Yes, I’m a black girl who prefers rugby to soccer (COLUMN)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” />

Brown: Nomfundo Xulu

Published:Oct 22, 2007

I love rugby and I’m a proud supporter of the Springboks. On my way to work on Friday, I was touched to see the number of people just as thrilled about our team as I am ? people from different walks of life, some who probably don’t even understand the game, but know what it means to the nation. It was a moment of jubilation for me, and maybe more so because I felt understood.

Let me explain. Being a black girl who’s never been a big supporter of soccer, I’ve always felt like I’m betraying my fellow black people with my love of rugby. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve been called a coconut, an Oreo and everything else for refusing soccer-stadium invitations. But I could not bring myself to lie about the fact that I just don’t enjoy the sport and its vibe.

And it’s got nothing to do with the people at the stadiums. It’s just not my kind of scene ? or my kind of sport, for that matter.

For some reason or another soccer is branded as a predominantly black sport ? maybe because the country’s most prominent soccer players are either black or coloured and not often white or Indian.

And maybe I’m just naive, but I’m tired of the whole colour thing being a big part of everything we do in life.

I was disappointed when I heard some government official saying something about how sports, particularly rugby, should be “racially correct”. It’s not the fact that he said it but it’s the fact that he said it at such a crucial time for our rugby squad, which, as it is, has gone through so many political issues, despite achieving much more than any of our multi-racial sports teams.

I may not be politically correct in saying this, but I’d hate for our teams to have people of all races merely because of their skin colour and not their ability to perform on the field. That defeats the whole purpose of having a winning sports team.

I sincerely believe that if a team can bring supporters of any colour together (like the Boks are doing now), and still be a brilliant squad, it should not matter what colour the players are.

I guess it’s the country’s way of stabilising itself after apartheid, a lot like BEE. But come to think of it, I would not want to be hired to make up the legislative numbers. I’d rather be hired because I’m damn good at what I do and I can learn and teach something.

I know the theory is that previously disadvantaged people were just that, disadvantaged. They (or am I meant to say “we”), never got the right education and as a result never got the chance to get good jobs. Fair enough, and I totally understand.

However, I look at some (I repeat, only some) BEE employees who feel that because of their skin colour they cannot be fired . I look at the levels of laziness of these people and how they spend time complaining about the salaries they get compared to the white staff, and maybe they are right, but more often than not they don’t have proof.

I’m of the opinion that whatever the apartheid era was, and whatever ways are being implemented to reverse the trauma, it seems as though the previously disadvantaged feel that the world and everyone who did not get a Bantu education owes them something.

I don’t blame them. I blame the systems being implemented and the fact that it seems we blame everything on apartheid.

This young lady is one brave soul for taking on the politically correct establishment.  She deserves kudos for realizing that it is the ability and character of an individual that matters most and not the color of his or her skin.