The Apartheid State of South Africa had the same complaint. Here are 10 examples of how they rationalized Apartheid, sound familiar?
1. WHILE the violation of human rights is the norm rather than the exception in most of Africa's 42 black-ruled states, the spotlight remains on South Africa. The images of racism, white supremacy, Nazism, etc. are a most effective part of a campaign to play on white guilt and to condition hatred for South Africa."
2. Contrary to popular belief, the whites did not take the country from the blacks. When the Dutch settled in the Cape in 1652, they found a barren, largely unpopulated land. Together with French and German settlers, they built a dynamic society.
3. Contrary to myth, the blacks were never run off their land. They settled in tribal lands of their own choice. When the whites met the blacks, the blacks had no written language, no technological knowledge, no cure for infectious diseases. In the 20th century, economic activity organized by whites gradually drew blacks out of their tribal lands into the cash economy and into the cities.
4. Yet South Africa is the only country in Sub-Saharan Africa that can feed itself. Blacks possess one of the highest living standards in all of Africa.
5. Although the country accounts for only 4 percent of Africa's surface area and 6.5 percent of the continent's population, it is credited with 25 percent of the continent's gross national product, 40 percent of its industrial output, 45 percent of mining production, 66 percent of all steel consumption and electricity generated, 46 percent of all motor vehicles and 36 percent of all telephones.
6. South Africa's health care complex is the best on the continent. In Soweto, for instance, there is a large hospital facility known throughout the world as a great center for the study and treatment of traumatic injuries. Blacks going to outpatient departments of hospitals are treated by the best physicians and pay an average $2 per visit, regardless of treatment. Major surgery, performed by the best specialists in the country, costs less than $5 per day.
7. World Bank statistics show that the country has the lowest infant mortality rate on the continent - 82 deaths per 1,000 compared to 146. Likewise, life expectancy is the highest - 55 years versus 48.
8. In South Africa the literacy rate is 70 percent for blacks compared to average 40 percent in the 51 independent African states.
9. Once vibrant, the 42 black-ruled states have now disintegrated into a political, social and economic nightmare.
10. Many of these states had one man one vote - but historically, only once. Those one-time elections were followed by one-party rule, or military dictatorships.
South Africa Shouldn t be Singled Out - CSMonitor.com
