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Sunday Times fires David Bullard

By: Louise Marsland

11 Apr 2008 09:3496 commentsBizLike

Controversial columnist David Bullard has been fired by the Sunday Times. The axe finally fell on the ‘Out to Lunch' column after his latest offering published this past Sunday, 6 April 2008, was criticised for being racist.

While the Sunday Times editor is denying any ‘other' hand in the dismissal of Bullard, speculation doing the rounds at two key industry events last night where leaders in the media, marketing and advertising industry were assembled – the annual Apex Awards and John Farquhar's 80th birthday party celebration – was that political pressure has been brought to bear on the Sunday Times with Government threats to pull advertising. This is being denied by the Sunday Times editor, Mondli Makhanya, today.

Many in the industry felt that this was an opportunity for the Sunday Times to “get rid of Bullard” as he became more and more vocal in his criticism of the Government and the ruling party, the ANC.

Makhanya reportedly said it was about “values” and that Bullard's column no longer fitted in with the values of the Sunday Times.

According to a senior writer who was with Bullard at an event he was MC-ing last night, Makhanya fired him over the phone due to his “racist column”. Says the journalist, “Surely the buck stops with the editor? If he or she thinks any copy is unsuitable or racist or whatever, he or she should pull it, not fire the journalist!... Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that columnists were entitled to express their opinions?”

Others have countered that Bullard's column was indeed offensive and it shouldn't come as a surprise that he was finally fired.

Bullard has worked on a freelance contract basis for the Sunday Times for 14 years. He hit the headlines last year when he was shot and severely wounded in a robbery at his home.

Read the controversial column for yourself:

Uncolonised Africa wouldn't know what it was missing [David Bullard].
... Imagine for a moment what life would be like in South Africa if the evil white man hadn't come to disturb the rustic idyll of the early black settlers...
www.thetimes.co.za/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=741855

This was the reaction earlier this week to the Bullard column by leading commentators:

The heat of hate in Sunday column [Xolela Mangcu]
www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A745310

So many 'what ifs', but we cannot go back [Max du Preez]
www.iol.co.za/general/other/lol_container.php?set_id=40&click_id=2773&art_id=vn20080410053847595C810883

Here is what the mainstream media are saying today, Friday 11 April:

The Times Online– Bullard fired as Sunday Times columnist
Controversial columnist David Bullard has been fired by the Sunday Times for writing a "racist column," reports Business Day ...
www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=746507

iafrica.com | news | sa news Sunday Times fires David Bullard
Former Sunday Times columnist David Bullard has said he was surprised to be fired as the brief from his newspaper bosses was to be controversial...
http://iafrica.com/news/sa/654146.htm

24.com – News top story Sunday Times fires Bullard Sunday Times ...
Johannesburg – David Bullard, a regular contributor to the Sunday Times, was fired from his post after an "extremely racist" column of his was published in ...
www.24.com/news/?p=tsa&i=888001

What is being said on the blogosphere

David Bullard on Amatomu.com – tagged articles
David Bullard on Amatomu.com – keyword search
David Bullard on Afrigator.com
David Bullard on Google Blog Search
David Bullard on Technorati.com


					More options

About Louise Marsland

Louise Marsland is editor-in-chief and brand strategist of AdVantage magazine. Email her on , read her blog on Bizcommunity and follow her and AdVantage on Twitter at @Louise_Marsland and @advantagemag.

