Talk:Liberalism in South Africa

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[edit] needs better definition of liberal

The def implied by the first paragraph is simply those parties that secured a representative and called themselves "liberal"? Is this true? Wouldn't it be better to have at least a vague mention of what being liberal in So Af meant? For example, did most "liberal" parties oppose apartheid? Did they have a major involvement in labor politics? Did they try to extend voting rights in some way? Did they have a predictable stance toward world affairs (e.g. the Cold War)? Were there perceptible British vs Boer factions and were the liberals more identified with one than the other. How about a sentence such as, Liberal parties were generally distinguished by mild-to-strong opposition to apartheid, support for labor interests during conflict, support for international liberation movements against colonialist or American-allied interests... Note that I know nothing about So Af politics, so maybe none of these points are distinctive or relevant, but those of you who wrote this should be able to come up with something better as a lead paragraph. The current one is both ungrammatical and uninformative. Dalembert 01:41, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Who is a liberal

This article is rather shaky. It needs to mention "liberal" traditions in SA other than the Progressives/DP/DA succession, including significant parts of the ANC as well as smaller parties such as the Independent Democrats. Also worth mentioning is that the word Liberal has been despised frmo both the right (the NP used the disparaging term "liberalist") and the left (there was a great exchange between Biko and Donald Woods in the film Cry Freedom on this topic), but that nonetheless, values usually regarded as "liberal" have triumphed in the SA constitution, widely regarded as one of the most liberal in the world. Also that the DA is in some senses socially conservative, with absorption of former NNP supporters, support for the death penalty, etc.

Biko: "Ah, a true liberal!"

Woods: "It's not a title I'm ashamed of, though I know you regard it with some contempt."

Biko: "I just think that a white liberal who clings to all the advantages of his white world - jobs, housing, education, Mercedes - is perhaps not the person best qualified to tell blacks how they should react to apartheid."

Woods: "I wonder what sort of liberal you would make, Mr Biko, if you were the one who had the job, the house, and the Mercedes, and the whites lived in townships."

Zaian 16:43, 25 April 2006 (UTC)