My daily Apartheid

The company that I work for is not super big, but still multi in many ways! Multiple nationalities, culture, food… and quite a number of Jews also I’ve noticed. I could never pick a Jew from a crowd… fully dressed. Oh well, I see some of them wearing those small round patches on their heads. Other than that, I never really cared to find any distinct Jewish features for any reason. To me they blend in amongst the whites of the rainbow nation.

In the canteen we have different tables with hot food for lunch, really nice food. From day one I have simply picked from any table depending on what appealed to me the most at the time. I thought everybody else did also. One day when I was early there was no spoon to dish up from the tray. Naturally I helped myself and found a spoon so I could dig in. A lady tapped me on the shoulder and told me in an irritated tone that I can’t use metal (dirty I assume) spoons on the kosher table! Before any regulars at the table had a chance basically, Jonny messed up all their food! It was suddenly not so kosher anymore! Aha… so that’s why so many people at work use plastic cutlery when there are still tons of proper knives and forks to take from. Personally I think it must be damn annoying to break four plastic knives for every attempt on a piece of meat. It would ruin my meal totally!

Later I’ve learnt that there is also a halal table. Omnivore as I am, I have visited all tables. Halal too! I can’t say I have noticed any distinct kosher or halal taste. I am still blissfully unaware whether I have upset the halals or how I may have upset them. Any other groups also for that sake. I have now narrowed it down to one table where my barbaric Viking ways are accepted (as far as I’m aware of). If I move too close to either halal or kosher, I can feel the angry looks… so you’ll find me sitting down there in the corner!

In retrospect, the queues to each table have been helpful to identify and map the different groups at work. Fellow barbarians, kosher and halal at least. It’s like a small internal Apartheid going on. A buffet style group areas act! In this lunchtime segregation I am grouped together with Zulu’s and other African tribes represented. I wonder whether this can give me any BEE/Affirmative Action credits?!

Small red and black books

Living in South Africa I had to know some basics about BEE. Financial Mail was a good source amongst others. Now I’ve reached that point where I’m chaffed with knowledge on that area… I understand, but yet still not… and that’s the end of that.

I’ve been busy reading famous quotes by famous people lately… wise words… and for some reason dropped by Mao Tse Tung’s Little Red Book. Funny how things attract... whether it's the communism thing that haunts me, or tiny little... yet significant books. Whilst reading the newspaper today I stumbled over an ad by Financial Mail: “The Little Black Book – The ultimate network of black decision makers”! I burst out laughing before I realized it’s actually for real… not a joke! Shouldn’t it rather be The Little Rainbow Book in South African true spirit?! No wonder business is restricted to a small group of people… you probably find all of them in this little book… accounting for 80% of business.

Black Economic Empowerment or blue elephants?

I am not heaven sent from Norway! Beaverboosh grounded me (and Norway) nicely yesterday. I do have some issues with the BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) in South Africa though. That does not mean that I don’t understand… coz I do know the history, and this should not label me as a racist either I believe.

First of all, how can you use racial distinction to create a non-racial society? That’s what BEE is all about, isn’t it… racial distinction? It sounds like a huge paradox that the leaders of this country have chosen. The leadership of a country should be smart guys, so you must trust them to make a good choice. They chose evolution over revolution, and it was pretty admirable to avoid a civil war in my view. BEE is a way to level out the differences in the society! The South African rugbyteam (Springboks, who won the world cup short time ago) is bringing in racial quotas now… and people are worried that this will tackle “Bokke”. It’s a parallel approach the way I see it. I understand and agree with the reasons, but wonder if they haven't made a hurried shortcut?

I see members of the BEE club stuffing each others pockets. People in the informal settlements around, Thembisa and Diepsloot, does not benefit much. They have no ways/ability to capture any governmental BEE funding. It’s the same guys all the time… Bring forward the masses rather than the few already stinking rich guys.Companies hiring ask for AA (Affirmative Action) candidates which means pretty much anything but white. Actually darker the better… in recruitment they call it “pigment premium”! No kidding – it is very real! Darker skin gets better pay. No wonder I’m working on my tan… I should actually skip all that sunscreen nonsense! No pain, no gain, right?! My objection is that it is not always the best qualified candidate that gets the job (at least that is my impression)!

