Confronting SA's hate speech problem

THE racist attack against Devi Sankaree Govender confirms we are a sick and prejudiced society (the POST, October 1 - 5). The constant tempo of hate speech we have to endure as a democratic nation, cannot go on unchecked. Our rainbow nation is tinged with hurtful rainbow comments from every segment of society. Hate speech by any legal definition is a blatant violation of our constitutional right to freedom of expression. Under the guise of freedom of expression, demagogues test the constraints of the Constitution, by engaging and becoming cheerleaders for forces of hate, from xenophobic to political extremists. Any attempt to legally desanitise hate speech will lead to facism by stealth. Hate speech is an affront to humanity. Any form of human degradation is an outrageous violation of our sacred Constitution. Racism and hate speech are two of the most baneful and persistent evils. They are a major barrier to peace. Its practice perpetrates too outrageous a violation of the dignity of human beings to be countenanced under any pretext. Racism retards the unfoldment of the boundless potentialities of its victims, corrupts its perpetrators, and blights human progress. Hate speech is a grave malady which, unless arrested, is capable of causing the destruction of our democratic order. It is a corrosion that has bitten into the fibre, and attacked the whole social structure of our society. There is surely no nation in this world that holds hate speech in greater horror than us. No one surveying the history of our nation can overlook the pathetic wreckage of commitment twisted and turned into a thousand shapes under the stress of prejudice and racism by stealth. It takes courage to face this malicious enemy in the face. The present situation is a product of the past. The nation's past is a painful history of racism, resulting in a sick and divided society. It was philosopher George Santayana, who said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

- FAROUK ARAIE Benoni

THE racist attack against Devi Sankaree Govender confirms we are a sick and prejudiced society (the POST, October 1 - 5).

The constant tempo of hate speech we have to endure as a democratic nation, cannot go on unchecked. Our rainbow nation is tinged with hurtful rainbow comments from every segment of society.