Sipho Seepe
no blows barred
In adopting the final Constitution of 1996, South Africans committed themselves to the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist, just and democratic society.
The realisation of this commitment will be measured by the extent to which the country succeeds in transforming society so that being black does not necessarily mean being poor, illiterate and unemployable, and being white, the reverse. Transformation must address the persistent poverty, the wide disparities in quality of life and the restoration of dignity among black people.
This entails fundamentally restructuring patterns of power and privilege.
Because these commitments sound so appealing, there is a tendency to regard them as practice. But we should not confuse commitments with practices by individuals or organisations.
An obvious example is the difference between the ruling party’s expressed commitments to respecting freedom of expression, while insisting that its members toe the party line even against their better judgement.
The way it vilifies and silences dissenting voices and vitriolically attacks the media reveals the ruling party’s disregard for the tenets of our democracy. The brutish, apartheid-style treatment of the people of Alexandra makes a mockery of the ruling party’s commitment to restoring the dignity of African people.
The same applies to our cursory commitment to non-racism. In our haste to bid goodbye to the past, we have failed to appreciate the tenacity and magnitude of racism. We allowed ourselves to be hoodwinked by seductive phrases such as rainbowism and non-racism as if invoking these phrases in our speeches and literary footnotes will magically transport the country into an idyllic future.
Too often our responses to race indicate either that we have not fully understood the implications of our commitment to non-racism or that we seriously underestimate the distance we still have to travel before we realise a non-racial society.
Likewise, the banality of the solutions that are advanced conferences, media briefings and the alacritous exploitation by some of unresolved racial tensions shows we do not understand the intractability of racism.
Occasional gestures like hugging on sports fields, appeals to the national anthem, and sporadic and isolated protests are inadequate, if not empty. If we are to solve the problem of racism we need to have a proper grasp of what it is, its historical context, how it manifests itself and what new forms it is likely to assume in the new dispensation.
The resolution of the race problem requires, among other things, that we understand racism from the perspective of the victim, a point raised by Faegan and Sikes in their book Living with Racism. Moreover, we need to recognise that being white does not mean one is necessarily dominant or domineering. The former will help us disempower those who seek to exploit our racist past for political expediency, while the latter should free whites from a sense of perpetual guilt. If we do not achieve these two objectives we will remain caught in a cycle of blame and political point-scoring at the expense of building a united and non- racial society.
While apartheid laws have been removed from the statute books, and we seldom experience blatant discrimination, the subtle form that exists has equally devastating effects.
For the majority, the painful memories of the past are still fresh. One result is that any attack on the ruling party regarding its glaring failures, however legitimate, is seen as an attack on transformation and a disguised defence of white privilege.
Not unexpectedly, most whites refuse to acknowledge that racial discrimination remains widespread and entrenched in the traditionally white-controlled work places, company boardrooms, law courts, schools and other places.
In fact, some commentators have argued that the emphasis on racial discrimination and redress is unconstructive. This view is derived from a limited notion that sees “racism” as certain extreme views and actions about white superiority and supremacy; prejudices and actions acted out only by extreme bigots not considered representative of the general white population. This viewpoint, with the luxury of looking at racial discrimination with detachment, makes it easier for whites to deny the reality of much of the racism reported by blacks.
Racism is more than personal prejudice. It refers not only to discriminatory actions of particular bigots but also institutionalised discrimination through which people of different race groups are dominated.
People often experience racial exclusion, hostility and discrimination in the way institutions work. As events in the Northern Province and elsewhere in the country show, the casual manner in which racially motivated attacks against blacks are addressed can be traced to the preferential treatment white offenders often receive from police and the courts. Individual blacks soon realise that no amount of hard work or achieved status can protect them from racial oppression in some institutions. In other words, power and institutional resources back racism.
We must also understand racism as lived experience. When blacks speak of racial discrimination, they do not speak in abstract concepts of discrimination learned from books. Rather, they speak of mistreatment encountered as they traverse historically white places.
Thirdly, experiences of racial discrimination are not only painful and stressful; they also have a cumulative effect on individuals, their families and communities. A black person’s life is one of unending disruption and mistreatment suffered personally and by family members. For the majority of whites, however, acts of discrimination and acts of violence are “isolated” events. As a result, whites often feel that blacks tend to “overreact”. What they forget is that “blacks live lives of quiet desperation generated by a litany of daily large and small events that, whether or not by design, remind them of their place” in society.
For instance, for whites “kaffir” may simply be an epithet that should be ignored. To most blacks, however, the term brings to mind racially motivated murder, torture, denial of constitutional rights, limited opportunities, unequal treatment before the law and daily humiliation.
Lastly, such daily experiences affect a black person’s behaviour and understanding of life. When you have the door slammed continuously in your face, you learn not to take initiatives. You become less proactive, less creative and less innovative. You may become resigned to following orders. This may explain why whites, already used to being affirmed, jump at the slightest opportunity while blacks often wait to be asked to perform tasks.
As in most discussions on racism, the approaches tend to focus on how blacks are disadvantaged by racism in societal institutions. An incisive approach should, however, include a focus also on advantages that whites gain from blacks’ disadvantage. That is the subject of another column.