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Speaking to the MailOnline, Errol said he's proud to watch his son "accepting who he is". He said: "I think for the first time Elon was accepting who he is. Until recently, he's been a sort of character on a stage.

"When you come from South Africa, Lefties think you're a Nazi. To succeed, you need to be accepted by them so my sons, [Elon and younger brother Kimbal, a hugely successful restaurateur], started to become these flaming liberals – turning away from South Africa and their roots, which included me. Finally, Elon was embracing his heritage and his destiny."

In a separate interview, Errol explained how right-wing poltics were at the core of his family's history. Elon's maternal grandparents relocated from Canada to South Africa in the early 1900s as they knew the Afrikaner government was a stronghold of support for Nazism outside of Germany.

"They used to support Hitler and all that sort of stuff. But they didn't know, I don't think they knew what the Nazis were doing. But they [the grandparents] were in the German Nazi party but in Canada. And they sympathise with the Germans. "

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[-] jonne@infosec.pub 222 points 3 weeks ago

Elon's maternal grandparents relocated from Canada to South Africa in the early 1900s as they knew the Afrikaner government was a stronghold of support for Nazism outside of Germany.

Man, how is this something you just share in an interview as if it's just a nice piece of family history.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 55 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Isn't it a bit anachronistic to talk about Nazism in the 1900s? There were precursor German nationalist movements then, but the name "Nazism" is from later. That said, it sounds like Musk's family were ready to embrace it good and early.

Edit: Maybe that date is a misprint? Musk's mother was born in 1948. If her parents decided to move to South Africa in the 1900s for political reasons they'd have to have been adults then, which would make them implausibly old parents. Or maybe "early 1900s" is being used to mean "first half of the 20th century"?

Another edit: It seems that the maternal grandparents moved to South Africa in 1950, not the early 1900s. So it had nothing to do with Nazism per se, but quite a lot to do with thinking like Nazis:

But in 1950, Haldeman’s “quirky” politics led him to make an unusual and dramatic choice: to leave Canada for South Africa. Haldeman had built a comfortable life for himself in Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital. His chiropractic practice was one of Canada’s largest and allowed him to possess his own airplane and a 20-room home he shared with his wife and four young children. He’d been active in politics, running for both the provincial and national parliaments and even becoming the national chairman of a minor political party. Meanwhile, he’d never even been to South Africa.

What would make a man undertake such a radical change? Isaacson writes that Haldeman had come “to believe that the Canadian government was usurping too much control over the lives of individuals and that the country had gone soft.” One of Haldeman’s sons has written that it may have simply been “his adventurous spirit and the desire for a more pleasant climate in which to raise his family.” But another factor was at play: his strong support for the brand-new apartheid regime.

An examination of Joshua Haldeman’s writings reveals a radical conspiracy theorist who expressed racist, anti-Semitic, and antidemocratic views repeatedly, and over the course of decades—a record I studied across hundreds of documents from the time, including newspaper clips, self-published manuscripts, university archives, and private correspondence. Haldeman believed that apartheid South Africa was destined to lead “White Christian Civilization” in its fight against the “International Conspiracy” of Jewish bankers and the “hordes of Coloured people” they controlled.

Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather

Archive link: https://archive.is/x3OYY

[-] meco03211@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Nazi party was only formed in 1920. Had to be after that. And I don't think the Nazi party faced much international ire until late 30s. IANAHistorian.

[-] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 weeks ago

FWIW, MailOnline is terrible at journalism. I'm sure this site referring to that is at least as bad. Thanks to you for doing the research!

[-] SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago

Just a reminder that the former Mayor of Regina later became Canada's notorious KKK Member of Parliament. So Regina, settler haven of starlight tours and other delightful forms of subjugation, wasn't racist enough for these degenerates.

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Just one small edit there ... Saskatoon was the settler haven for starlight tours beginning in the mid/late 70s.

Source is me ... I lived there in the 70s and 80s and had a couple of male friends it happened to (they survived).

[-] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 3 weeks ago

For those who need to what a starlight tour is, it’s when the police would drive indigenous people out in the country at night in the middle of winter.

[-] quafeinum@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

And then leave them there. Missing the important part

[-] minnow@lemmy.world 215 points 3 weeks ago

Leftists: Elon is a fascist

Centrists: No he isn't, it's not ok for you to say that.

