Black Economic Empowerment……mmmmmmmm….. I cannot say I was ever a believer of B.E.E.
My own personal thoughts on it, is that it is a knee jerk reaction to the atrocities done to the black people of our land. I don’t condone what was done in apartheid, but I really do not think B.E.E. and affirmative action is the solution to the problem.
The reason why I call it a knee jerk reaction is because it has the almost invisible drive behind it of “We want it all and we want it now”. Change takes time and normally it requires one or two generations to take the sacrifice for fixing the problem. This has not happened at all in South Africa. We had decades of apartheid, and in a paltry 14-15 years we want it all fixed and the people benefiting already.
Its like applying steroids to your body building process. It works quickly, but ultimately wreaks havoc on the body.
To make things worse, who has race colour on their lips more often than anyone else? B.E.E. forces and reminds us of our colour differences. Yes what was done was wrong, to have one race oppress another simply because of their skin colour is wrong. But is the answer to penalize them on the same basis? Which is exactly what the B.E.E. process does, label people and class them so we can put forward a bunch of people regardless of skill and ability, and simply place them in positions because they are the right colour. Where will it stop?
Also it catapults us into an arena with little education. Skills need education, and certain professions take time and passion. Its not based on skin colour. What about a level of competency? What about entrepreneurship? Should I not venture into those things because I am not black enough? Do I sit back and allow the stupidity of this system to continue, and we will spiral into a depth of circular living, should we demand that people be employed simply to equalise the colour barrier.
Lets take America for example, how long did they take to have a black president (though I would hardly call him black)?
I see now our country is planning on having racial equity fines. Unbelievable hey. If we want more black people in management, allow people the freedom to choose to be educated in the area of passion, like all of the other South Africans had to do it. If you want a more balanced racial business world, allow people the time to develop a passion for it and they will take the reigns themselves.
Lets focus on building a country where people really are free to explore life and not be judged by what skin colour and let that be the determining factor as to whether they will succeed or not…
What do you think?
thehonestone
Check out this blog post I stumbled upon, he made a good point about the christian life Click here
Yo dude, I totally agree. Im no fan of B.E.E either. I think its just a bad excuse to do to others, what has been done to them/us. . . . . . .its creating arrogant and lazy ppl. YOu should work for what you want and that opportunity to work for what you want is here. . . . .so buy your ticket, dont steal train lol.
ha ha ha, buy your own ticket, thats funny
I agree. I’m a black woman living in Canada, so my situation is a bit different from yours! But, I have yet to see a “successful” federally mandated racial empowerment program. The Canadian government works hard on creating the appearance of equity for Canada’s Aboriginal population – a sort of “make good” move for stealing their land and abusing their children. The reality is that empowerment is a personal journey, and it takes time. In my opinion, free money, government-sponsored wage-matching programs, and employment guarantees serve only to foster dependence and resentment. Not growth.
Hi. I agree that empowerment is a personal journey. As for the Aboriginal population in Canada, is that Aborigines as in Australian or Indian? I never knew that there were Aborigines in Canada.
Hello! I think Australia’s Aborigines are a different ethnic group than Canada’s Aboriginal population. “Aboriginal” is the sort of nationally agreed-upon, politically correct term to describe everyone covered by the Federal Indian Act, here. (Which has nothing to do with Indian people from India.) So, the Metis population, Haida-Gwaii people of the West Coast, Alberta’s Blackfoot and Stoney populations, the northern Inuit and Inupiat communities, and so on across the country. All Aboriginal. All with significant differences in cultural history and practice. What they have in common are non-caucasian features and over a century of government-sponsored colonial oppression.
Sounds like it took a while to get there, we still in early days our side. Lets wait and see…