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Let me cut to the chase today and say that, after years of observing our socio, political and economic situation, South Africans in general are too harsh with each other – whether this is a sign of a normal, growing nation, I cannot tell.
Heated debates on online forums turn out to be nothing more than slanging matches that give little insight into what should be done – the script seldom deviates from the norm. On the one hand, no good can be seen from Black leadership, on the other, no good can be seen from White leadership, and of course, there’s the past. The two questions on the table when I read the comments were: One: Can Black people be racist? Two: can Whites call themselves “African?” let me come back to this in a bit?
Firstly, let me say that what we should All afford one another is the right to dignity and self-pride – easy enough you say, but remember this will call on you to have real respect for your fellow South Africans and allow them to say as I have said recently: “This is who I am, I am a Coloured and proud, those were my forefathers, those were my ancestors, that is what they went through, they persevered, endured, and I pay homage to that” - whether I’m not a direct descendant of the great Khoisan or Xai Xai nation, I felt that bond when I got to Windhoek – much like Zulus’, Xhosas’, Sothos’ who share different cultures but have a deep-rooted bond with each other as Africans. I do not find it difficult to permit others the same rights – my only gripe with the Sparks incident was the applause he received from people of colour for praising Verwoerd, other than that I understood that his experiences are vastly different to the majority of us in South Africa and he, in his old age, was simply being honest about his opinions.
Since I’ve well and truly covered the measures needed to bring about economic equality I will not kick a dead horse this time round but go back to those questions in the first paragraph I will.
Can Black people be racist? The answer is yes However that is not a common occurrence because real racism works with power- real racism rears its ugly head, mostly in the workplace, for example, when those positions of power are used to oppress people of colour deemed repugnant for whatever reasons, race-based income inequality, ill-treatment and abuse of Black staff because of their lowly positions etc That is real racism.
What I’ve endured from a few Black/African brothers and sisters over the years is prejudice: some believe that I, as a Coloured person, have had it much much better under apartheid even though that was never my personal experience - my father was a painter, not an artist, but someone who painted peoples’ houses to eke out a living, it was tough going at all times, as was the custom of the day, my mom stayed home and looked after the children.
Can Whites call themselves “African”, that question lies totally in the hands of White people – I’ve known White people who are African: they were born and bred here, they love and accept the place with all its problems and do not deny the need for transformation, they do not have two passports ready to flee at the first sign of trouble, they want to be part of the solution and help us build a great and prosperous nation for all – they will have to accept though, that they’re much like Africans in China (btw, did you know that Black people were the first in China? – Google it) for some time to go there’ll always be a raised eyebrow here and there should Blacks call themselves “Chinese”, or Whites, “Africans”.