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	Good move- I always read David Bullard's column, but last week's column left me with a very sour taste in my mouth. Good move Mondli! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 10:56 Like Reply Report
Lerato	1 person likes this I'm also glad he got fired- But I still think Mondli should take full responsibility because he's editor. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 11:19 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this About time....- I am so glad that Mondli has finally removed Bullard. The column had become an anti-government and anti-ANC and was skating on the brink of being anti-Black..... He should have stuck to reviewing cars. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 14:08 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this So?- What, exactly, is the problem with being anti-ANC or government? Or at least, critical of them? Posted on 11 Apr 2008 18:26 Like Reply Report
Bazonya	1 person likes this So? Get the point- Please read the article and ask a more relevant question Posted on 11 Apr 2008 18:47 Like Reply Report
Lebogang Mukansi	1 person likes this Mondli Should Follow- If Mondli, printed and ran the disgusting article, he should also be fired. He is the editor after all and the buck stops with him Posted on 11 Apr 2008 15:23 Like Reply Report
	well...- Tim du Plessis did set the trend last year with the Deon Maas fiasco didn't he - first okay a story, then when the going gets rough, turn right around and fire the journo. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 15:48 Like Reply Report
Bazonya	1 person likes this He's always been racist!- It's shocking that it only now that they realise that the man hates Africa and Africans. He is still here just to do his own last bit of raping the resources of the land. His opinions on affirmative action have always suggested, Africans do not deserve to benefit from the land of their ancestors. I've always wondered how Mondli went to sleep after signing his articles off. As for the "liberal" racist himself, he can join the rest of his like to Australia or New Zealand.They can sit a reminice of the good old days of believing they were an undefeatable superior race. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 18:45 Like Reply Report
Ike	Modli took full responsibility...well done!- David was entitled to his opinions about our country and to comment dubiously on its richly ancestory history but he 'pushed the boundaries too' far in last Sunday's column. Sunday Times made the right decision by firing him to send a clear message about where the paper stands as far as racism and responsible news reporting are concerned. Mondli took resposibility as the editor. He had a meeting with David regarding the column (as per his interview on Radio 702) and apparently David was aware about the derogatory of his column and was unapologetic about the message. Mondli then consulted with his senior and after careful considerations, they decided to let David go. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 11:43 Like Reply Report
dslets@gmail.com	1 person likes this He had it coming!!- How did his editor let that insulting article go through. Is he not aware of Mapungubwe (The Ancient lost city in South Africa), He talks like Africa is looking good because whites arrived. Man!! I would hire him again just so that I can fire him again. David Bullard is an Ignorant Racist!! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 11:48 Like Reply Report
Newspaper fanatic	Uhm...- Eisa !!!!!!!!! Tell me yr kidding!!! It's not an April fool's article... As in for real...... Yho yho yho!!!! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 11:58 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this No one to blame but himself for sacking- It is ludicrous to suggest David Bullard was fired because of government's intervention. Does anybody need to be reminded that Mondli Makhanya is one of government's biggest critics. Do you need to be reminded that government wanted to pull the adverts from the Sunday Times after the Manto's drinking binge in hospital story? People, Mondli and his team have brains. And they know hate speech from freedom of speech. When Bullard crossed the line, he was fired. Period. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 12:12 Like Reply Report
MaNdelu	Not a suprise at all to learn that David's been axed!- Quite honestly it doesn't surprise me to learn that David's been sacked. His articles have always been racist. I don't understand why this is only picked up now!!! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 12:30 Like Reply Report
Ike	1 person likes this Bull-ard in the china shop!- After African welcomed Bullard from the UK, he's so comfortable that he has started attacking on his hosts, If Africa is something like what you said about it, what are you doing here? Maybe you should retreat back to your colonial country. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 12:41 Like Reply Report
Freedom Fighter	1 person likes this Two things- Two things 1. I am not a Bullard fan and yes maybe the last column is a bit over some lines - BUT - if we look at all his columns over time the "shock" factor has always been there and I think that was probably his use - to make us think in different directions. So the decision to fire him I think is wrong - because that stops us of reading different viewpoints - yes attack him in the media and say everything you want - but to remove a viewpoint does not mean it doesn’t exist - and that is probably more dangerous. 2. BizCommunity needs to be congratulated on the way they present the story - for people with little time they have here a one page to get all the info and make up your own mind. Good on you. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 12:48 Like Reply Report
Bullocks	1 person likes this Not a moment too soon- For some reason, i could not help but read Bullard's columns, but they always left me with an uncomfortable feeling. Like I'm paying for someone to insult me every Sunday. Let the saditic nincompoop go. Bloody racist! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 13:08 Like Reply Report
Bongeka	1 person likes this Amen Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!- Wonder what took Mondli so long to fire him...?? Guy's been writing INSULTING/RACIST trash for years now on the column! Anyway - can't say I am not rejoicing! Well done Mondli - it's bout time you took responsibility for a publication which you are supposed to be editing. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 13:19 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this Ed's responsibility- I think you are all missing the point. If the editor thought the column was racist, he should never have published it. The buck stops with him, as he reads (or should read) every word in the paper before it gets published. So it's quite obvious that he either knowingly published the article in order to have an excuse to fire Bullard, or that pressure was exerted on him after the publication of the column. You can't print something in your own newspaper and then afterwards say 'oh I don't agree with that'. That's lazy editing. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 13:29 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this I couldn't agree more...- As the heading says, I couldn't agree more that the editor negated his responsibility in EDITING before publishing. Isn't this just another good example of the latest SA craze of Buck Passing and Finger Pointing, set up or not? Apart from that, generally i think Bullard's article had a valid and interesting slant, like it or not. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it can serve to either make us appreciate what we have or where we are, or it can teach us a lesson so as not to 'go down that road' again. Having said that, I do think one or two comments perhaps crossed the line, such as his reference to ancestors but that should have been picked up by a competent editor before publishing and if it was an issue, it could have been ealt with as an internal matter with dignity. If the article had been edited perhaps it wouldn't have been 'offensive' but still retained and communicated an interesting perspective. It's a pitty that someone gets fired for something like this yet those who are directly responsible for screwing up our electricity supply and causing far more damage concering far more people get off scott free. African justice at it's best? But....perhaps if the colonialist hadn't have come to this continent, we wouldn't have had electricuty in the first place and we'd have been so much better off. After all, how can you miss something you never had? Posted on 11 Apr 2008 21:52 Like Reply Report
Thanda	1 person likes this I agree- Absolutely Posted on 13 Apr 2008 14:09 Like Reply Report
	So why did they publish the column in the first place?- Why was Bullard's column published at all if it is apparently so offensive? Does the editor not read the proofs of his paper before they go to the printer? Sounds like he is trying to save his own botty! I am a Sunday Times subscriber but if their purported "values" start moving in the direction of columnists being fired for expressing an opinion and the editor not taking responsibility for the content of his paper, I may have to think twice when that renewal notice lands in my postbox. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 13:48 Like Reply Report
Gee	1 person likes this Cowardly act from a usually brave editor- The buck stops with the editor, finish and klaar. If Makhanya let the column gothrough, it was with his approval. To suddenly fire the columnist after the fact reeks of hypocrisy. Best of all, The Times and the Sunday Times are still carrying the column online and what with all the furore, are benefitting hugely from increased traffic on their site. More hypocrisy. It's not even about the content of the column any longer; it's about the ethics of the Sunday Times. Quite frankly, right now their so-called ethics stink to high heaven. Would much rather deal with Bullard's 'racism' than the rank cowardice of the Sunday Times. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 13:50 Like Reply Report
Blaque	1 person likes this why did they print the article in the first place- i thought the job of editor and his editorial team is to edit and scutinise pieces from journos? they read his column probably 3 days before and decided it was okay and then when everyone makes a noise they fire him? it says something about ballz. i dont agree with the piece, its very provocative but that is David Bullard's style you take it in the sense you want. blame it on the sunday times editorial team they probably found the piece amusing and thought it would sell the paper regardless of what it contained. FIRE THE EDITOR AND HIS TEAM Posted on 11 Apr 2008 14:05 Like Reply Report
