On 11 October 2008, in an interview with rugby365.com, Luke Watson made controversial remarks about SA rugby and Afrikaners. Apparently, the heat is on Watson for his statements.
Watson reportedly said that,"..he wants to vomit on the Bok jersey", that "..the problem with SA rugby is that it is controlled by Dutchmen" and that SA rugby is "rotten to the core".
Who is Luke Watson? Luke Watson is the son of Daniel "Cheeky" Watson, one of the first white rugby players to participate in a mixed race rugby game in 1976 when such activities were forbidden by apartheid.
In 1978 the Watson family was very active in the anti-apartheid struggle, with dual membership in the banned ANC and South African Communist Party. His brother Ronnie gathered intelligence for both organisations.
Luke Watson was included in the 2007 Springbok squad, with controversies surrounding his initial exclusion and later inclusion. He also stated in 2007 that he would not be supporting the Springboks at the World Cup in Paris because he did not believe the team was representative of the country.
Luke Watson, like so many liberals/ left-wingers feel they have the right to insult with impunity. Free speech applies - but only when liberals speak.
The world is changing. The days when people pooh-poohed the utterings of the Left as that of child-like imbeciles is over. Hate speech is hate speech. Political correctness, introduced by the Left, swings both ways and Luke Watson is finding that out.
Watson is an ordinary rugby player and should never have been picked for the Springbok squad - unless he is part of the black quota, because that is what he is, a black at heart.
- - -
Pressure is mounting on the South African Rugby Union (Saru) to permanently red card Luke Watson, with some Afrikaner groups equating his statements to jingoism and “genocidal fantasies” to “wipe out, suppress or exclude” Afrikaners.
Watson has reacted with shock to the public backlash, saying his family historically fought against discrimination. “How can I possibly be accused of an attitude against Afrikaners?” asked Watson.
The Pro-Afrikaans Action Group responded that Robert Mugabe and Idi Amin were also on record as opposing racism and discrimination. It likened his statements to “the mindset of Kitchener and Roberts, the architects of the Boer concentration camps”.
Victor Matfield told Afrikaans daily newspaper Beeld that he had hoped South Africa was past the stage of differentiating by race, culture and language.
“If Luke used those words, he shattered the dreams of millions of young South Africans to one day play for the Springboks,” said Matfield. He added that Watson never wanted to be part of the Springboks, and that team- mates complained that he was not a Springbok “in heart and soul”.
This could explain Watson’s claims of being sidelined by players, managers and former Springbok coach Jake White after his controversial inclusion in the World Cup squad last year.
The Freedom Front Plus has demanded that Saru ensures Watson “never plays rugby for South Africa and the Springbok team again” saying it believed rugby supporters would “illustrate their feelings and disapproval” of Watson whenever he appears on a rugby field in future.
Watson reportedly also said that he bore the “burden” of wearing the Springbok jersey only because “there was a bigger picture”.
The Afrikanerbond said that Watson’s “derogatory and offensive remarks” required action equal to that on a recent racist incident at Ellis Park.
See also; Luke controversy saddens coach
0 Opinion(s):
Post a Comment