Racism holding SA back
Racism is an albatross around South Africa’s neck. Every single week one incident or another crops up onto the national radar as if on cue. If it is not AfriForum’s Kallie Kriel declaring “I don’t think apartheid was a crime against humanity, but I do think it was wrong”, then it is some other ugly incident captured on camera confirming that the band aid that Archbishop-Emeritus Desmond Tutu and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission put on the nation’s festering racism wound had fallen off. The wound, at first sight, appears much worse than it was.
This week’s incident captured on camera involved a former national rugby coach and two celebrated former Springbok rugby players.
When Ashwin Willemse walked off a live set of a post-match analysis, South Africans took their entrenched positions on either side of the race divide. He was branded “truly unprofessional and too quick to play the race card” by the one side but also regarded as a shining example of someone who has finally stood up for everyone who has been racially undermined in the workplace by the other side.
While the full facts are yet to emerge from MultiChoice on the incident, it is clear that race and racism issues define the prism through which South Africa is looking at this incident.
Many people do not appreciate the hurt and damage that racism has inflicted on the majority of the people of this country. Just the mere fact that there is an invention of the phrase “race card” in our national discourse is indicative of how flippantly racism is dealt with by the one side of our society.
Accusing one of playing the race card presupposes that black people walk around with a race card in their back pockets and when things don’t go their way they easily pull this card out and play it to shut down criticism.
Accusing Willemse of playing the race card says the decorated Bok was always looking for an opportunity to play the victim.
The last few weeks have seen white privilege being openly discussed in the media, giving some hope that racism will also at some point get its fair share of the spotlight on our national consciousness. When we get to the point that we can talk about racism without white people sensing an accusatory finger, then we will be making progress.
Racism is not our biggest issue right now, inequality and rampant poverty are. But it is the biggest stumbling block to implementing some measures that will see the workplace being successfully turned into a potent weapon against social injustices. Our continued failure to deal with racism head-on, will continue fanning ugly winds of vitriolic racist exchanges and also put paid to the idea that Mandela’s Rainbow Nation is still within our grasp.
When we allow racism to continue without being discussed openly, we give space to denialism to take root. And with denialism comes seething anger from the victims of racism. To add insult to injury, when those victims of racism speak up they get labelled as “unprofessional”, not strong enough to engage.
Willemse represents many who feel subtle racist attitudes every single day but can’t walk away because they have bills to pay. Racism will breed an angry generation if not attended to.