Michelle	1 person likes this Disappointed ...- I have this high regard for Mondli and am kind of disappointed that he would miss such detail to go into the newspaper like Sunday Times ... Posted on 11 Apr 2008 14:40 Like Reply Report
Ernie Van Rensburg	1 person likes this How to F#*#ing fire a columnist!!!!! for past offences!!!!!- There would have been no other way for Mondli to fire that David other than wait for him to come up with a racist article. The powers that be have been waiting for that article for over 10years now, pity Bullard walked into the snare... By the way an opinion is still an opinion, Bullard's opinions stink my opinion stink, your opinion stink, hell we all have stinking opinion but don't have enough platforms to display them unlike the Bullard's of this world. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 14:16 Like Reply Report
Donald Paul	1 person likes this David Bullard- David Bullard's last Sunday Times column was at best fatuous and at worst racist. He's a far better writer than this drivel he served up. When he re-read it in the cold black and white of Sunday morning, he should have accepted responsibility and resigned, rather than wait for the Editor to fire him. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 14:36 Like Reply Report
eeardstapper	1 person likes this Bullard must go!- We're black, we're in charge, and we don't like being criticised by #^$^%&^%* whiteys. Okay! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 14:45 Like Reply Report
foreign_input	A pot calling the kettle black...- How does your above comment differ even slightly from Bullard's article? At least Bullard had the decency to stay away from name calling you ignorant swine... Posted on 11 Jun 2008 15:18 Like Reply Report
editor	1 person likes this goodness me!- So the Sunday Times is feeling the heat. This was not just the editor's decision as he allowed the piece to be published initially and they have paid Bullard to write this for 16 years. Clearly, the incompetent government have put pressure on. If not, the editor should be fired for gross hypocrisy. Bullard, whatever one thinks of him, did have a compelling column. The S/T lacks compelling reading and this is going to make it worse. Even the back page is dull! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 15:25 Like Reply Report
geeeez	1 person likes this The truth hurts!!- Just because you state the truth doesn't mean you are a racist... if you say excuse me to a black person they get all upset and throw back racism in your face... if your staff are rubbish and you reprimand them then the black staff think you are being racist. Get past the black/white issues... Weak people like to blame everything else for their lack of guts (the UK is full of people who blame everyone else so it’s not just a skin colour issue, it’s an attitude). If I was black I would be embarrassed by the FACT that almost every black country is a total mess (hint: starving kids, poverty, lack of good education etc). That’s not racist, that’s fact (try it yourself... make a list of every country in Africa and categorise them... facts). If I was black I would start standing up to make a difference and stop blaming everyone else. Keep Bullard on the team! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 15:37 Like Reply Report
Journo	1 person likes this But you're not black, so how would you know?- I could similarly say, that if I were white, I'd be ashamed of white colonisers (my very own forefathers) who have ruined every African country through their despicable divide and conquer and racial superiority techniques... Or I'd be ashamed of white governments (all over the world) who oppress others, exploit other countries for their greed and destroy the environment for their own gain.. Maybe you're the one with race hang ups? Bullard's column was written from that self-same premise that Africans are inferior beings. I'm glad he's gone. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 16:01 Like Reply Report
geeeezz2	1 person likes this I am ashamed, by we have done something about it- You are right, I don't like what happened in the past... but I wasn't there. And you know what I have done something about it... I have stood up against racism, I have spoken out and I helpded vote the NATS out (I have helped the poor and tried to improve SA for all). What are you going to now? I don't like where the future is taking us, but I am white and many feel I have no say, because if do say something I am racist... over to you!! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 16:15 Like Reply Report
Mad as Hell	1 person likes this Bullocks- The fact that you were not there certainly does not exonerate you!! That argument pisses me off proper, yes it happened and like it or not it shaped (signifcantly) who you are as a person. Bullard has said worse in my book - i think he is just an imperialist swine who wasn't pommie enough to survive in the Queens land and decided to attempt to tame the natives here with his english. I hate him!!! Posted on 11 Sep 2008 16:56 Like Reply Report
coco	1 person likes this You Forget- You forget that we have a BLACK government in power - which was handed OVER by supposed colonialists. Where are we headed? Where are we going. I NEVER supported Apartheid - belonged to ANC Youth League when I was 18 and got harrassed by Security Police constantly. WHITE card carrying ANC member from a young age. Took to writing about the evils of Apartheid and was harrassed. Involved in Bisho massacre too. But come on guys. What is happening here? What have any of the other African countries achieved under Black rule? Tell me, please....What have we achieved in the last four years? Please let's prove to be different. Let's keep our country together. We've had it all - but things ARE slipping! Posted on 12 Apr 2008 20:29 Like Reply Report
thatruth	1 person likes this the truth does hurt- I dont mean to sound like an uncle Tom but the truth is the truth. Africa is in a mess not because of colonisation but because of the greed and kleptomania of African leaders. Look at our own South Africa, the ANC gvt is doing a really bad job at governing. I am black and I am ashamed by the way that we Africans treat each other, especially the xenophobia displayed by us S.Africans. I wish blacks could stop blaming whites for their own mistakes. It is not whites who are responsible for the baby rapes in SA, the DRC and Darfur conflicts, the list goes on and on. Posted on 13 Apr 2008 17:04 Like Reply Report
frederico	1 person likes this and u r not?- and u r not ashamed bcos u r not black? what does that say about u? Posted on 21 Apr 2008 19:16 Like Reply Report
Dom	1 person likes this For crying in a bucket...- David Bullard's column has always given me a chuckle, food for thought or, in most instances, both. Having just re-read the article (and I propose that it's not a bad idea to do just that before making a judgement and posting it here), I find nothing chuckleworthy about the article in question. It does, however, give me food for thought. I may be oversimplifying things, and I am white so please forgive any insensitivities, but it seems to me that all he was doing in the column was postulating a present day SA without the 'intervention' of colonization. It may be a little far-fetched to imagine zero development, but it is, after all, an imagining for the sake of argument. Bullard is one of the most talented, observant and witty of South Africa's writers. Let's hope he pokes his head up somewhere it will be of even more value than it has to date. Just my two cents' worth. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 16:01 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this You're right- I agree. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 22:21 Like Reply Report
Immigrant	Poor David..How the truth hurts..- When Jan van Riebeeck got here the black population didn't even know what the wheel looked like..MMM How the truth hurts.. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 16:01 Like Reply Report
Journo	1 person likes this And you know this how?- Were you there when Van Riebeeck and cronies landed? How do you know there was no wheel? Posted on 11 Apr 2008 16:03 Like Reply Report
Writer	1 person likes this Rainbow nation my a$$- After reading all these posts, I am afraid for the future of race relations in this country. I am just happy that when the real revolution comes - and it is coming -, I will be on the 'right' side!! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 16:12 Like Reply Report
NMM	Its about damn time!- I'm sorry i dont care who says what - its about time that idiot got fired. There is a thin line between being controversial and being down insulting and offensive! Its about damn time! ....... but i'm sorry - Mondli Makhanya - he is the editor - how did this article pass him, without seeing it??......COME ON! Funny though, how now people and bizcomm - say the "sunday times is reacting to government pressure"- whilst they were the same people- reporting out all stories about the minister of health, Zuma, trouble in the ANC - it wasnt the case! GET REAL! AND STOP BEING SO RACIST AND PESSIMISTIC!! Posted on 11 Apr 2008 17:03 Like Reply Report
coco	1 person likes this Make up- Have the highest regard for Mondi. Worked with him previously. But maybe those "reports" have taken their toll and he now has to make a sacrifice to appease his forefathers? Just a thought - but then we are not allowed that, hey? Posted on 12 Apr 2008 20:51 Like Reply Report
Gee II	1 person likes this Column crossed the line BUT ...- Doesn't this column reflect the huge anger and disillusionment of everyone in South Africa right now - all of us black and white who embraced the rainbow nation have been Mugabied by our pitiful Government who unrepentantly epitomise all of the worse stereotypes of African politics Posted on 11 Apr 2008 18:18 Like Reply Report
