Fellow Progressively Thinking SAfricans! This is a group weve created designed to counter-balance the conservative commentary all too pervasive in SA current affairs. You know what I mean, those News24 comments that are so gut-wrenchingly depressing, and yet that go relatively unchallenged. The challenge is to give 3 comments or more weekly on any online Platform (news24, iol, blogs etc - NOT this main facebook group!). These comments should be the sort that challenge the hateful messages that often ring so loud from these forums. Below Ill post a longer description of this group, and why we are doing it now - but feel free to join and take part in this as a challenge! Hopefully we can start to shift the tide of commentary away from hatred, and toward peace. ================================== Many South Africans know and are disturbed by the conservative voice of commentators on various online platforms, most notoriously News24. Racism, bigotry and hatred abound on these forums, despite (what I believe is) the majority of South Africans feeling very differently about most matters. This week an article by a young Black Commentator pointing out DA failings (especially re services for the poor) was met with hostility, and irrational attacks. Can you even spell? was part of the very first comment I saw, and dozens of posters after lambasted the author, arguing that Zuma is vastly worse, deeply corrupt, and the ANC even worse than the DA on such matters. So? Even if these objections are or are not true, that is surely not the point. The article raised a valid point - that the poor should be allowed to complain that their needs are being inadequately met, whether this failure is on the part of the ANC, DA or ABC governments. BUT this entirely valid point was seemingly drowned out by a diatribe of politically charged, negative, (extremely) right-wing views - effectively stopping nuanced and intelligent dialogue on a range of pressing matters for our nation and people. SO - the purpose of this group is to (a) Encourage people to POST AT LEAST 3 BALANCING THINGS WEEKLY ON ONLINE PLATFORMS such as News24, IOL etc. (b) Be used as a space to get help in communicating this counter balanced voice. If you come across an article or post online that is receiving skewed negative commentary, feel free to post to the group and ask people to go and add a balancing voice. Hopefully this can lead to a New Day (a New 24) in terms of public discourse, one in which its NOT predominantly the loud right-wing groups that are heard. I believe such discourse is necessary for our Nation to grow in as healthy a way as possible. Three posts a week need take no more than a few minutes of your time. But eventually if we have hundreds, hopefully thousands, of people doing this - it would go a long way to silencing hatred and promoting justice and mutual respect.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 19:45:00 +0000
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