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I have noticed an increasingly worrying trend developing in the mainstream media of late, namely that of intentionally divisive stories focusing specifically on race and racism; and whether this is due to some underlying agenda to demonise ‘whites’ or merely an attempt to increase profit because sensationalism sells is not really what I wish to discuss.
I am far more concerned with the one-sided nature in which ‘racist news stories’ are covered and portrayed in the media; and secondly, the fact that it is almost impossible these days to do something without it been construed as racist and how this type of narrative deflects from true racism.
Why I felt the need to voice my opinion on this touchy subject is due to a story that broke yesterday about alleged racism at the University of Pretoria, whereby white students from the men’s residence of Taaibos were apparently harassed by black students from Kollege Huis, who told them that they ‘hate all whites’ and ‘want to kill whites’.
Now to my amazement, not a singular story about this can be found in any of the major Newspapers, which is disturbing to say the least, if one compares this incident to that of the now much publicised ‘Blackface’ saga at the very same institution.
The latter revolved around two white girls at a private (note, private) party dressing up as domestic workers and painting their faces black, yet judging by the backlash they received on both social & mainstream media, you’d swear that they were public enemy number one.
As a result of their ill-considered (and debatably insensitive) actions they were expelled from their residences and marked as racist pariahs by all and sundry, with Tuks still looking to investigate the matter further.
Yet when two black students spew hate speech and advocate murder against a racial minority whilst at a Res on campus, not a peep is to be heard; no ‘trendy’ hashtags on Twitter, no march by student unions decrying racism, no investigation by Tuks, no articles on racial insensitivity, no anything, nothing.
And this is only one example in a slew of similarly one-sided race-based stories broken in the past couple of weeks. Let’s not forget that during the same week that the ‘Blackface’ story broke that pamphlets were distributed on the NWU campus with ‘Kill the Boers’ emblazoned on them, or that a week later, that white students at Medunsa received death threats from protesting black students on the campus for not joining their protest action (or riots).
Now I ask why is this the case? Is it because only ‘whites’ can be racist, or is it due to publishers deliberately shying away from black-on-white racism because it upsets their liberal ideologies, or could it be that they’re afraid that by publishing such content, they themselves will be labelled racist; much like the Red October movement?
Whatever the case may be, it is setting a dangerous precedent and trend in media, because it is this type of one-sided viewpoint taken by them that informs and shapes public opinion; and in doing so, is leading to the demonization of all whites in this country due to the actions of a few and is also perpetuating the myth that only whites can be racist. In closing, we need a more levelled platform if race issues in this country are ever going to be addressed in an objective manner.
Part two of the problem belying positive and meaningful dialogues into race relations in this country is what I like to call the ‘crying racist wolf syndrome’, which is becoming ever more prevalent in opinion pieces within the media of late. What this is, is everyday stories, ads, etc. been perverted by so-called ‘journalists’ who view everything through their own racially-obsessed lenses to turn the ordinary into the racist extraordinary.
Case in point was a recent opinion piece in the (well-respected) Mail & Gaurdian that run under the headline of ‘Black Culture is Popular, Black People Are Not’. Without delving too deep into the article, the crux of the argument was that Taylor Swift was racist for twerking in her latest music video because she had dared to try and assimilate ‘black dance moves’ into her video (the audacity); now apart from the fact the author saw nothing wrong with Ms Swift parodying other forms of dance moves but only seemed to have issue with her twerking, she somehow managed to turn this ‘fact’ into a stick to beat what she labelled as ‘racist white Cape Townians’ (oh the irony).
Yes that’s right, an associate editor at the M&G labelled all white people in SA (but in particular Cape Town) as racist because they did not share her sentiments on her opinion when she took to Twitter to condemn Ms Swift’s supposedly racist video.
Seems ridiculous, well what about another opinion piece in the same publication that claimed the Nedbank ad campaign involving ‘Eugene’ was racist because the voice in his head telling him to save his money was a white man. Or another story (from the M&G again) which had the headline ‘Blackout the Media’s Unbearable Whiteness’, which apart from the lunacy of the contents thereof (which revolved around the way the media dealt with the death of Robin Williams vs the death of Zimbabwean rapper ‘Mizchief’) has to have one of the most offensive headlines ever, yet nothing was made of it.
Don’t get my point, imagine a headline of ‘Unbearable Gayness’, or ‘Unbearable Jewness’, etc. the world would be up in arms, but it seems anti-white rhetoric is deemed socially acceptable in this day and age.
Again, there are numerous other examples I could go into, such as the Feed a Child Campaign to the fact the Mondeor Principal was labelled a racist for telling black students that they were ‘blackening the name of the school’ after kicking chickens to death on school grounds as part of their Matric 40 Days traditions; but the point is probably mute.
The point I am trying to make however is the fact that if we, as a public, are continually bombarded with questionable (to say the least) stories about supposed racism, real racist incidents will become diluted and won’t be taken seriously.
