An article and video at the BBC's Web site has highlighted one of the more horrific mass murderers of the apartheid era in South Africa. As they emphasize, the perpetrator was tolerated, even encouraged, by the police forces and justice system in that country until it became no longer possible - due to public outrage and a change in the political climate - to do so; and even then, he received a minimal sentence, with most of his murders being judicially ignored. I remember his case from that time, and the horror and outrage it aroused in parts of the local community, particularly because he apparently felt no remorse. He regarded himself as a savior and defender of public order.
Let me start by saying that, in writing about the apartheid era in South Africa, I've frequently run into comments claiming that black people were actually better off under apartheid than they are under the present government there; that apartheid itself wasn't so bad, and neither were Afrikaners; and that allegations of mass ill-treatment of black South Africans under apartheid are nothing more than revisionist exaggerations. I think I answered most of those comments in previous posts. In particular, see these four:
Was apartheid South Africa really that bad?
Defending my thesis about South Africa and the Afrikaners
They put the case of Louis van Schoor and his (at least) 39 victims (he's known to have boasted about shooting 100 or more) into perspective. He did not act alone. He was part and parcel of the system of apartheid, and his actions were deemed to be enforcing "law and order" - for the white community, and against the black community. Here's an excerpt from the article.
Over a three-year period in the 1980s under the country’s racist apartheid system - which imposed a strict hierarchy that privileged white South Africans - Van Schoor shot and killed at least 39 people.
All of his victims were black. The youngest was just 12 years old. The killings occurred in East London, a city in South Africa’s windswept Eastern Cape.
Van Schoor was a security guard at the time, with a contract to protect as many as 70% of white-owned businesses: restaurants, shops, factories and schools. He has long claimed that everyone he killed was a “criminal” who he caught red-handed breaking into these buildings.
“He was a kind of vigilante killer. He was a Dirty Harry character,” says Isa Jacobson, a South African journalist and filmmaker, who has spent 20 years investigating Van Schoor’s case.
“These were intruders who were, in a lot of cases, pretty desperate. Digging through bins, maybe stealing some food… petty criminals.”
Van Schoor’s killings - sometimes several in a single night - struck terror into the black community of East London. Stories spread through the city of a bearded man - nicknamed “whiskers” in the Xhosa language - who made people disappear at night. But his shootings were not carried out in secret.
Every killing between 1986 and 1989 was reported to the police by Van Schoor himself. But the release from prison of anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in 1990 signalled an end to this impunity. Ripples of change swept across South Africa and, following pressure from activists and journalists, the security guard was arrested in 1991.
Van Schoor’s trial was one of the largest murder trials in South Africa’s history, involving dozens of witnesses and thousands of pages of forensic evidence.
However, the case against him largely collapsed in court. At the time of his trial, much of the apparatus of the apartheid system was still in place within the judiciary. Despite killing at least 39 people, he was only convicted of seven murders. He would go on to serve just 12 years in prison.
His other 32 killings are still classified as “justifiable homicides” by the police.
There's more at the link.
Here's an hour-and-a-quarter-long video documentary about van Schoor. It's even more chilling than the article.
If you have young people in your family (not too young, of course!), I highly recommend that you show them that video, or let them read the article. Believe it or not, there are people like van Schoor still alive in the USA today. They did similar things (although, please God, with a lower body count) in this country during the Civil Rights era, and many were never caught, or charged, or tried. I've met several of them. Our young people today need to be forewarned that such barbarism exists, because it's part of human nature, and it can arise again at any time if the conditions turn favorable for it.
May Almighty God have mercy on our souls . . . even, if it is possible, that of Louis van Schoor and those like him . . . and especially of his and their victims.
Peter
White on black violence given a wink and a nod by those in power.
ReplyDeleteNow we see black on white violence given a wink and a nod by those in power
Why? Because that violence is useful to the people in power. Race
and color really isn't the issue. It's the power that matters.
How did we get all this racism in the first place. Where did it start? What was the actual point in time when all these different people groups were established?? Hmmm. Who did that? And why?
ReplyDeleteAs for your post regarding the security guard let's rewind to: Was it the 90's when Nelson Mandela was released from prison and went on to form a government. Basically the power was turned over to the blacks. I know, not entirely, but it was a start. They are now in near full control of their nation and destiny.
And how has that worked out for them. Well, as usual, due to theft, corruption, and misappropriation of funds, the electrical grid, and municipal water supplies are on the verge of failure.
There is an excellent documentary on youtube- here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpjNz8VrXFk
regarding the epidemic of Rape and murder and crime.
And we see the beginnings of these types of crimes now being committed by our recent migrants in those locations where they are prevalent. Yes, these crimes were committed prior to potato head inviting the disadvantaged into our communities wholesale. Not to the degree they are there, but then, we're just getting started.
Put yourself in the place of the people that hired van schoor. Here's a thought- I doubt things were as bad at that time as they are now here for the owners of the stores that get pillaged at a moments notice and for no reason other than basic tribal impulse driven violence. What do you think would happen with this looting trend if the store owners opened fire on the looters? I think we would see a rather sudden stop to this nonsense. Of course I'm not taking into consideration the store owners would be prosecuted. When guns kill bad people, fewer people decide to be bad.
Finally in closing. Perhaps you are aware of what the Afrikaners experience now, and the horrendous rapes and murders committed by the good people of south africa- As they stupidly destroy incrementally, the nations food source.
No, these people have been bad for eons and the fact that every well educated nation on the face of the earth has taken advantage of them, and the Chinese also now. No, that says something about the populations inherent nature. Just look to our own backyard and see for yourself. They are becoming increasingly violent and criminal at a decreasing age.
No, I believe the merchants that hired this guy were grateful for his services. I also believe there are a whole lot of van schoors' out there that, when the bottom falls out, the good people of this country will also be grateful for the level of civility they bring to their area in the midst of a full blown collapse.
How did we get racism? Because it was economically convenient for one group of people to declare another group of people inferior and fit only to hew wood and draw water.
DeleteI will also point out that your comments about black Africans could have been said about your ancestors and mine by a Roman 1700 years ago. Go soak your head.
By the year of my birth, 1965, the US had a black middle (and upper) class. Before the 'Great Society', black families were stronger, and many motivated black folks made a pretty good living. Not all, of course, but way more than now. We, as a country, have given minorities the option of getting something for nothing. All they need do is give up on the idea of achieving anything, at least in a legitimate fashion, and suck at the government/taxpayer teat. Sadly, that's a siren song many (of all colors) can't resist; there are more white people on welfare than black.
ReplyDeleteI come from a white-trash family (I got better, through hard work & good parents). I've seen it in my own people.
--Tennessee Budd
"I will also point out that your comments about black Africans could have been said about your ancestors and mine by a Roman 1700 years ago."
ReplyDeletePerhaps. But the thing is, our "ancestors" have evolved quite a bit over the centuries, while the low IQ levels of other demographics have prevented them from evolving, and probably always will.