Opportunity to address racism in SA
THIS Heritage Month presents an ideal opportunity for us to reflect and chart a way forward in how we embrace each other’s diverse cultures, in light of the racism that continues to undermine our transformation agenda.
However, it all starts by acknowledging the existence of this problem.
As long as some people, including political organisations and companies, still believe racism and institutionalised racism is not prevalent in our society today, and these are just isolated incidents or mistakes by a few, efforts to address it are meaningless.
Readers would agree that the dream of a truly non-racial country is far from reality when a giant retailer such as Clicks still believes that a black woman’s hair is “dry and damaged” or “frizzy and dull”, while white woman’s hair is “fine”, “flat” or “normal”, when clothing store H&M advertises a black boy with a hoodie bearing the slogan, “coolest monkey in the jungle”, when apartheid president FW de Klerk believes the system he presided over and which was responsible for thousands of murders, was not a crime against humanity, or when Helen Zille believes colonialism was not all bad.
It’s easy to deny the existence of this issue, when some benefited from a system that thrived on the suffering of black people. That 26 years into our democracy, black people are still seen as inferior, discriminated against and under represented in every sector of the economy, despite being the majority, points to the failed attempts to level the playing field.
The founding mothers and fathers of our democracy are surely turning in their graves, as the painful legacy of apartheid – a system they were prepared to die fighting against – continues to live on in our communities.
These incidents, and others that will come, should not divide us – but unite all South Africans in denouncing racism wherever it manifests.
Corporate South Africa should not only lead efforts in addressing racism, but invest in programmes that will benefit employees from diverse backgrounds.
For far too long, Corporate SA has been operating as a law unto themselves, without any consequences when they commit acts of racism and simply apologise. Enough with the apologies now. We want action. Start with not sugar-coating racism.