** **
*The race picture of South Africa* In South Africa today two things are involved. It’s either you are black or white. If you are white you are rich, privileged, you tend to think that you are inherently superior to others. Generally, you are living a good life, except for your anxiety and insecurities associated with black people and with all that is associated with them [i.e. corrupt, uneducated and incompetent black government; crimes they commit; incompetent blacks who had been pushed into positions of power above you because they are black]. You somehow believe that you should not really be blamed for the ills of colonialism or apartheid because you were not an architect of these evils but mere recipient of privileges. If you are a black you see yourself as a victim of generational white people’s evils, cruelty in our and your ancestors land, you believe that a fair discrimination according to the tools that oppressed you [i.e. race] and affirmative action is the only crucial way to redress these ills. Your social position currently places you in middle-class [i.e. as “*black diamond*”] or in working labour and poor class [including the unemployed]. You are either educated, politically connected somehow, in business, so generally you are rich / has potential to live a better life [but worth noting is that this is new money or potential new money]. Or you are part of working and poor mass which is generally doomed in a continued impoverishment unless radical changes commence and hopefully soon. This view may sound simplistic and narrow but it reflects the true snap-shot of race and class relations in South Africa today. In simple terms, what has happened in South Africa in new democratic era is huge gains in the provisioning of basic services [i.e. water, electricity, houses] to the poor and marginalized; and a project of de-racialization of privileges but burden and traps of impoverishment still remain with majority of black people. *What is racism?* For the purpose of clarity I shall use a Wikipedia (2010) definition of racism, which defines it as a belief that race is a primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. We would agree as well that while racism, like other forms of discrimination, is based on prejudice, what distinguishes it is the ideology of white supremacy, which serves as a rationale for the unequal relations of power that exist between people. Maybe one of first fundamental starting points in discussing and understanding racism is a sincere recognition that racism is real, alive and well across the world, not just limited to the shores of SA or Africa. Secondly historically it [racism + capitalism = apartheid capitalism] has been practiced by European white people for at least a century throughout the world, be it towards natives in Asia, America, and Africa. For example, the system of conquest, colonisation, slavery, extermination of the indigenous populations and looting their natural resources in the last centuries has had dreadful consequences for the overwhelming majority of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America. One can further argue that in most countries [developing and undeveloped], most of their social and economic problems today are the result of the conquests, the colonisation and an unbearable disparity in the distribution of wealth; but also their continued impoverishment post-colonialism is a results of their inability to ultimately combat the residual effects of colonialism on cultures. Scholars agree that no place other than South Africa has the struggle for respect for human dignity kindled so much hope. This promising country, which was yesterday the target of isolation and universal condemnation, can tomorrow be an example of brotherhood [and probably sisterhood] and justice. Like all post-colonial societies, South Africa has to deal with its cultural identity in societies: the dilemmas of developing a national identity after colonial rule, which in essence can be judged by how different “races” relate in society. Even in this front, South Africa was a beacon of hope as we deliberately self-titled ourselves a “rainbow nation”. This was great, but ours now should not be to pathologically obsessed with identity and race argues a Moroccan scholar Bin 'Abd al-'Ali. He goes on to explain his convictions that for example what is seen in contemporary Middle Eastern case is 'a pathological obsession with ... identity, and trust him it never leads to unity and prosperity. Narrations by senior comrades of our liberation movement about their experiences of Middle East, make apartheid seem not as terrible after all. ** *How do we deal with racism?* So the question still remains how can we best deal with this wicked culture of racism in our society? Some of the answers lie in a speech delivered by former Cuban President Fidel Castro to the South African parliament four years into a democratic era. He expressed that: “*There are still today two South Africas, which I ought not to call the "White" one and the "Black" one; [because] that terminology should forever be dropped if a multiracial and united country is meant to be created”. * He continues,* “I'd rather put it this way: two South Africas; the rich and the poor, one and the other; one where an average family receives twelve times the income of that of the other; one where the children who die before their first year of life are 13 per 1000 and the other where those who die are 57 per 1000, in which life expectancy is 73 years, the other in which it is only 56 years; one where 100% of the people know how to read and to write, another illiteracy is more than 50%; one with almost full employment another where 45% are unemployed.* *One where 12% of the population own almost 90% of the land, other where almost 80% of the inhabitants own less than 10% of it; one that accumulated and has almost all the technical and managerial knowledge; the other doomed to inexperience and ignorance; one that enjoys well-being and freedom, the other having been able to conquer freedom but without well-being”. *In essence what Fidel was saying was that base economic empowerment on class, not race, to bring about real change. These are very relevant points as they relate to the reality that our liberation struggle was simply never only about winning political power, never about an empowerment of a small elite or about replacing a white with a black elite, but was, and still is, about the liberation and upliftment of the majority of our people. It was and still is, about fundamentally transforming the conditions of the overwhelming majority of our people. Worth-noting, with regards to the Middle East case is that what Bin 'Abd al-'Ali described as an obsession with national identity may be explained by 'the absence of a championing social class in that place, as argued by ascholar Ayubi. *The nature of racism: An Individual and Systemic analysis * In helping us to better understand the concept of racism, an intellectualOmowale Akintunde states that racism is a systemic, societal, institutional, omnipresent, and epistemologically embedded phenomenon that pervades every vestige of our reality. Also important to note in the nature and logic of racism