Sunday Times fires David Bullard

I'm also glad he got fired-

But I still think Mondli should take full responsibility because he's editor.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Bullard must go!-

We're black, we're in charge, and we don't like being criticised by #^$^%&^%* whiteys. Okay!

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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!!

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

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.

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.

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.

*** )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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Funny-

Disgusted Your response is exactly what Idang Alibi is talking about. With out even knowing it, you have proved him correct.

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.

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.

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?

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...

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.

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!!!