We all know the sensitivity surrounding trigger words as simple as ‘they’ or ‘them’.
There is another set of words that triggers the tinkling of racism bells and they are contained in the unanswered question posed whenever the ANC is mentioned as being less than able to punch their way out of a wet paper bag:
“And yet people just keep on voting for them! Surely by now every person with a functioning brain realises that the ANC are just thieves masquerading as politicians.”
This is actually a very racist charged statement that could drive black voters to continue voting for the party of their own destruction as race beats most other things in South Africa.
On its face, the statement is a standard expression of political frustration with government corruption and electoral choices. However, in South Africa, it can be construed as racially insensitive because it applies a blanket insult (“every person with a functioning brain”) to a voting base that is overwhelmingly Black, potentially invoking historical tropes of intellectual superiority and political paternalism.