I know the previously disadvantaged did not have the same access to education… so that should be a very important approach. Just do it right! Stories about students getting better grades because of skin color flourish. The other day I overheard a teacher/lecturer talking on the phone; “I have some other AA students that I have to re-evaluate. This is an AA student, right? What mark did he get? Ok, send it over and I will look into it!” It was reminding me of a story from a university in Norway:

An overambitious student had taken an extra subject one semester, but realized that he did not have the capacity to study enough. However, he went to do the exams. He didn’t have the foggiest idea about what they asked for… but had to sit for 2 hours before he could leave, as that’s the rules. This time he spent drawing a big blue elephant, then left! The teacher was quite amused, could not pass him but gave him a 4.1 (1 best – 6 poorest and 4.0 is the last passing grade). It was the best mark he could give without passing the student. Due to a low average result on this exam, they moved all the students up to get a “normal curve”. Thus, the student passed with his blue elephant!My point is that by racial distinction and no other qualitative measure; you might end up with many “blue elephants” passing!

On a trip to Mocambique earlier this year we stopped at the Jozini Dam. Some boys where selling amethyst rocks in the middle of school hours. He was embarrassed when I asked if he didn’t go to school. Whether it was his own choice or the parents’ choice, I don’t know, but money was preferred.

I believe that school should be mandatory, like it probably is also, but forced through to a greater extent. The quality of the schools should probably also be emphasized. Provide a social structure that can allow this and make it economically viable for families. It will take time, but at least the results will come with better quality.

Do whatever it takes to force those kids to school. My father told me he “forced” me to start playing organized football. I can’t recall being forced in any negative way, but actually enjoyed playing… and thankful for it today! If the parents can’t see the benefit… then go to Mandela, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelethini or/and get the local Sangomas on board so that they can preach the necessity even in the rural areas! Sangomas have been used to fight AIDS – so why not for the sake of BEE?! It would probably enlighten people enough to end the Sangoma traditions… let’s just hope that the Sangomas are not bright and foresighted enough to understand!

In turn, hopefully (and I truly believe) you would get a system where candidates get chosen based on their merits and nothing else. What if only the best qualified students was funneled up into higher education… and you couldn’t just buy your degree?! Provide some scholarships in this transitional period… but give the best students a chance! Take myself as an example: I was nowhere near good enough to go into Medical School. I studied economy/marketing because that was my interest among the studies that I was qualified for. I sharpened up, matured and came out fine I believe. One year later, and I wouldn’t have qualified for the same school either, so I was lucky! Tough, but that’s life!

Beware of the blue elephants and put more focus on education… I guess that’s all I wanted to say!!

The Neanderthal Affair!!

Scientists are trying to map the genes of the world’s population. They make a gene tree based on the different genes. The genes are like echoes from the past apparently when you know how to interpret them. One specific thing that have been deciphered and established as a truth among scientists is that red haired people have got a gene that dates back much longer than the rest of the people. Red hair = older genes!

I remember this monkey / early man chart that I saw recently. Homo Sapiens coexisted with the Neanderthals for quite some time. Then Homo Sapiens Sapiens (2xSapiens monkey) entered. Homo Sapiens Sapiens is the modern man as I understand and very close to you and me (or identical). The 2xSapiens monkey made the single Sapiens monkey extinct just like PS2 and the current PS3 squeezed Playstation out of the market.
Scientists have worked to place the genes systematically in a gene map/tree, but the red hair gene is still an open question! Since the 2xSapiens coexisted with the Neanderthals for a while, there is now a growing suspicion that they had a successful affair that resulted in… red hair!

Remember the early men that I wrote about earlier. There was one kind in the southern parts of Africa, south of the rivers and other insurmountable obstacles, and another breed (or clan of the same kind) that made it across the rivers and eventually out of Africa (http://stensbys.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-went-to-party-other-day.html). I have yet to see an African with anything but black hair… never natural red in any event!
I feel a bit bad about publishing that second monkey theory as it puts black people in an unfavorable light. It is not in complete compliance with all the BEE stuff these days you may say. That’s why I’m very happy to publish this theory! It must of course have been the adventurous ape further north, and the forerunners of white people, that had the Neanderthal affair. No other people than whites have red hair as far as I know. I think that should sort of make up for it and make it even between the races. I think content wise for this blog, I can safely get myself a BEE scorecard by now!

As far as I know, there are nobody with red hair in my family… or it is so washed out that it only appears accidentally for every so and so many generations?!

I am not 100% sure whether I am considered a 2xSapiens, 3xSapiens or a later edition. What if I am now a 3xSapiens and coexist with lots of 2xSapiens’? How will I know?? I could be accused for another “Neanderthal Affair” some time in the future… and I didn’t even know!! These scientists must really get their act together and find out about this latest by yesterday if you ask me! I hear people say “mixing” is good though, and that it increases the gene pool. Between clan members of the superior ape I can agree, but what if you couple a 3xSapiens with a 2xSapiens. Wouldn’t the result be a 2,5xSapiens?! And wouldn’t that slow down the evolution process?? You see my concern here right?!