Still tackling racism 25 years later

THIS weekend, we will be given a final chance to register to vote in the upcoming elections. It will be 25 years since South Africans of all races were first given the opportunity.

The palpable excitement of the day, April 27, 1994, and the oppressive years of legislated apartheid that preceded it, might seem like a lifetime ago. In fact, a large percentage of those registered to vote in the May elections have no experience of being denied the right to cast their ballot.

Yet, in the timespan of history, which in our context includes more than 300 years of slavery, colonialism and apartheid, 25 years is but a heartbeat.

There was perhaps an assumption in 1994, that racist mindsets and the systemic racism that had infiltrated life, would crumble with the legislation that propped it up. The assumption was wrong. While some of our efforts at transformation post-1994 have yielded results, today, race, remains central to social interaction, economic prosperity and political discourse. After numerous k-word cases, we’re beginning to realise that, for some, its usage is a norm. Reports of racial tension in communities feature on the news every now and then, while vicious assaults with racial overtones anger us again, and again. And then there’s the policies in schools, organisations or workplaces that have not changed, and broader issues of transformation in everything from sports teams to local crime patrol forums.

Racism remains a feature of post-apartheid South Africa. It’s not the South Africa we want to see in 25 years from now when we mark the 50th anniversary of our democracy.

We should therefore be asking ourselves, what sustainable measures need to be adopted to address the problem.

While it is important, for instance, to impose one-off sanctions on individuals who are racist so that there are consequences for racism, we should also pay attention to longterm solutions.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is finalising the National Action Plan against racism. The country has enacted legislation such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act. Yet, legislation alone serves a limited purpose if not used by victims as a form of empowerment. We require mass education about how people can access Equality Courts and other legal avenues to give greater practical meaning to legislation.

We should consider taking a proactive approach. In the education sector for example, this would mean a review of school codes of conduct, to ensure that they are in keeping with broader constitutional ideals. Schools like Dr Viljoen High in Bloemfontein and St Mary’s, Waverley, have adopted anti-racism policies. What stops others from doing the same? Should the Department of Basic Education not make anti-racism school policies compulsory?

The “A School Where I Belong” project by Professor Jonathan Jansen and others takes a more in-depth, facilitative approach by conducting work in schools so that teachers understand how they can perpetuate bias, even unconsciously, and how schools force pupils to assimilate instead of catering for and celebrating diversity.

Another example is that of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation’s Anti-Racism Project, which aims to tackle institutionalised racism within society, with one of their focus areas being the basic education sector.

We need more of these programmes that deal with racism as a systemic problem in all sectors of society.

At the same time, we need thoughtful and considered leadership on the issue, particularly from political parties.

Politicians have a duty to ensure that racial tension is not inflamed, and that meaningful interventions – not populist rhetoric – is employed to deal with the problem.

This year, the Anti-Racism Network South Africa (ARNSA), which was founded by the Ahmed Kathrada and Nelson Mandela Foundations, will be hosting its Action Week Against Racism from March 14 to 21.

The intent this year is to intensify the call for organisations, schools, businesses and other institutes to use the platform to start long-term work in addressing racism within their own sectors.