Just asking	1 person likes this Would this guy have been fired for writing this. Ps he is black- AGREE WITH DR WATSON Written by Idang Alibi Thursday, 25 October 2007 A few days ago, the Nobel Laureate, Dr James Watson, made a remark that is now generating worldwide uproar, especially among the blacks. He said what to me looks like a self-evident truth. He told The Sunday Times of London in an interview that in his humble opinion, black people are less intelligent than the White people. Since then, some of us cannot hear anything else but the outrage of black people who feel demeaned by what Watson has said. So many people have called the man names. To be expected, some have said he is a racist. Some even wonder how a "foolish" man like Watson could have won the Nobel Prize. Even white people who, deep in their heart, agree with Watson want to be politically, correct so they condemn the man. Why are we blacks becoming so reactive, so sensitive to any remarks, no matter how well-meaning, about our failure as a race? Why are we becoming like the Jews who see every accusation as a manifestation of anti-Semitism? I do not know what constitutes intelligence. I leave that to our so-called scholars. But I do know that in terms of organising society for the benefit of the people living in it, we blacks have not shown any intelligence in that direction at all. I am so ashamed of this and sometimes feel that I ought to have belonged to another race. Nigeria my dear country is a prime example of the inferiority of the black race when compared to other races. Let somebody please tell me whether it is a manifestation of intelligence if a people cannot organise a free, fair and credible election to choose who will lead them. Is it intelligence that we cannot provide simple pipe-borne water for the people? Our public school system has virtually collapsed. Is that a sign of intelligence? Our roads are impassable. In spite of the numerous sources that nature has made available to us to tap for energy to run our industries and homes, we have no steady supply of electricity. Yet electricity is the bedrock of industrialisation. When you agree with the school of Watson, some say you are incorrect because all these failures are a result of poor leadership. Why must it be us blacks who must always suffer poor leadership? Is that not a manifestation of unintelligence? In the name of international trade, bilateral co-operation, globalisation and other subterfuges, the norm in the world today is for smart people to appropriate the wealth of other people for themselves and their countries. But more among the blacks than any other race, the practice is to steal from their own country and salt away to other people's country. Is it intelligence that our leaders steal billions of naira and hide in other people's country? Anywhere in the world today where you have a concentration of black people among other races, the poorest, the least educated, the least achieving, and the most violent group among those races will be the blacks. When indices of underdevelopment are given, black people and countries are sure to occupy the bottom of the ladder. If we are intelligent, why do we not carry first when statistics of development are given? Look at the African continent. South Africa is the most developed country because of the presence of whites there. This may be an uncomfortable truth for many of us but it exists nevertheless. If the whites had been driven away after independence, we would have seen a steady decline of that country. In terms of natural endowment, Africa ought to be the richest of the continents but see the mess we have made of the potential for greatness which God in his infinite wisdom has bestowed upon us. We have proved totally incapable of harnessing the abundant natural resources to become great. Today, there is a renewed scramble for the wealth of Africa. China, our new "friend", does not bother about the genocide against fellow blacks in the Sudan by the Arabs who control the affairs of that country. They say they do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of any country. All they want is the oil in Sudan to run their industries. Yet, we blacks have not seen the Chinese action as an affront to our sensitivities. Every race takes us for granted because we are so weak and so foolish, if you permit me to say it. I am really pained by our gross underachievement as a race. Instead of regarding bitter truths expressed by the likes of Watson as a wake-up call for us to engage in sober reflection, we take to the expression of woolly sentiment. For me, this type of reaction is a further evidence of our unintelligence. A man of intelligence recognises genuine criticism against him and takes steps to improve himself in order to prove his critics wrong. But for us blacks, our reaction is to abuse the man who expresses worries about our backwardness. Other races are deeply worried about us because we are a problem to the world. We suffer from the five Ds: disorderliness, debts, diseases, deaths and disasters. Our disorderliness affects others or else they won't be too bothered about us. Many are afraid because our diseases could infect them. Polio has been eradicated all over the world yet it is still found in Nigeria here. When they give us money to help us eradicate it, our thieving officials will embezzle the money; the virus will spread and endanger the health of not only our people but other people as well. Out of a shared sense of humanity, some cannot bear to see how we die in thousands almost every day from clearly preventable diseases and causes. For years now, our people die extremely painful but perfectly preventable deaths from buildings which collapse because they were poorly constructed. How can you tell me we are as intelligent as others when we set traps for ourselves in the name of houses and others do not do so? Some people are extremely frustrated about us. If they have a way of avoiding us, they will be too glad to do so because we are a problem. As I write this, I do so with great pains in my heart because I know that God has given intelligence in equal measure to all his children irrespective of the colour of their skin. The problem with us black people is that we have refused to use our intelligence to organise ourselves socially and politically. It should worry us that we do not invent things. We do not go to the moon. Our societies are not well-organised. We have the shortest lifespan of all the races. Something must be wrong with us. Why are we not like others? Our scholars will be quick to say that these are not the only ways of measuring intelligence. They will quote other scholars to adumbrate their point, but the fact remains that we are not showing intelligence. Others are showing it more than we're doing. If they are not more intelligent than we are, let someone tell me how to put it. God himself must be frustrated with his black children. They must be an embarrassment to him. He has given us everything he has given to other of his children; why are his black children not manifesting their own gift? A few years ago, the whites used to contemptuously call the Japanese "little Japs". Today, the Japanese and other Asians have pulled themselves up by the bootstrap and have arrived. No one speaks of the Japanese or Asians with contempt anymore. When people like Watson speak about us in unedifying terms, we should take it as a challenge to prove them wrong by sitting down to plan how we can become world-beaters. If our political leaders are the reason for our backwardness, we should resolve to get the kind of leaders who will be instrument for our rapid progress. I may not know how intelligence is measured but my limited knowledge of intelligence is that it can also be measured by the kind of leaders a people decide to have. If, for instance, our professors preside over the massive rigging of elections, it means that we do not have very intelligent professors. Such rigged elections will no doubt produce unintelligent leaders. Such unintelligent leaders will do stupid things which will prove that we are not as intelligent as other races. Do I sound confusing or intelligent? I am ready for some of our 'patriotic' intellectuals who will write and abuse me for the 'outrage' I have expressed here but I stick to my guns: we lack intelligence and as stated in the Bible, anyone who lacks intelligence should cry unto God who is the custodian of wisdom to bestow some upon him. We should go on our knees today and ask God why we do not appear as intelligent as our other brothers. I am confident God will reveal to us what we must do, and urgently too, to change our terribly unflattering circumstances. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 19:43 Like Reply Report
geeeeeez3	1 person likes this *** )The thruth only hurts if you DON'T HAVE THE GUTS to face your problems- If you are angered by these statements then you are probably too lazy and selfish to fix the problems... you have to work HARD at things to improve them... but you are too lazy to try any harder... you blame others and that makes you feel better, but then you hate yourself because you know you are weak and insignificant. So you accept that you are a nothing and then blame everything on everythone else!!! you are weak and you children learn to be weak... Will you please face you problems head on, you'll know you have succeeded when the jails are not brimming over with black people... and white people are not scared when they see a black walking towards them. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 11:23 Like Reply Report
afriq	1 person likes this thanks for that letter- africa is killed by greed, inferiority complex, slave mindset, stupidity,idiotism, embezellism, dead brain, gluttony of its leaders. we have become the laughing stock of other nations because of them.all they know is rhetoric nothing else.what have they done for africa? Posted on 12 Apr 2008 15:47 Like Reply Report
Lebogo	1 person likes this If a man hates himself, what are we supposed to do?- Does he have woman issues perhaps? Difficult to know, but we know for sure, that he is only one soul out of approximately 1 billion blacks. Let him alone, he is having an awful time, but it is not honest to try to condemn a whole race. Maybe it is important for him to abdicate responsibility over his own life by suggesting that all blacks are like that. I am doing very well and I am busy helping others. PS! I am not the only one. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 15:54 Like Reply Report
imperialevil	1 person likes this Apology for Spelling Errors- I apologize to Mr. Idang Alibi and to readers for the few spelling mistakes and one other structural error in my reply! Posted on 14 Apr 2008 09:42 Like Reply Report
