HISTORY:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa

The Xhosa are part of the southern Nguni migration which slowly moved south from the region around the Great Lakes. Xhosa peoples were well established by the time of the Dutch arrival in the mid-1600s,

I wonder what meaning can be attributed to 'moved slowly south'?

or

[and 'occupied' much of eastern South Africa from the Fish River to land inhabited by Zulu-speakers south of the modern city of Durban.]

Hmm..so we have Xhosa 'occupying' Zulu land ?

Then

The Xhosa and white settlers first encountered one another around Somerset East in the early 1700s. In the late 1700s Afrikaner trekboers migrating outwards from Cape Town came into conflict with Xhosa pastoralists around the Great Fish River region of the Eastern Cape.

Soooo..we have 'black' African Xhosa's 'moving south' and 'white' settlers 'moving outward'.... and.. golly gosh... of course the 'noble blacks' were just ambling along peacefully' but the EVIL whites were 'viciously and greedily talking land' :)

Then..

In the years following, many Xhosa-speaking clans were pushed west by expansion of the Zulus, as the northern Nguni put pressure on the southern Nguni as part of the historical process known as the mfecane, or "scattering".

BUT WAIT... they were 'pushed west'.... by.. ZULU's ? NO..this cannot possibly be.. because Zulu's are......BLACK.. its just not possible that 'black' people could be mean to black people.. that work is totally reserved for the 'evil' whites.

CONCLUSION...... it seems to me that Bruce has naively stepped into history at one point where it seemed to him to be 'unfair'... but that he did not take the trouble to look 'beyond' the immediate situation to it's historical roots. He has endedup helping one group of racists under pressure from another... or did he just pick sides ?

Why was it wrong for 'white settlers to expand out'...but not wrong for 'black' Xhosa's to 'move south' ? Or.. was it wrong for 'black' Zulu's to push the Xhosa's around ?

Is the ANC in reality a 'Xhosa' party (how many Zulu's are in it?)

Boazy: "BUT WAIT... they were 'pushed west'.... by.. ZULU's ? NO..this cannot possibly be.. because Zulu's are......BLACK.. its just not possible that 'black' people could be mean to black people.. that work is totally reserved for the 'evil' whites."

Sometimes Boazy's usually well-hidden ignorant racism just bubbles to the surface, doesn't it? He reads a wikipedia article and.. Bingo! He's an expert on South African history, to the extent that he - unlike Bruce Haigh - can see the big picture. Note that he doesn't mention at all the brutal apartheid state that was the actual context of Haigh's activities.

Such a goose, and a nasty, racist one at that.

Boaz, by the precise same logic, you can apply history to any group.

By the same token, we shouldn't help Christians because there were involved in colonial oppression and the crusades.

It's bulldust - all you can do is look at the situation as it stands.

Shadow Minister, some laws should never have been enacted. Try Germany between 1933 and 1945,the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1992 and Howard's labour and refuge laws. But if you want to talk law sit down and detail the number of International Conventions and domestic laws which Howard has ignored, i.e broken.
Vigilant: keenly attentive to detect danger, ever awake and alert; sleeplessly watchful. Vigilante: a member of a vigilance committee.
SM you seem unsure of what to believe or trust. In my experience people have an equal capacity for good and bad, try appealing to the better side of people.
Boaz, who wrote the history to which you refer? The victors or the vanquished? Also see my piece in OLO on Steve Biko and note the references to Thabo Mbeki.
Well said CJMorgan and TRTL.
Bruce Haigh

Bruce

I smiled when you used that comparison.

It was just such a whopper.

There is absolutely no comparison between John Howards' Refugee and Labour Laws and the laws of the murderous regimes of Hitler or the Bolshevics.

I prefered your life-experiences. They were hearthfelt and real.

Good on you Bruce. I remember Donald Woods. An outstanding journalist and I had the pleasure of learning much about reporting and newspapers from him.

You're an example of what the Australian diplomatic core should be about. Proactive and willing to speak out. Brave stuff.