South Africa president: Pets are "white culture"
People walk their dogs outside the home of former president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, Thursday, Dec. 27 2012. / AP Photo/Denis Farrell
JOHANNESBURG South Africa's president says a dog should not be man's best friend.
President Jacob Zuma made critical remarks about pet care that touch on sensitive race relations in South Africa, which was dominated by whites until apartheid was dismantled almost two decades ago, The Star newspaper reported Thursday.
The newspaper cited Zuma as saying in a speech Wednesday that the idea of having a pet is part of "white culture" and that people should focus on family welfare.
The president's office sought to clarify his remarks, saying he was encouraging "the previously oppressed African majority" to uphold its own culture. It also suggested the way in which the comments were reported, rather than the comments themselves, was divisive.
The president's remarks triggered a flurry of retorts from animal lovers on Twitter and other social media.
"Will I become 'more African' if I kick my dog, President Zuma," one person commented tartly.
Another lamented: "He keeps on dividing this country."
And another humorist wrote: "Well, that pretty much rules out that photo opportunity with Zuma, the Obamas, & their pet dog, Bo, in the White House."
The backdrop to the dog debate is the legacy of Western colonialism in Africa, as well as the bitter struggle against apartheid in South Africa that culminated in the first democratic elections in 1994. Poverty and economic imbalances remain a source of deep strain in the nation of 50 million.
South African President Jacob Zuma
/ AP Photo/Anja NiedringhausDuring his speech to an appreciative crowd in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma's home province, the president said people who love dogs more than people have a "lack of humanity" and that some people are trying in vain to "emulate whiteness," The Star reported.
"Even if you apply any kind of lotion and straighten your hair, you will never be white," he reportedly said.
In a statement, the South African presidency said Zuma was trying to "decolonize the African mind post-liberation" and enable people to take pride in their heritage and not feel pressure to adopt customs of minority cultures. Animals can be cared for, was the message, but not at the expense of people.
It said he gave examples of people loving animals more than other human beings -- letting a dog sit in the cab of a truck while a worker has to sit in the back in the rain, or rushing an animal to the veterinarian while ignoring sick relatives or workers.
Zuma has often said he seeks to protect South Africa's diversity and unify its disparate groups, but he has occasionally stirred controversy. In 2006, as deputy president, he said same-sex marriages, which are today protected under South African law, were "a disgrace to the nation and to God."
Popular on CBSNews.com
-
One year after Afghan massacre, villagers work with U.S. troops One year after U.S. Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians, the villagers in the town where the atrocity took place have joined the U.S. special forces stationed there to assist in the fight against the Taliban.
- 50th Paris Air Show 19 Photos
- Celebration and devotion in India 14 Photos
- Rare twin birth for gorilla in Dutch zoo Play Video
- John Paul II a step closer to sainthood
- Nameplate to blame for halt in Afghan-Taliban talks
- Ex-Chinese official executed for child rapes, state media reports
- Brazil protesters flood Sao Paulo streets for 2nd night
- Rare twin gorillas born in Dutch zoo
Dogs are not, and never will be, "part of the family" and there is something badly wrong with people who attempt to "humanize" dogs and elevate them to the level of human beings.
Apparently so are jobs, intelligence, taste, class, and families with both parents......
Nothing wrong with that statement at all.
"Even if you apply any kind of lotion and straighten your hair, you will never be white..."
That is also absolutely correct.
I remember the time when In Singapore, a fashion trend emerged where Chinese girls would dye their hair blond, wear blue contact lenses and boots, to emulate the "white" women.
When asked about the trend, the then-Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew remarked, "There is no law against dyed hair, blue contacts, and boots, but if you think that "whites" will accept you as one of their own, you are sorely mistaken. You are Asian, it is in your face, and your blood, you can never erase that, nor should you want to."
If only "black" Americans remembered the ethnic pride we shared in the 70s.
We almost did the impossible, from the various regions and ethnic heritages that made up our "classification" as "black" Americans, we almost became a unified force.
Had we only succeeded, the progress we have made since then would have come much sooner, and we would be much farther ahead today.
Last year, a dog killed a 4-day-old infant in Pennsylvania and the dog freaks went crazy trying to save the DOG! The comments section on news sites were full of people concerned about the dog, but only an infinitesimal few expressed concern that an innocent child had been viciously crushed to death by that 4-legged monster. In that case, the white mother, Brandy Furlong, was on welfare, had two other children (toddlers) and owned FOUR HUGE DOGS! And before she bothered to go to the funeral home to arrange for the burial of her dead child, she went to animal control to sign the dog over to one of the freaks who wanted to adopt it! (He later had to give it up because his neighbors didn't want the demon dog in their community.)
A few months later, a big, ugly "family dog" in Nevada killed a 1-year-old on his birthday and again, the dog freaks were out in force trying to save its life.
Many people today in the US, Canada and Western Europe have seriously misplaced values.
I once heard the white pastor of a Methodist church in Texas say, "We have become a nation which fattens it's dogs while there are children in the world who go hungry." You really have to think about it.....though,of course, it is an over simplification.