[Question] new generation

[murdock]

lets say i am a youngster who will be leaving school at the end of the year...and want to look into maybe starting my own bussiness in a couple of years in what ever i decide to do...which means i was born after the days of appartheid ended...but i am white...will BEE affect me just because i am white even though i had nothing to do with appartheid or didnt even live in the days of appartheid...will ibe discriminate dagainst by black people just because of the colour of my skin?

i know this might sound like a really dumb ass question but i would really like to hear dwhat other people have to say about this type of discrimanation...should the youngster not be given an equal start in life?

i do understand that i should be punished because i lived in the apparthied era and enjoyed all the benefits...got a job because i was white...lived in a safe neighbourhood...amongst whites...

unfortunately my kids cant say the same...they go to school were the majority of kids are black...are taught by the same teachers as all the other blacks in their classroom...live in a dangerous neighbourhood amongst black people...why cant they be treated and given the same opitunities as the other black kids in their classroom...just because they are my kids they must suffer?

maybe i need to look at this from another angle to understand...please educate me.

[Dave A]

I really look forward to the day this country finally moves away from institutionalised racial discrimination.

Unfortunately I have a sneaking suspicion the new generation is going to be facing much bigger issues than racial predjudice when it comes to carving their future.

[murdock]

i must give the white youngster who have got out there and are making something of themselves credit...my son and i had a fall out a while back over his layzness...and he turned around and told me that it is much harder for him now than it was for me back in the days when i was a youngster...i lauged at him and told him he has no idea what i have had to go thru to get to where i am today...we didnt speak to each other for months...in which time i have had time to think about what we had the blow up about...you know what he was right...i forgot that he is just as affected by all this racism going on (BBEE) as what i am...in fact it is a lot more difficult for him because he is still starting out...i am already eaducated...qualified and have reached the highest grade i can get in my field...(if the goverment had an interest in making this a country a better place they would take a step back and look at all the skilled white they have terminated contracts with and reconsider the way forward)...had a customer base which i have built up...he has nothing just the will to suvive.

all the skilled white people have not run away there are pleanty of us still here..but it seems the goverment is so hell bent on BBEE that they cant see it...or is it me whi is blinded by BBEE?

[Chrisjan B]

I don't think it is necessarily harder for your son, one must remember that circumstantes has changed between now and then, at that stage it was as bad for you as it is for him today. There is two things one should remember:
1. Adapt or die
2. Life owes you nothing. It is what you make of it and one should actively look for opportunities.

[Butch Hannan]

I believe that if your children are well qualified especially in the technical field they will make a success of their lives in this country. You will unfortunately have to fund their training as bursaries are awarded to the so called disadvantaged individuals even if they happen to be your neighbours who go to the same schools that your children go to. We all know that there is a massive skills shortage in this country. This is going to be greatly increased when the aids epidemic reaches its peak in 2016. Evidently most of the people who are going to die are under 35yrs. This will obviously compound the skills shortage.

[Sparks]

I do believe it is worse now for the young whites. They do not have the standard of education we had to start off with. We only had to prove our worth to an employer. How do you do that with low educational standards? A 3rd year "Electrical Engineer" told his folks that their house was very dangerous because he got a reading of 220V from N to earth while testing to find the loose connection I found. He did not consider the fact that the lights were on at the time. Quality education? Not in the new SA I am afraid.

[mother]

I can quote a couple of REAL examples to show that white kids are definitely discriminated against.

1. Girl matriculated with 94% average, but her application to study medicine at UP was not successful. Apparently the minimum qualifying grade for white kids is 93%, and for black kids is 60%. Certain quotas had to be adhered to, so she didn't make the cut. She was then told that she should enroll for B Sc, and apply again at the start of the 2nd semester, when the "quotas" fall away based on first exam results, and B Sc students with above 90% results are considered to replace them.

2. Very talented young white male applied for registrar's position as trauma surgeon (ie to study to become a specialist). He qualified as a doctor with grade average above 80%, is a naturally talented leader and surgeon, but was denied and 2 young black girls were appointed. One girl had such a fabulous set of nails, she couldn't wear surgical gloves! And still, for every complicated emergency, they would call him to assist, because he really was the best candidate by far.

My point is, regardless their school grades or talent, the white kids find it difficult to qualify themselves, since they are denied the opportunity to study, due to quotas being enforced.

[murdock]

andit is just gona get worse...not really....looking at it from an optimist point...of course it gona get better...just not in our lifetime.

[adrianh]

There is another way of looking at it. It is what it is - we can bitch and moan but it ain't gonna change nothing. So what to do. Each child should be taught to take responsiblity for their own lives, they need to educate themselves, become street smart and learn how to profit from the masses. There is money to be made by supplying services to the masses, they need education, training etc. If the youngster wants to become a doctor or whatever, hit the road, study in another country where there are better oppertunities. I agree with Chrismine - Adapt or die, beat them at their own game. I don't agree with BEE etc, but this situation is like going to the Army, its k_k but you figure out how to survive!

[Dave A]

It is what it is

its k_k but you figure out how to survive!

For much of the real talent, that solution is going to places where they're appreciated. Not a problem for them, but a very real problem for South Africa.

Just for a moment, imagine Jaques Kallis and Kevin Pieterson in the same cricket team for quite a few years already...

How many great doctors are we losing?
How many great engineers and inventors?
Entrepreneurs, employers, investors?

There's no end to the list.

And what do we as a country gain in the process?

The amazing talents of Jimmy Manyi and Julius Malema?

[KimH]

This post certainly stuck a chord with me, I have two sons aged 25 and 15 - it took the 25 year old 4 years to secure a job, that company liquidated about a year after he started working, another 6 months to secure a position and that company has just retrenched half of it's work force - fortunately his position wasn't affected, but it was a damn scary time for him. My 15 year old concerns me the most, at this stage we cannot afford to put him through Varsity, and even if we could would he even find gainful employment? The only thing I can honestly hope to do is build up my business, give him an opportunity to study at college and then employ him. Alternatively, both hubby and I are British so he could ship off to the UK...

He has options,.. how many kids out there have none?

[murdock]

the problem with sending them away to study or complete a trade....the qualification from abroad are not accepted here and visa versa

[adrianh]

This is all true but IT IS WHAT IT IS whether we like it or not. I also have kids that will need to work. The point that I am trying to make is that we have to work around it.

[Sparks]

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[murdock]

that by the way is not a joke...i had a person approuch me for work with enough certificates to get him a highly paid job anywhere...the only catch was the made a mistake with the date...he managed to qualify for everything from matric to NTC 4 all on the same day...all the borders of the certificates where also exactly the same...which is what made me suspicious.