is deliberate association with group privilege and supremacy as I previously mentioned. Akintunde further argues that we ought not to only conceive racism like murder, wherein the concept exists but someone has to commit it in order for it to happen. This limited view of such a multilayered syndrome cultivates the sinister nature of racism and, in fact, perpetuates racist phenomena rather than eradicates them. Further, this view of racism disguises its true essence, thus allowing its tenets to proliferate. For example if racism is conceived of as the conscious employment of certain acts, using certain taboo terms (i.e., kaffer, baboon, nigger, spic) and one does not consciously perform “racist” acts or utter certain taboo terms, then one can reasonably assert that one is not a racist. This view of racism helps us to fully comprehend that racism in its true nature occurs at both individual and systemic levels and these levels are not necessarily mutually exclusive of each other, but may negate and re-enforce each other. Thus we always have to analyse race both at an individual and systemic level. To me what becomes the most critical aspect of racism in a systemic one than illusions of an individual(s). We all know that in South Africa racial prejudice and violence did not suddenly disappear in 1994, but instead continue to play out throughout this period of political transformation, standing as an obstacle to substantive equality and inclusive citizenship. Moreover recent national events in last few weeks show us that racial tensions [superficial or deep] in the country appear to have been re-ignited significantly. In our case here in South Africa, one of most widely-cited critique of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) established in 1995, has been its narrow interpretation of its mandate to investigate 'gross violations of human rights (Valji 1999). Another scholar Mamdani writes that whereas the individualizing of responsibility may have been appropriate in dealing with the former dictatorships of Latin America, in South Africa violence was committed in the defence of racialised privilege: the violence of apartheid was aimed less at individuals than at entire communities, and entire population groups [race]. Even in one of most sophisticated and supposedly, intellectually liberated sector in society (higher education sector), the 2008 report on racism showed that that the experience of feeling discriminated against, in racial and gender terms in particular, is endemic within institutions. It declared that *“Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to suggest that no institution can confidently indicate that the principles of non-racialism, such as those adopted by UFS, UCT, WITS etc to guide its transformation agenda and which were outlined above, have been achieved”. * These are some of few comments given by university stakeholders to investigating panel: *“1. racism is still ubiquitous, but the victims can smell it a mile away. The problem is how to articulate it so that the pain can be expressed. (UJ meeting with Council from report on racism by DHE 2008). 2. You feel it but can’t pinpoint it. Talking to (white) colleagues and you feel a wall coming up. It exists, but how can we deal with it? (VUT meeting with staff)”. *I am sure this is still true picture on most areas of study and work, particularly more severe in working condition of labour workers [i.e. farms]. In transforming institutions [state institutions, or work places], scholars argue that demographic transformation [individual level] is a necessary but not sufficient condition for transformation. The other elements are institutional culture [systemic level] – the need for a qualitatively different environment and the need to ensure social access, i.e. to make the institutions a welcoming place for all. Some scholars including Kelly Rosenthal believe that one of avenues for real transformation in society lies in the realm of relationships. Here you can ask yourself whether at first glance or first contact can you genuinely be-friend and tolerate a white person without necessarily having any reservations about their potential racist tendencies? [This is not to mean blacks are immune of racist tendencies]. If you have answered yes, then it may means there is still much more hope our young democracy to prosper with regards to hypothesis advocated by Rosenthal and colleagues. Personally, in my tenure as student and student leader at the University of Cape Town (UCT), I found to have more in common [social beliefs, ideas, life orientation and more] with Jeremy Cronin’s son (Ben) than I had with my fellow black guy, Bulelani Ngcuka’s son (Luyolo). I do not believe this was due to different taste in life or individual preferences, but it goes beyond our shared blackness, or growing up in similar backgrounds, but it had everything to do with our current class positions in society and the fact the he thought his new privileges warrants him to live a high and bourgeoisie life. In some cases race relations might take a less harsh form of discrimination or personally directed form of discrimination. For example in 2005, a scholar Sipho Seepe narrates a story that had intrigued him by a fellow university colleague's frantic attempts to learn French. Upon inquiry he indicated that he was going to France for two weeks. "Just for two weeks!" he exclaimed, unable to suppress his disbelief. Yet it made sense - in France the French were not going to be at his service if he did not speak French. This much they knew. Despite having spent all his youth and adult life in South Africa, the need for him to learn an African language had not dawned on him. This disregard for and lack of interest in the languages of compatriots is a defining characteristic of many white South Africans, for whom blacks do not exist except to be at their beck and call. In this case, the French mattered - Africans did not. This remains the case for most white South Africans today. I am sure we would all agree that South Africa's social, political and economic stability can be sustained only through addressing racial and class inequalities. This can be done through fair discrimination on racial grounds as dictated by space, times and material conditions in society as it continues to normalise. But this cannot be achieved if most of us South Africans still attack and defend from our racial trenches. This cannot be achieved we encourage what we have today, ethnic and racial chauvinists, and political entrepreneurs who play the race card for sport. We can sit and smile while there are people acting lunatic with manufacture racial intolerance ring all sorts of racial bells. We should vanguard against people who have been will manipulated to use a genuine struggle for liberation of the people to cover-up and protect class interest of those who bankroll them. Socialist regards, Ntsiza [Impondomise] -- "It is our aspiration and our aim that everyone should become socially conscious and effective; but to achieve this end, it is necessary to provide all with the means of life and for development". -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. 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