian victims at the hands of Assad's forces in its proxy war with the US and jihadists affiliates.

If it's the principle that matters here, let start the conversation where it belongs. With the corporate media and political classes who have the most responsibilty who have not a shred of credibility about giving reports of racial and ethnic violence the weight it deserves.

The article that began this discussion provides statistics that show there is in indeed violence but it doesn't not at all reflect a particluar anti white racial bias. The sort of people who have raised this issue in South Africa about white farmers have tried to make exactly this false claim to give the issue more weight and ideological import.