Racing to end race
My room is clearly clouded with the blended aroma of what's originally Afghan and Jamaican- the window acts as an escape route for the leading drugged fog, my thoughts follow. I'm tripping on the light emanating from the moon in horizontal shreds through the blinds, all I hear are crickets and the crackling of the rooftop. But there's an issue buried in my mind's core begging to be felt; the colour coded system in South Africa. It's so vibrant at the heightening of youth uprising, supposedly deeper consciousness and the confusion on the country's political status. One can argue but must understand why race is such a sensitive topic in this part of the world; the atrocities committed during apartheid are often still lightly practiced in the corporate shadow or very rarely through direct means. This dagger of an issue was no more apparent when I was addressed for not being politically correct among my fellow black peers, that is where it hit home. To my surprise the word 'darkie', uttered from any mouth and in any context, is deemed extremely demeaning and derogatory. It proved how much weight this word carried, how ugly a skin colour became because of its apparent attachment to words. People so often forget that colour is a human definition not a characteristic-giver. Colour gives us an identity, it ties us to our traditions, languages and culture. It tells the narrative of where we come from, who we are as a people. It symbolises the immeasurable depth in universal versatility.
This made me have one of those internal monologues again. What factors contribute to racism in this country? I could only think of two.
Conservatism.
The biggest racial factor is that a majority of South Africans are just very conservative people. Be you Black, White, Coloured or Indian. There's this approach to doing things a certain way because it characterises a certain community, because if done differently it emulates another community and that's earth's biggest sin. The idea behind conservatism is self-explanatory: A people, it's culture and heritage must be preserved and appreciated. Fair enough. However, in a multicultural society too much of this becomes unhealthy, especially amongst the youth. Most of the young people who despise engaging with people of other races either do it because they saw their parents do it or they saw society do it. This results in lineage of racism and The Rainbow Nation's goal of social cohesion becomes fairytale. Thing is, there aren't many platforms to address the racial tension in South Africa, everyone is scared to say "black people this, white people that". The topic is being swept under the rug and annoyingly buldges again when incidences like KFC Pretoria come up. Everyone is scared to talk about it but still holds onto it. Apartheid now becomes the problem of the youth, when it wasn't their struggle to begin with. The problem is people aren't willing to engage, to learn and to experience. People aren't will to accept that they do in fact live in a multicultural society. People are sensatising race when it's something we deal with everyday- something we see everyday, in the mirror and in the streets. Difference is frowned upon and certain traits are attached to every kind of different. Stereotypes are developed and racism is born.
The other thing that might factor racial tension is white capital.
With the series of strikes and protests that have been flooding South African media over the past couple of years, it's evident that the nation has a vibrant democracy. However, it's not all in the name of democracy. I've come to the realisation that South Africa is an angry country, injected with rage by apartheid. Many of these protests and strikes are a(n) (in)direct effect of apartheid. Poor service delivery, poor governance, corruption, poor working conditions or the lack thereof, fees must fall; all this causes the nation to move their feet in one rhythm, one stance and one voice or at least supposedly. Again, indicative of a vibrant democracy but a symbol of a nation either difficult to satisfy or of an unrest society. The #FeesMustFall movement is probably the broadest movement to vex the South African government yet. It affected the economy, completely halted facilitated learning and resurrected South Africa's most forbidden theme: Race. There is an ever ending argument that the movement is a ripple effect of apartheid because as it is: previously disadvantaged members of society cannot afford to pay tuition fees. The argument is based on the grounds that there hasn't been an effective economic and social leveler since apartheid, that white capital still dictates the sorry sequence set for the average black man. Which is true, white capital still owns LAND, pharmaceuticals, banks etc. If these institutions, especially LAND, do not reach the other 80% of the country-hatred against ordinary and even innocent white people will continue to grow.
The flawed notion that black people can't be racist also needs to be dealt with. Black people go around confidently screaming that white people are evil because of ABC, confidently screaming their hatred of white people because of apartheid, proudly going around excusing corruption with apartheid or white capital. It needs to fall! The exclusion of coloured people in the race debate also creates further gaps in society. Everything is just black and white so there's subdivision within the divided society.
So many angles to trap South Africa's racial tension from. So many issues without solutions. So many colours and no more people. The universe's most trusted star retires after a sun kissed day in the former Orange Free State. The aerial baby blue blanket is embellished with alternating twinkles of natures most romantic bodies. Amber's trapped between blue and orange, creeping from the dark figure of a mountain. The colours merge so elegantly though, almost senselessly becoming less defined by the sun's decent. It's beauty has arrested my attention but I can't help to think why people of different colours aren't able to merge similarly when nature makes it look like child's play every 24 hours. Everyday. Every 24 hours. The sky's projected blue that suppresses Amber just behind the mountains is synonymous with white capital suppressing the black and coloured majority. However, unlike the primary colours, everything with black and white is a defined constant, it's either black or white. You can either pay for tuition fees or you can't. It's either black or white.
(Because race is such a diverse topic, I plan on wrting more articles about it just to look at it from different perspectives. "Because I care enough to explain this complicate world" Wait for the sequel.)