Elon's Dad: Elon is finally the Nazi we wanted him to be.

Centrists: Uh....

[-] UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

As a centrist, I think it's totally okay to say that. I oppose extremism, not common sense

[-] ImADifferentBird@lemmy.blahaj.zone 84 points 3 weeks ago

Yes, we can all see Elon is embracing his heritage of brutal apartheid.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 46 points 3 weeks ago

His father is being quite explicit that he thinks Nazism is Elon Musk's true heritage.

[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 73 points 3 weeks ago

There you have it again, folks. Nazis.

[-] cybervseas@lemmy.world 59 points 3 weeks ago

"I don't think they knew what the Nazis were doing."

😂

[-] shittydwarf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 49 points 3 weeks ago
[-] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 46 points 3 weeks ago

They had "no idea" what the Nazis were but moved from a country against Nazis to a country with a strong base of Nazi sympathisers...

I wonder why people might think they were Nazis hmmm.

Elon was always "embracing" this side of himself, just that before 2016 he had to be more covert about it, as did all the other racist woodlouse that came out of the woodwork

[-] Linktank@lemmy.today 42 points 3 weeks ago

Piece of shit to the core. Doesn't plop far from the shit tree.

[-] capnminus@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago

At first, I thought it was the onion because, what the fuck

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 2 points 3 weeks ago

I can't wait to see the Infowars headlines.

[-] MyOpinion@lemm.ee 24 points 3 weeks ago

So proud of his Nazi son.

[-] JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Elon’s maternal grandparents relocated from Canada to South Africa in the early 1900s as they knew the Afrikaner government was a stronghold of support for Nazism outside of Germany.

This sentence is a mess.

The Nazi part wasn't formed until the 1920s.

South Africa was run by the British in the early 20th century. The Afrikaners were at this point, completely disenfranchised after the Boer War.

It wasn't until the 1940s under the National party (yes, there were named after the German National party !). that the Afrikaners and English began to share power.

BTW, the apartheid system was designed with the help of an Indian lawyer you may have heard of - Mahatma Ghandi.

[-] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Wonder what to make of this report then.

[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

It's The Mirror reporting on The Daily Mail, so it has been through two rounds of incoherent tabloid garbling. We can't really know what to make of it unless we can find a better source for Musk's family history. This particular claim about when and why his grandparents moved to South Africa isn't in the Mail interview and The Mirror doesn't name a source for it except "a separate interview."

However, we can be fairly certain that Elon and his dad are both nasty pieces of work:

'Elon thinks woke is a joke. He's said it's got to end. I forget his exact words, but he's starting a war on woke. He says woke has taken his oldest son from him.'

He's referring to Elon's trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson, who he's said on 'X' has been 'killed by the woke mind virus'.

Edit: Turns out Musk's maternal grandparents moved to South Africa in 1950, not the early 1900s:

Elon Musk’s Anti-Semitic, Apartheid-Loving Grandfather

Archive: https://archive.is/x3OYY

[-] lengau@midwest.social 1 points 3 weeks ago

The Afrikaners weren't disenfranchised. The National Party held seats in parliament from shortly after its founding in 1914 and JBM Hertzog was prime minister from 1924-1939. The first prime minister of the Union of South Africa was Louis Botha, who was a Boer veteran.

The United Party was a centre-right party that was an alliance of Anglophone and Afrikaner whites as well as coloureds (n.b. for Americans: not what you're likely thinking, so click the link). They lost the 1948 election to the far-right National Party, at which point the government of South Africa became dominated for 40 years by far-right Afrikaner grievance politics.

The most notable English-speaking member of parliament during apartheid was Helen Suzman.

[-] xc2215x@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago
[-] floofloof@lemmy.ca 33 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)
[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 15 points 3 weeks ago

Elon Musk's dad is Elon Musk's brother?

[-] FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee 7 points 3 weeks ago

It's kind of weird that there's nothing from her about it. I wonder what will come out when Errol dies

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago

Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, everyone with skin color darker than a peach in America.

[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 8 points 3 weeks ago

Fortunately, we know this man made his fortune from blood emeralds.

[-] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

He seeks to ursurp you, Father Musk! You must strike him down!

[-] anus@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Jesus Christ the mirror website is actual ass cancer

this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2024
321 points (93.7% liked)

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