Disgusted	1 person likes this A very Confused Black Brother Suffering from Misinformation- My dear black brother, you say you are Nigerian, you say that assertions made that white people are intelligent than black people, are in fact true. My brother in your pages-long essay you make reference to the fact that if you look at black people all over the world, their lives are sub-standard, all of Africa is mismanaged and we are basically a bunch of idiots. In all of this onslaught, you forget just one single thing: the Europeans colonised every single country in Africa (of which all black people descend from), none of our people grew up free, we grew under the white man's rule in our continent, black people living in the US, China, Antartica are products of this violation so legacy problems left by the white man after he was done raping Africa, you cannot attribute to black people. I want to ask all the white people on this forum and David Bullard: how do you know that black people are so stupid that without colonisation they would not enjoy the benefits of a developed country today? How do you know, given the chance would we not have evolved to a modern way of living when we discovered fire and were sufficently feeding ourselves and our families before you came along with your guns and smelly bodies? Are you saying that God did not give black people brains, how then are we able to understand and be at the same level as white people today years after they tried to strip us of our dignity and inteligence? My African brother, the most intelligent race in the world is black because after a history of oppression, the fact that we can achieve the amount we have achieved now, clearly indicates intelligence that no white man who only knows how to keep taking from the black man, is capable of. You are a disgrace to your race and if you aspire to be white and are inferior because of the colour of your skin please take your issues elsewhere. Posted on 14 Apr 2008 11:36 Like Reply Report
Gareth	1 person likes this Funny- Disgusted Your response is exactly what Idang Alibi is talking about. With out even knowing it, you have proved him correct. Posted on 14 Apr 2008 18:55 Like Reply Report
fred	1 person likes this do a michael jackson- Idang my brother, just do a michael jackson and look like a doll Posted on 21 Apr 2008 20:54 Like Reply Report
WC	1 person likes this If the article is so "racist" and offensive then why is it still up on The Times website?- And why did the editor allow it to be published in the first place? It smacks of dubious standards. They shot the messenger, but kept the message... Posted on 11 Apr 2008 19:52 Like Reply Report
Saltpetre	Perhaps his new column should be called "Out to Pasture"...- I agree he's past his sell-by date. Controversy for controversy's sake does not a good columnist make. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 20:16 Like Reply Report
JMunro	1 person likes this Blame it on Bullard - Sunday Times has!- Well done David Bullard! Thanking you for saying what every other white South African has been too scared to mention. Instead they whisper behind cupped hands how our motherland is withering away at the hands of its ‘new’ South Africans. As a writer myself, I am unable to secure permanent employment in the field. Instead equal opportunity employers are freely obliged to employ an incumbent whose first language is not English. Perhaps this is the very reason why Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya allowed David Bullard’s article to be published. As the rest of the white South African population, I have seen this beautiful country of ours (and it is ours) decay as its ‘guardians’, used to herding cattle and sitting idyll on paint tins, have allowed South Africa to rot away. Recently reported on a controversial television programme , 20,000 white South Africans are immigrating every month. Without the skills, brainpower and experience of the ‘previously advantaged’ our indigenous comrades will be sitting in their own darkness. I, for one am immigrating to the greener, water-logged pastures of the United Kingdom to give my child a fighting chance to meet her full potential and not be stifled by the retarded curriculum that will eventually do away completely with mathematics, since only 2.4% of matriculants graduate with higher grade mathematics. As a mother, I have to give her the sanctity not to be stabbed with blunt-nosed scissors in her classroom, to not be raped to cure some savage of his HIV status and to not be judged by the colour of her melanin-deficient skin and straight hair. If the Human Rights Commission served its purpose properly, BEE, EE, AA and every other vowel-enriched acronym would be fairly seen as discriminatory against the ‘white man’. The rest of the world looks on in awe, pumping endless funds into African outstretched hands. What they don’t see is the apathy, laziness, stupidity, the lack of ambition and interest and other aspects typical of their ‘kultcha’. Leave Africa to Africans – it will surely soon be stolen, lost or broken. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 20:21 Like Reply Report
T.E. Ross	1 person likes this JMunro is good to go- I, myself, am a 'white' African. I have herded cows and I've sat on paint tins. Africa might not immediately be able to fit into the 'world scheme of things', but there is so much that the world has to learn from Africa and Africans. I don't have a passport to the UK and even if I did I wouldn't use it. I'm African and of Africa and these people with me are my brethren. Crime is affecting us all. Have you been mugged on the train? Try walking home in the dark in Soweto or Gugs... I haven't 'thrown in my lot with Africa' - I AM African. And whether you're black or white, if this isn't your home, then go 'home'... Posted on 11 Apr 2008 20:56 Like Reply Report
Lerato	1 person likes this Thanks TRoss- Even if David Bullard was telling the truth about Africa, what's the point of it now? We need to move past what Africa might have been to what we want it to be now. We have so much do deal with daily i.e.crime and other things. If you don't dream of a better home here in Africa then you should go 'home'. Your complains and murmurings are not going to help us. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 08:22 Like Reply Report
JMunro	1 person likes this T. E. Ross Good to Stay- The statistics being as they are, clearly indicates that there will come a time soon, that the paler nation will be so severely diminished that those left behind fit into the categories of frail, poor or incompetent. Fleeing north is bleeding South Africa of its wealth – economic and intellectual. What will become of this utopia? The same thing had the colonialists not arrived. As an African, I am made to feel unwelcome in my own ‘home’. I am tired of sitting in the dark, without a phone and without the bandwidth the rest of the civilized world enjoys – not for lack of being able to afford it, but rather the lack of skills to bring these services to the people. To the white South Africans that have heard cattle, sat on paint tins and have been mugged on a train, you probably don’t mind using a paraffin stove and not have comms - you don’t know any better. What would have become of the indigenous inhabitants had the colonialists not set up camp in South Africa? They would be extinct. They would have perished from third world diseases such as malaria, cholera and dysentery not knowing the basics of hygiene and the importance of separating drinking water from sewage; or They would have died spreading AIDS because they would think it preventable by taking a shower in the rain or cure it by eating beetroot; or They would have starved to death waiting for hand-outs; or They would have savagely massacred each other to death. My guess is all of the above. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 09:30 Like Reply Report
PhibaOptik	1 person likes this Huge Respect. Absolute Disgust- I am an avid reader of his column and a voracious "consumer" of every word David Bullard says in his weekly column. I have - over the years - developed a deep respect for the man's mind, however last Sunday's column was like a dagger through my heart. I ask myself the following questions: Would Black Americans still dominate every physical sport if they were never taken to America as slaves? Would India still churn out the best computer programmers in the world if they were never colonised by the British? Would Asian countries still be the leading automotive and electronic goods manufacturers if they were never colonised? Posted on 11 Apr 2008 21:07 Like Reply Report
PhibaOptik	1 person likes this Failed to mention- What Bullard failed to mention was that if South Africa was never "colonised", we would: - be able to enjoy reading a lot more than "I write what I like" by Steve Biko. - actually have seen Steve Biko, Robert Sobukwe, Oliver Tambo and Nelson Mandela age. - never have to listen to stories of how our ancestors were humiliated during the "pass law" years. - still have sophiatown, district six and cato manor to see what our grandparents talk about when they mention hanover street in a conversation. - have had a greater respect for Christianity, because it assumingly would have come through those who genuinely want to proselytise and not engage in "landgrabbing" under teh guise of "civilising" us. - be able to ask a Coloured child who Autshumoa was and he'd actually be able to answer you. - probably have diamond, gold,copper and coal mines anyway.. and farms too.. these things were not new to africa.. we were just not motivated (by greed) to DO IT BIG (like the rap artists say) Posted on 11 Apr 2008 21:18 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this failed to mention- That was a mouthfull Bro! Posted on 13 Apr 2008 21:03 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this Some poeple just cant handle truth, it seems- I think it's quite unfair that Bullard should be fired over this article which I believe is honest and truthful. The sting of course is the punch line - looking for someone to blame. It hurts, but isn't it true? Isn't buck passing and sherking one's responsibilities becoming a national passtime? Of course the irony of it all is that the editor fired Bullard after the article was publshed. If the editor had done his job, the article would never have seen the light of day so. Case in point of precicely what Bullard was getting at in his article. Posted on 11 Apr 2008 22:14 Like Reply Report
Carl	1 person likes this Is anything in the Sunday Times Edited?- Strange to think that articles are usually reviewed by the editor / a sub-editor before going to print, yet now we have a fiasco about this one that was printed. Ultimately, if there is a complaint, then the responsibility should fall on both the editor and partially on the writer. It seems as if the newspaper in question published the article with the intention of firing Bullard, and creating a media hype (free advertising). Never the less, the Sunday Times was always more of a Tabloid Newspaper, thus this article fits to some extent. Well done Sunday Times - you just got some free advertising. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 04:07 Like Reply Report
PDA	1 person likes this How Could you?- So according to David, if i died, my great grandparents would have only mourned for a week and made another me...my man..UYADELELA!!! YOU REALLY MESSED UP THIS TIME AROUND TOGETHER WITH YOUR SUNDAY TIMES!!! I will never buy your paper again no matter even if you fire the whole company!!! Posted on 12 Apr 2008 05:06 Like Reply Report
