Forgiveness overrated and justice underrated in this traumatised state
THIS readable book, Why we are not a nation, by Christine Qunta, free of any jargon, divides into three extended essays. The first, mostly historic and political, is titled Why we are not a nation? The second essay, sociological and psychological, is called Is hair political? — and should be a hot sell among African-Americans. The third is a 50-page part-autobiography called Law, national duty, and other hazards.It is sad that half a century after Basil Davidson and Joseph Needham’s books popularised respectively African history and Chinese mechanical inventions, Qunta still finds it necessary to devote pages to an Afrocentric summary of history.It is sad that half a century after the Oxford History of SA and a steady stream of archaeological publications, Qunta still finds it necessary to debunk the colonial and apartheid the-whites-settled-in-empty-land dogma.But just read the letters to the editors, and the websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter of 2016, where the racist memes of ...
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