Racial issues must be acknowledged

The whole of SA has been glued to their screens every Sunday night to watch the rugby documentary Chasing the Sun 2.

For those who do not know, it is a behind the scenes look at the rugby national team exploits when they defended their Rugby World Cup title in France last year.

Those who have seen it would have gotten the sense of how patriotism plays a role in everything the team does.

It also shows us the crucial role the families of players, the communities they come from and the public plays in what the team does and seeks to achieve.

It shows how sport, and rugby in particular, is important in shaping the character of young people because each player has to follow rules of the game, much like in life.

It inculcates into players a sense of camaraderie, teamwork and discipline.

Social cohesion in a team made up of people from different backgrounds, races, colours and religions, is the glue that holds everything together.

The slogan “unity in diversity” is not only glibly uttered but is actually put into action as Rassie Erasmus and co realised that diversity is strength and not something to be seen as a threat to team.

Race issues are being tackled head on instead of shying away from them and pretending to be colourblind.

For me, colourblindness is akin to racism because in a country such as ours whose foundations are anchored on race, you cannot pretend race and privilege do not exist.

The fact that you still have players coming from deprived backgrounds as compared to others in the team, tells you that you still need to be sensitive around those issues and broach them head on. Each racial group in SA is socialised differently, all thanks to the success of apartheid to isolate each community from each other for decades.

Some players need verbal cajoling to get them to be at their best, others need peace and quiet to get them going while the black players in particular do the exact opposite, they sing and make noise to get them going and be ready for the match.

A management that is not diversity-inclusive will not be able to piece together that tapestry into a cohesive unit.

Race in our country, 30 years after the fall of apartheid, still matters.

Programmes like sport can help to chisel away at the monumental wall that was built over such a long time but they may not be able to do so in isolation.

We still vote in the main, along racial lines, we still live in racially defined areas and send our children to schools that are still holding the same racial profiles as was the case under apartheid. Do not tell me about a few former Model C schools that are somewhat racially diverse, that is not the general picture when you look at schools’ demographics in totality.

Racial inclusivity is the only way to go and we need to soldier on until it is achieved.