Fhatuwani Media Student (MA)	1 person likes this Mondli must fire himself- I think one of the brave editors in the country has himself to fire in this case. My media literacy shows me that an editor is responsible for the overall content of the paper and this implies that Mondli did not do his job accurately. It was his role to make sure that this column does not intoxicate our eyes and minds. Although I don't condone David Bullard's primitive column which ressembles the Middle Ages mentality, I think there is a conspiracy theory behind his dismissal. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 12:17 Like Reply Report
	1 person likes this Book Shaka- about time - there is a point where satire stops being an excuse for intolerance and blatant racism. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 14:56 Like Reply Report
molebatsi	1 person likes this blacks are hypocrites- south afican blacks are too sensitive about the race issue but they are hypocrites.they themselves dont treat each other very well.there is too much tribalism and they are jealous of each other and they bewitch each other.so stop this racist thing and clean your own houses first. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 15:14 Like Reply Report
anonymous	that is true- that is the truth.black people love to talk about race too much but they hate each other too much.i as a motswana man i would never dare go to a place like kwazulu and eastern cape without being insulted for being a ntswanakazi and even can be threatened violently.when i go in a restaurant or a hospital or these government departments a black person is going to be rude,nasty and arrogant towards me and look down on me but when a white person needs some help there will be all smiles and manners.but they are the ones who like to shout at the top of their lungs about racism.on top of that if i have a black boss she/he is going to make me his/her slave and pay me pittance comparable to a white boss.xenophobia is happen towards black africans and here in south africa if you are dark-skinned you are looked down upon by who?black south african my fellow "brothers and sisters". Posted on 12 Apr 2008 15:35 Like Reply Report
nosipho	1 person likes this blacks are not all like that- not al blacks are like that.please maybe you have encountered those kind but please dont brush us with the same paintbrush.it is not wise to do that.i have experienced both bad attitudes from blacks and whites but i dont hate them. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 16:35 Like Reply Report
coco	1 person likes this Well said- Not all white people are racists either, Nosipho. I believe that people should all be treated as equals and judged individually. Let us not use one paint brush... Posted on 12 Apr 2008 21:03 Like Reply Report
ijoo nawe	1 person likes this blacks respect one another- black people respect one another first before you want respect of other races.south africans hate africans from above because of the their dark-skin tones.everytime you hear a black south african talking about dark skin as if it is a dirty and disgusting skin like for example a woman will say "i dont want an ugly dark skinned baby".some dj once said that when there was a conference in sun city for drc conflict and to his knowledge he was warning girls not to sleep with foreign men and it was right to do so but he insulted when he said "then you are going to have babies that will look unsouth african. why?because they will be too dark to look south african.but they like to emphasize their africanness but they look down on the darkskinned tone. is it slave-mindset or what?black south africans love to talk too much about race and mostly they emphasize it on whites too much. are they crying to be friends with whites? because the way blacks express themselves in english,talking with their nose acting all white and parents communicating with their children only in english language then they cry like babies about racism. the same people who look down on their fellow brothers and sisters.what about indians whose shops because they cater mostly for blacks are dirty and they look down on blacks and they are very rude and nasty towards blacks.and then they are called black when it suit them.also coloureds who are black when it suit them but when you work with a coloured person she/he is going to make herself/himself look good with her/his white bosses and rat on you. Posted on 13 Apr 2008 16:49 Like Reply Report
SuperMan	1 person likes this AND I WILL DO THE MADIBA...- Firstly you generalise us,and demean us like some who've done lots of damaging and bad mouthing to our race. it's becoming a vicious circle cause all these fustrations are being past on to our kids who know nothing of colour and racism. and now what's next, they become like us and start differentiating between colour. Everyone is fustrated,the world is fustrated. Please don't start a racial warfare again,we've had enough! As much as some white people look down on us,or other races.I am proud of who I am(please note I did not mention colour), and I look forward to working with all kinds of races, forgive even those who part-took in discriminating us,and shake their hands as well. Posted on 15 Apr 2008 16:43 Like Reply Report
Tallboy	1 person likes this Bullard and Monty Python- What's all the fuss about? Bullard is a satirist. From various people's reactions, you'd think he was a satanist. Oh, and by the way, hasn't anyone noticed the similarities between Bullard's "offending column" and Monty Python's Life of Brian? Remember that iconic scene where John Cleese, as leader of the Palestine People's Popular Liberation Front (or whatever it was - even the characters get confused!) says to his colleagues "And what have the Romans ever given us!" to which the reply was ... "the aquaduct?". This is followed by a catalogue of Roman innovations and inventions which they brought to ancient Palestine. (If you don't get the point, it's well worth watching the movie - do so quickly before it gets banned by yet another cadre of narrow-minded Seffricans.) Here's hoping Bullard will pop up somewhere else as a self-created target for the self-righteous and humourless. Posted on 12 Apr 2008 17:19 Like Reply Report
OOH-BOY!	1 person likes this Don Imus can console our David- David Bullard's talent dwarfs that of the supposed editor who has full responsibility for what appears in "my" newspaper. Does this wet-behind the ears "editor" ever credit the fact that in any other country he would be a copy boy, with the emphasis on "boy"? His drinking habits obviously made it impossible for him to read David's last column before one of his white lackeys showed it to him in print. Maybe the "boy" should clean up his own act. Don Imus is back raking in the millions after his supposed slur, so Bullard's Monte Christos are guaranteed. Posted on 13 Apr 2008 06:30 Like Reply Report
Dark humour	1 person likes this When did black people stop laughing?- Seems the more pigmented of the south have lost their sense of humour. That the BEE-MW is the car of choice and Chivas the drink to consume prior to driving said car makes concerns about a mere old white guy venting rather silly. They really would be having their branch meetings had it not been for the settler. Dark humour seems anything but lacking. Posted on 13 Apr 2008 07:05 Like Reply Report
Nickvv	1 person likes this Fired for his column in Empire?- And this has nothing to do with the column he published in Empire magazine (http://www.empiremagazine.co.za/emp3_bullard_stat.html), does it? Hmm. Posted on 13 Apr 2008 14:44 Like Reply Report
imperialevil	1 person likes this Idang Alibi, Dr James Watson, and Levi-Bruhl- While I share the underdevelopment of Africa (and the factors responsible for that are many), I do not see the Black race as less intelligent as Idang Albi and Dr James Watson claim. I am not going to use adjectives to describe the two, so I’d try as much as possible to educate rather than give offense. To claim that an entire race is less intelligent is to insult other Nobel Prize Winners of Black and African ancestry, the thousands of academics, scientists, and technocrats of Black and African background scattered all over Europe, the US and the Americas, Africa, Australia, and elsewhere. How will they feel reading such assertions or comments? It is not just an insult to the African or Black's mind as a whole but a tacit approval of the depraved colonial practices, including slavery, and racism to which the African continent and Blacks are still struggling to find a way out. The post-colonial emergence of the military in African politics and of a greedy class of insensitive autocrats, corrupt politicians and of 'feymen' cannot be dissociated with the ideologies of colonialist capitalism or militarism. I do not mean to displace responsibility of the actions of the above to colonialism, since they only exploit systems or currents that have been in place to foster their own primitive desires. If Idang Albi should be particularly concerned with change in Nigeria and the Black person's intellect, he should not be stuck in an insensitive Europe. He should be in Nigeria running a school for impoverished children in the squatters of Lagos, Ibadan, Minna, or in rural Nigeraia, or anywhere among Blacks. He should be involved in human development programs or medical pursuits to better the bodily, physical, mental, and living conditions of his fellow Africans. By doing so, he would be showing what he could do for Africa, not asking what image African can give him in his peregrinations abroad. If somehow news from the continent makes you feel embarrassed by White colleagues or a White wife, then you are in deep trouble, for your priorities aren’t set right then. If they are, these would rather be understanding, and by so doing, help you to reverse the deplorable situation in most parts of the continent. As I write there are many folk that are involved in development programs in Africa and while we use the blogsphere to comment on the politics of the continent, we must be careful in making generalizations. I feel uneasy talking about ‘Black’ and ‘White” because I have come to see color as irrelevant. There are many poor Whites who have not benefited from colonization, from Western technology, and if I were to rope in Dr. Watson’s theory of intelligence, I wouldn’t know where to place these or to explain what went wrong with their genetics. I have worked with bright and intelligent street children in Pretoria, South Africa, worked to establish new schools in Cameroon, motivated by gifted children, and worked with expatriates who finding unacceptable the difficulties that intelligent and passionate children go through, took it upon themselves to personally help raise funding to build classrooms and establish school libraries. Once I had the opportunity to move to the US, I engaged myself in door-to- door canvassing in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Oakland to raise funding for development projects in Africa, even as I taught black