http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/columnists/2010/11/30/xenophobia-is-in-fact-afrophobia-in-disguiseThe main argument put forward in the journal is that xenophobia is actually Afrophobia. This is so because
xenophobia is the hatred and fear of foreigners, but in South Africa we don't harm white foreigners. All the whites are seen as legal and those from outside are welcomed as tourists.
Blacks are illegal by mere appearance.
The blacker you are the more likely you are to be in danger of being arrested by the police or being killed by an angry mob. That is why 21 of the 62 people killed in 2008 xenophobic attacks were black South Africans. This actually means the so-called xenophobia is about hating black people and has little to do with their being foreigners.
Still, the issue of why take a gun, an axe and a panga and attack people that look like you must be explained. We need to explain the madness that enters the hearts of good people to form a mob to unleash such violence. The black philosopher Lewis Gordon has shown that in black gang wars, black people re-enact white violence against each other. He says "these situations reflect ritualistic behaviours that transform the participants . into white figures".
To end Afrophobia we must end hunger, homelessness and redistribute wealth equally among the citizens of our continent. Why is Africa so rich but its people so poor? There was consensus that the key source of Africa's problems are our political leaders. They behave like the colonisers. It was also agreed that
we must break-down the colonial borders and allow our people to move freely. Maybe the young people can achieve the dream of uniting Africa.