READER LETTER | Hateful comments are a ticking time bomb

Many top citizens in our divided country continue to utter offensive racial comments, that if left unchecked could serve as a catalyst for racial and religious conflict on an epic scale.

Hate speech and hateful comments are a ticking time bomb waiting to explode with satanic fury. Hateful comments are the octane and oxygen needed to shatter relations on an epic scale.

Today people of prejudice have learned how to camouflage their racism and hate in various codes and convoluted euphemisms.

These disgusting remarks should not be whitewashed. They need to be properly, accurately and verbatim catalogued in our hall of shame and made available to future generations. These outbursts indicate deep entrenchments of prejudices and stereotypes.

These toxic words endure because they are so poisonous. Racial and religious slurs have been buried and thrown on the trash heap many times, yet they still rise like zombies creeping across bitterly prejudiced rainbow nation, hurtful words that destroyed careers for those uttering it, yet it can be an endearment to others.

These words are so embedded in racist culture that it is the ultimate epithet in reference to other people.

Farouk Araie, Benoni