children in violent and risky neighborhoods in the East Bay Area. Mr. Idang Albi has certainly not taught children in a multicultural context or at college and university level to tell where the problem of intelligence comes from. I have done so in South Africa and the US and I have striven to work in leveling the playing field in my classes through unpaid after-school work with disadvantaged Black, White, and Asian children irrespective of where they are coming from. Some of these kids now have just completed their BAs are going on to do their Masters and at my still tender age, I am very proud. There are a class of people in between the extremes of negation and pessimism that have little time to stand on the rooftops and selectively shout down to Blacks or any people for that matter about having ape-like intelligence, or to decry the failures of democracy and development in parts of the world, or to indulge themselves in Sunday pieces like "what if Africa wasn't colonized… what if, what if…”. Africa has urgent problems that must be confronted, and we must be ready to roll up our sleeves and put ourselves to the task of giving the populations of the continent a level field where they can let their imagination flourish. Many figures like Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Joe Slovo, Wangari Maathai, etc, have championed the cause of freedom and development of the black continent and humanity at a macro level. Many more like Steve Biko and Ken Sarowiwa have died in the process. In South Africa, many children lost their lives in Sharpville. We need to pursue the process of conscientization, education, and development without denigrating people, no matter their racial or ethnic affiliation. We need to pull all resources we can find to make Africa whole for all Africans, no matter their color or heritage. Dr. Watson who has spent much of his time in laboratories probably has had little time to acquaint himself with the politics of the African continent or the social lives of Black people. I know little about the tests or observations on which he bases his evaluation of the black's intelligence. But I know that research in that direction in the fifties achieved results that are no longer tenable whether scientifically or politically. I also know that between the interlude when Dr. Watson won the Nobel prize for his groundbreaking work (with two other colleagues) and when he made the speech, a good number of Africans and blacks have coveted the Scandinavian prize. The researcher's discoveries in science do not close the door to newer discoveries, nor people of other races coming up with biological and medical discoveries. No race, whether Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Caucasian, African has a unique claim to universal intelligence. To show how erroneous, misleading and perhaps damaging Idang's claim is, Dr James Watson has since backtracked his claim after he made his controversial statement in an interview. A quick web search of his name reveals just as many entries on his work as on the controversies he has sparked particularly that on which Idang buttresses his claim. According to The Associated Press of October 18, 2007 (and other international media) Dr. James Watson's interview where he talked of the issue of black intelligence caused such outrage in Britain that he was mortified. "David Lammy, the government's skills minister said that Watson's remarks were "deeply offensive" and would "succeed only in providing oxygen" for the British National Party, a small, far-right political party that has been accused of being racist. "It is a shame that a man with a record of scientific distinction should see his work overshadowed by his own irrational prejudices," Lammy said. "It is no surprise to me that the scientific community has condemned this outburst, and I think people will recognize these comments for what they are." Jan Schnupp, a lecturer in neurophysiology at Oxford University, said Watson's remarks "make it very clear that he is an expert on genetics, not on intelligence." I will conclude by saying that issues of intelligence (however we define it) are not uniquely biological as much as cultural. Dr. james Watson's claim, similar to many made in the 50s have been very controversial and at best been abandoned by the scientific community given further research and the increased post-colonial role of many Blacks, Africans, Asians, Indians in higher education and research. A Nigerian professor once hinted me in my anthropology graduate classes in South Africa about the need to research what I write or think deeply in order not to legitimize or sustain stereotypes or pre-conceptions that are easily borrowed by minority politicians and right wing ideologues to perpetrate often narrow-minded, destabilizing and self-seeking agendas. The Cameroonian media is well aware of the professional trajectory of the bi-racial Yannick Noah: each time he excelled in a tennis championship, the French media touted his French roots, and each time he met with checks, they saw him as Cameroonian. Obama, another bi-racial American is similarly facing this dilemma. And we will see more of this in his political trajectory. Posted on 14 Apr 2008 02:41 Like Reply Report
Gareth	The point- The point of the article is would the Sunday times have published the Idang article. We can all make up our own mind and debate the issues as we are doing on forums like this, but if the article is not published in the first place, then no debate can take place. Posted on 14 Apr 2008 08:54 Like Reply Report
the full picture	1 person likes this READ BULLARDS ARTICLE (the times has removed the article)- Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing by David Bullard Imagine for a moment what life would be like in South Africa if the evil white man hadn’t come to disturb the rustic idyll of the early black settlers. Ignored by the Portuguese and Dutch, except as a convenient resting point en route to India. Shunned by the British, who had decided that their empire was already large enough and didn’t need to include bits of Africa. The vast mineral wealth lying undisturbed below the Highveld soil as simple tribesmen graze their cattle blissfully unaware that beneath them lies one of the richest gold seams in the world. But what would they want with gold? There are no roads because no roads are needed because there are no cars. It’s 2008 and no one has taken the slightest interest in South Africa, apart from a handful of botanists and zoologists who reckon that the country’s flora and fauna rank as one of the largest unspoilt areas in a polluted world. Because they have never been exposed to the sinful ways of the West, the various tribes of South Africa live healthy and peaceful lives, only occasionally indulging in a bit of ethnic cleansing. Their children don’t watch television because there is no television to watch. Instead they listen to their grandparents telling stories around a fire. They live in single-storey huts arranged to catch most of the day’s sunshine and their animals are kept nearby. Nobody has any more animals than his family needs and nobody grows more crops than he requires to feed his family and swap for other crops. Ostentation is unknown because what is the point of trying to impress your fellow citizens when they are not impressible? The dreaded Internet doesn’t exist in South Africa and cellphone companies have laughed off any hope of interesting the inhabitants in talking expensively into a piece of black plastic. There are no unsightly shopping malls selling expensive goods made by Asian slave workers and consequently there are no newspapers or magazines carrying articles comparing the relative merits of ladies’ handbags. Whisky, the curse of the white man, isn’t known in this undeveloped land and neither are cigars. The locals brew a sort of beer out of vegetables and drink it out of shallow wooden bowls. Five-litre paint cans have yet to arrive in South Africa. Every so often a child goes missing from the village, eaten either by a hungry lion or a crocodile. The family mourn for a week or so and then have another child. Life is, on the whole, pretty good but there is something vital missing. Being unaware of the temptations of the outside world, nobody knows what it is. Fire has been discovered and the development of the wheel is coming on nicely but the tribal elders are still aware of some essential happiness ingredient they still need to discover. Praying to the ancestors is no help because they are just as clueless. Then something happens that will change this undisturbed South Africa forever. Huge metal ships land on the coast and big metal flying birds are sent to explore the sparsely populated hinterland. They are full of men from a place called China and they are looking for coal, metal, oil, platinum, farmland, fresh water and cheap labour and lots of it. Suddenly the indigenous population realise what they have been missing all along: someone to blame. At last their prayers have been answered. Posted on 14 Apr 2008 12:14 Like Reply Report
Setumo	1 person likes this In defense of David Bullard,- Why we should laugh at Bullard, not sanction him http://www.reporter.co.za/article.aspx?ID=RP21A747611 Posted on 14 Apr 2008 12:57 Like Reply Report
Tsekitso	1 person likes this GET OVEr it- I am so sick and tired of white people, especially David... Gosh we know u were attacked in your beautiful home, that is in our land but can you get over it and go back to Europe if you have issues!!!! My Gosh!!! Black people are intelligent, strong individuals and I know we would have leaved perfectly well without the white man interfering. Life would have been a bliss.... Posted on 14 Apr 2008 13:00 Like Reply Report
Michelle	1 person likes this Problem- is just that kind of thinking why is everyone so emotional, and just make situation worse)..we need each other. this nonsense about the other being smarter or do not need another is not gonna work. We all here right now and need to make it work while we at it. Posted on 15 Apr 2008 16:59 Like Reply Report
