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What makes you African? Tackling racism, sexism and other “-isms” head on:


So what makes you African? Is it the colour of your skin? Is it the continent you where born on? Is it your culture, your language or something else?

I use many different labels to identify myself, I'm white, I'm Afrikaans, I'm bi-sexual, I'm an atheist and a non-smoker :)

I'm many things, but I aslo consider myself African.

I've dated white, black, indian and coloured girls (haven't dated any asian girls or Jewish girls yet :)) I've also dated some white and coloured guys.

And apart from the expected homophobia I have to deal with, there's also some friction with the LGBT community against bi-sexuals for not being gay enough or for being confused or being accused of being a closet gay.

Then there's the racism – I've experienced racism against myself and my partners from both sides of the family/friends groups.

To white people who were against apartheid it feels like “we” have won the struggle and we are supposed to live in an open democratic, equal and fair democracy. To the white racists it feels like “they” have won and now “control everything”

I also understand where my black friends are coming from – 20 years later and so many blacks still live in poverty, but this for me isn't the real problem, as wealth doesn't really change who you are in the inside.

If I refer to someone as black instead of African, I feel that I sometimes get automatically labeled as “racist” and I always struggle to understand this, why don't black people embrace their “blackness?''

To me it seems black people still feel the sting of the dehumanization of blacks under apartheid and continue to feel ashamed or self-conscious about being black, and indeed, I agree from my experiences and observations that whites get treated better than black people – this becomes very aparrent in some social situations where a ignorant white boy would receive equal, if not more respect than a qualified black professional for their views on whatever topic is raised, I'm sorry that I can testify to that.

But equally I have met the hateful gazes of black people for being racist, just because I'm an Afrikaans white boy. And I'm not even starting on the homophobia and anti-atheist discrimination. I've met xenophobic black people, that while appearing to be accept me, are sometimes very intolerent towards especially Nigerians, always referring to “those nigerians” when making remarks and jokes – to me xenophobia is just a euphemism for racism, as I've observed that when you point out other peoples racism, but esepcially if they're black, it's a very sensitive word and they normally think it only applies to white on black racism.

Even though I respect other peoples cultures and their right to have their own views, whether they are racist/sexist/homphobic I don't respect certain views but that doesn't negate the respect I have for the person.

I don't care about learning african languages and I also don't care whether someone can talk Afrikaans or not, hell, I don't even like Afrikaans myself, think Afrikaans music and literature suck big time, that's why I love lingua francas like English, Spanish, French, Portuguesse etc. Sure these are the languages of the colonisers of the past, but the fact is everyone understands them and we can use it to bridge the gaps between us.

I'm also a feminist, in the sense that feminism describes humanism – feminism is another one of those words that's kinda like a double-edged sword, on the one hand feminism is an ideal figting for equality for all genders, but on the other hand it's often used as a euphemism for misandry.

So don't matter who you are, we all have some prejudices and we all have at least one “-ism” and I'm no exception, as I would describe myself as an anti-religionist, in my view religion is the most foul, the most evil and one of the most dishonest positions to hold to, it is divisive and encourages hatred and not love like it claims to do.

This is my life truth, this is my observation and belief: The more religious you are, the more intolerant you become of others – driving you to become homophobic, racist, sexist and a number of other hateful positions – so am I against religion or is religion against me?

So what does make you African? To me it means I'm a child of Africa and it means I embrace the spirtit of Ubuntu – which finds expression in the “Umntu ngumntu ngabanye abantu” in English as “people are people through other people.”;”I am human because I belong to the human community and I view and treat others accordingly.” So it describes the humanist position which I like to believe I hold to. If that doesn't make me african, I don't know what will, in a similar vain I would like to point out that just because you are hat if you do that, try to become more “western” and still hold to racist/homophobic and sexist views and therefore not embracing the african spirit, I would say you've lost the things that make you African.black doesn't mean you are African – many black people let go of their traditions and don't even want to talk their own language and distance themselves from their own customs and I would say that if you do that, try to become more “western” and still hold to racist/homophobic and sexist views and therefore not embracing the african spirit, I would say you've lost the things that make you African.


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