Shades of blackness

There's a furore in South Africa at the moment .... involving the country's pet passions - Rugby and Race ...

It all centres around the man pictured - who has been declared by some of SA's top politicians as being Black ......

How you may well ask .... since the man is clearly White. Very White. Lily White even.

And herein lies the nub of the problem.

Luke Watson comes from an old activist family. His (white) father "Cheeky" Watson famously in the 70s relinquished his position in the Springbok team in protest against the apartheid regime - and instead played club township rugby in an impoverished region of the Eastern Cape.

For this he was arrested, beaten, had his factory burnt down, and the whole (white) family were subject to death threats for being a "kaffirboeties" (or kaffir lovers). For the blacks of the Eastern Cape - he was a hero .... and even coined a struggle chorus - "Siyomlandela u Watson!" (We will follow Watson!) for him.

Switch now to his son .... and despite the fact that Luke Watson captained many national junior teams and is now the captain of the local Cape Town rugby club (the Stormers) - he was not picked this season for the Springbok side. Half the country was furious .... and the other half felt the Watson family had it coming ... (to be fair there was also probably a significant fraction who didn't think he was actually good enough to be picked)

Then to make matters worse - the head of the rugby union overruled the coach and selectors - and personally included Watson in the team - on the basis that "forces" in rugby were still harbouring old-apartheid time grudges against the Watson family and so thwarting their progress ....
"Cheeky Watson was one of us, fighting for the liberation of this country. We cannot have a situation where those children get victimised because of their parents' actions."

The final twist was then for Luke Watson to be declared black by virtue of his family history ....
"Given where he comes from, and where his father deliberately chose to play his rugby, on the dusty, potholed fields of the Eastern Cape townships, Luke comes from a historically disadvantaged community. The coach shouldn't be looking at Watson as a white player. If there are white flankers of equal ability, then Luke should get the nod because of his family's history."

It is amazing however that once again we have politicianss here declaring who is black, and who is not .... it was not so long ago here that the following happened and now its the ANC ... Amandla the Rainbow Nation ...


Sidebar: Funny how this sort of mirrors the debate in the US ... would Obama be black enough on the new SA criteria?