By LaBode Obanor (President, League for Social Justice)
The black nation of South Africa once again revealed its true colors by cruelly forcing Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina, a black beauty pageant contestant for Miss South Africa, to withdraw from the competition. Miss Adetshina's only crime was being born to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, despite being a South African citizen with a Nigerian name given by her parents.
This unjust treatment exposed the deep-rooted Afrophobia within the current South African society.
Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student, faced harsh criticism and hostility from her own country because some South Africans claimed she was not a citizen and therefore ineligible to participate in the contest. Outraged voices on social media demanded her disqualification, stating that the Miss South Africa Pageant was exclusively for South Africans.
Despite reaching the finals and being a top contender, Adetshina faced intense attacks and scrutiny. Calls were made for the Department of Home Affairs to investigate her parents' citizenship, accusing her mother of identity fraud to obtain South African nationality.
For her safety, Miss Adetshina withdrew from the pageant and left her birth country for Nigeria, a place she was unfamiliar with. Nigeria welcomed her, and she was invited to participate in the Miss Universe Nigeria contest, which she accepted.
Shortly after Adetshina's withdrawal, a white European contestant was crowned as Miss South Africa. The irony of this situation is glaring.
Adetshina was targeted due to her Nigerian/African heritage, making her an unwanted outsider in a country that black South Africans are trying to shape. Questions about her South African identity were raised without evidence, simply because they disliked her blackness, Africanness, and her name. This discrimination is coming from a country that was oppressed and segregated by Europeans until 1990.
South Africa has a history of xenophobia, with incidents dating back to 1994, just four years after the end of apartheid. The country has struggled with identity issues, leading to xenophobic attacks, destruction of foreign-owned businesses, xenophobic rhetoric from public officials, and violence against other Africans.
And now blatant racism and ethnic discrimination against a young black woman who simply desires the chance to grace the Pageant Runway and showcase her beauty and talent.
It is evident that the black majority, comprising 90 percent of the population, would rather live under the oppressive rule of Europeans, who make up only 7 percent of the population, than embrace their fellow black Africans who fought tirelessly for their freedom and the end of apartheid in South Africa.
Due to the ongoing national and ethnic violence, hatred, and prejudice in South Africa, the burning question that demands an answer for the sake of justice, equality, and fairness is: should South Africa be ostracized from the African continent since they aspire to be a white European nation than coexist with other African nations?
This is the crucial question that the African Union (A.U.) must address in order to uphold the unity of the African continent.
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