Also, I initially didnt want to put the link up but there's been ongoing activity on the comments page that I feel should be known
I picked up the paper this morning.
I flipped through, no apparent interest in the articles, except for it to tide me through a lonesome lunch.
There was something about a green background, with a cropped photo of this fella whom I thought looked hauntingly familiar but just couldnt place. So i skimmed the article and was mildly affected (everyone knows that newspapers sensationalize their topics...) that it was with regards to a PSC scholar, and racism - IMHO, one who has been chosen for the prestigious scholarship ought to be more diligent and careful as he would definately be under public scrutiny. And RACISM!, what a dirty topic to discuss!
To my astonishment, I soon came to realise, that the afore-mentioned is a childhood friend of mine - althou we've since lost touch.
And I may appear more forgiving just because of a personal friendship - but I'm honestly not. I certainly am not racist, and I wouldnt like the future of the country fall into the hands of one who is. It is BECAUSE of that personal friendship that once was, that I feel more disdain for those who just want to blast without giving a fair trial - for it is a certain "justice" that they seem to be fighting for.
I did a google and took time to read some comments - how vicious some can be! It is discernibly clear that he doesnt deserve such obloquy - Some of the things he published on his blog may be somewhat true*, but probably just came out wrong, because and I'm absolutely positive that he would not harbour such "vile hatred" in terms of racism; neither would one, scholar or not, be quite so dumb as to place himself infront of a firing squad of scorn. Evidently, certain remarks by CZ were taken out of context only to be blown out of proportions.
I'm not saying he should be entirely excused either.. Whether you consider, at age 21, young and juvenile is not an issue. It's No doubt his status as a scholar does not help as it only amplifies his mistake. If it were just me or any other person on the street, doubt it wld cause such commotion.
The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.
Oscar Wilde
Everyone makes mistakes.
He MUST and WILL learn from it, but we don't have to give him more flak just because he is a scholar - "oh public money is wasted" and all that. As it is, we're all regular people behind a certain farce that we put up to face the world.
If he is GENUINELY - his de facto personality - a racist so 'scary' (as some put it) it will show in time to come. Till then, we, as the public, ought to be more reasonable or we would be slapping ourselves in the face with the unfairness and injustice we are putting him through.
* We keep blogs as online journals that reflect our personal thoughts. Just that publishing it on the WWW blog-sphere lets the world know about us through what can be paralled as a pin-hole of light into our humdrum lives - for one, you probably dont know the poor sod who typed this, and the onus is on you to check yourself, and make sure you at least try to understand the situation in entirety before you lambast the poor sod. The last laugh is on you should your comments be found out as blasphemous laments. My point is you just cannot take a small fraction of what was published on his website (or the blog-sphere, for that matter) as gospel truth
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