Setumo	1 person likes this In defense of David Bullard,- In defense of David Bullard By Setumo Stone Why we should laugh at Bullard, not sanction him It so happens on many occasions that I get tired of consuming any media with a single minded ideology, thus I missed David Bullard’s “Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing”. Upon hearing of his axing from Sunday Times, I got to check out the article and only one “R-word” came to mind. “Ridiculous,” I said. The conundrum in this situation is very striking. For one, if and when a writer - or columnist for that matter - expresses a view, how do you dissect whether the particular opinion belongs solely to him/her, or whether the particular opinion forms part of the popular sentiment, only projected via the author as a conduit? In Bullard’s’ case, he is reported to have responded to his editor that he “believed” the article. If he was fired for that – believing the hogwash he wrote – then reasons for his axing would be justified. But Bullard cannot be fired for being controversial, because what he expressed is a popular sentiment held by many among the white community and some regrettable “coconuts” here in SA and all over the world. How often have we heard African American superstars coming to our shores and exclaiming that they expected to find “lions and other wild beats roaming around among the people?” In my view, Bullard managed to expose how ridiculous the stereotype of “un-progressive Africans” is. The undermining of African wisdom and Africa’s ability to come up with innovative solutions for challenges of a particular time has been an under-reported story. The issue here is education, not racism. Why blame Bullard for simply expressing the fruits of his and many other’s colonial teachings? This is tantamount to denying reality. This is in fact an opportunity for African teachers to come out and correct the stereotype so everybody can learn where the twisting and tarnishing of African existence occurred. Xolela Mangcu argues that Bullard’s column amounted to “hate speech” and was an abuse of “freedom of expression”. I’m not so sure. The column was by and large a “fiction” of his imagination, but the stereotype was definitely not fabricated. An email supposedly authored by a young white teenager was doing rounds not long ago on SABC 2’s Morning Live, projecting a similar view as Bullard’s. If Bullard truly believed what he wrote, then we should all laugh at his single digit IQ and emphasize that he needs help. It is however important that we keep him, so that when we finally achieve an ideal society, ALL white people will come out and say, “Bully, this time you are wrong and you must be condemned,” instead of having some still saying, “Yes, Bully is right,” which is the situation at the moment. I say David Bullard must be kept, and given even more media space, so he can become a mirror of white racism for similar minded bigots to reflect on. Ridiculous!!! Posted on 14 Apr 2008 13:04 Like Reply Report
Leaks	1 person likes this The Sunday Crimes- Now there is no reason to buy The Sunday Crimes.Without David I can not think of any reason why I should part with money I could rather spend on cigars and whiskey.I hope David takes the paper to the CCMA for unfair dismissal and gets his job back or replaces the editor.I think he has a case as the clever editor (affirmative placement surely) passed the article for printing.I must say that the article is a bit insensitive to the Chinese though. Posted on 14 Apr 2008 18:05 Like Reply Report
SINGISWATIM	1 person likes this Great stuff!!!!!!!- Bullard was growing a steady white supremacist camp and culture in this country and that`s why I`m sittiong Mampisa-Nqakula in the neck to deport him for subvert our laws which are all for equality,humanity and unity. Posted on 16 Apr 2008 10:15 Like Reply Report
TOORA	1 person likes this Just picture it for a moment- Never thought about it in this way, is it true what David spells out here? Just picture it for a moment, children playing with their toes in the sand while mom tries to remove the meerkat bones from her hair in an attempt to straighten it. Dad is running around trying to herd the cattle while brother is sitting high up a tree trying to see where the sun goes when it gets dark. The smell of the fire mixing with fat removed from the tummy of a cow, the sun setting on the horizon, its paradise! Posted on 16 Apr 2008 12:13 Like Reply Report
amby	Tip of the proverbial iceberg...- One article by a supposedly controversial columnist was enough to cause this fracas, divide opinions and stir heated racial debates on dozens of media platforms & public forums. I'd say that, listening to and reading people's opinions about race, this country still has an exceptionally long way to go before we can rightfully declare racism extinct and deem ourselves a 'rainbow nation.' A term way ahead of its time. Posted on 16 Apr 2008 14:07 Like Reply Report
Settler	IS THERE A MESSAGE IN THE ARTICLE?- It is common knowledge that many black citizens regret the settlers arriving on African soil (let’s not go there pls..) I mean, why should the settlers today be held responsible at all for, claiming their land, stealing from their ancestors, and as it is racism? The story goes on. There is no way that the rest of the world would have just sat back and drewl over this country rich in minerals with exquisite and vast landscapes, not claiming part of it? What would have happened otherwise? Just think about it...There is definately merit in his article, he should not be fired, but given the oppertunity for a follow up article rather? Posted on 16 Apr 2008 15:12 Like Reply Report
MAPHUNGUBWE	1 person likes this EARNING U'R SALARY BY HATING ME? YOU CAN DO BETTER MAN.- I am not a jounalist or an editor or a writer of any column in any newspaper or magazine. But listening to all of you guys playing with words like this, I couldn't help it but to say something on this topic. You writers(David Bullard) and you editors(Mondli) we look unto you to build the confidence of this country, not to always be irresponssible about your writing. I know your paper makes money about this ill informed stories of bullard(in small letters), inferiorating and infuriorating Africans. Basically my point here is that I know that I am an African, not afraid of anything, the future will find me standing as an African. If someone like bullard is going to write those stories to the South African public thinking that me as an ordinary citizen of this country cannot see through his eyes that he is racist, then he must be fooling himself. You are not the only one, there are many of us who eagerly waiting to see the fate of peoples like you, the fate which is trigered by your self-convincing, false, superiotisation. Do not forget that the human race still owes millions of years to roam this planet. So please give your childrens good legacy, not the one of racial hatred, it is doomed to fail. Posted on 17 Apr 2008 12:54 Like Reply Report
Nthabi M	1 person likes this And You waited for the man to get fired.....- I'm an avid reader of Sunday Times and David Bullard and Fred Khumalo are the people that made me subscribe, but after this I won't be subscibing. I'm a young black woman, who is open-minded enought to ponder everything with an open mind, the operative word being open mind. It's amazing that him getting fired has caused such a negative uproar in the black community. This is a clear indication of how angry south africans are, and how they need to deal with their issues. Sure he stepped on a few toes and pushed the boundries, but atleast he had more balls to express his views the way he did, and I commend the man for living his truth, Unlike the suckers who are kissing ass. (You know who you are)I had so much respect for Mondli and now I think he is a spineless coward-pretending to be..... If you had a problem with his coloumn, you would have written in or did a petition, but no, you wait for him to get fired and kick while he is down...SIS!!! I'm going to miss you David.Much Love... Posted on 17 Apr 2008 17:35 Like Reply Report
fred	1 person likes this i don't blame him for being racist- His articles always offended me as a black person but i always read them bcos i like racists who are not afraid to show their true colours. I only hate those racists that act like they are not. At least with Mr david bullard i knew where i stood as a black person. His racist remarks in the latest article bothered me as usual but, 1 thing that really shocked me is his ignorance. No wait! i always knew that he is ignorant but not to this level. I never thought Mr david bullard has never heard of Maphungubje. I never imagined he could never have learnt that civilization was known in africa long before europeans were introduced to it. Long before europeans started trading with africans in the Ashante gold fields( now Ghana)Long b4 Israelites became slaves of black people in Egypt( damn its there even in the bible!)Even jesus' "parents" exiled in egypt when the going was tough for them. The least i would have expected Mr david bullard to know is that africans were civilised hundreds of centuries before Jesus was born. It is his IGNORANCE in particular that i resent. I can only reccommend that he reads the book History Of Africa by Shillington ( at least it's written by a white man,Mr david bullard might not mind to run through it). As for being racist, i don't blame him or any other racist for that matter because that't what you do when u feel threatened by somebody and you are afraid of them. You hate them. I just feel sorry for those few whites who are not racist because their fellows are really letting them down. Posted on 21 Apr 2008 20:13 Like Reply Report
Just Asking	Objectivism vs. subjectivism- Thank you for your objective view in the article "Sunday Times fires David Bullard" (11/04/2008). I also believe that his opinion must be digested with a pinch of salt and in essence I think the decision to fire a journalist is never an easy task. However, I cant help but wonder why the Sun do not see this type of journalism as a 'threat to our democracy', please read the extract from the Sunday Sun (09/03/2008) below... maybe journalism is getting too opinionated these days...or is it merely a matter of objectivism vs. subjectivism? Posted on 18 Apr 2008 09:06 Like Reply Report
saffer	1 person likes this Well Done David Bullard!- You are a legend! Well done for having the guts to say what everyone is thinking! Posted on 19 Apr 2008 18:34 Like Reply Report
Freedrseselj	1 person likes this Different opinions are a grate thing. This is what democracy is all about.- And after all, Bullard didn't call for killing, harming or bugging anyone. All he did was describing an imaginative world, had history been different. One is entitled to agree, one is entitled to disagree, but firing a person for that kind of reason is undemocratic. Posted on 23 Apr 2008 09:30 Like Reply Report
grow_up_every1	1 person likes this THE PENGUINS ARE COMING!!!- run to the hills! save the women and children! the evil penguins are attacking! i thought this would fit in nicely with the above 10 pages of childish banter.... Posted on 11 Jun 2008 15:26 Like Reply Report
bobthebuilder	1 person likes this Isn't and Editor's job to edit?- His column was uncalled for an naive. However, that said, somebody had to approve this column before it went to print... isn't that what an Editor does? Therefore the Editor at the time thought the article was good to go? But now he fires David? Hmm. They should have both gone. Posted on 26 Feb 2009 23:06 Like Reply Report

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