LACKING THE COURAGE TO BE BLACK IN THIS WORLD
THE struggles of black people have been waged for centuries and history has many footprints of these.
From the Civil Rights Movement in the US, the Windrush generation in Britain to the Mass Democratic Movements in South Africa, black people have stood up to oppose racism.
But discrimination against black people still continues unabated in all areas of life; be it sport, business, churches, schools, politics, etc.
Most recently, the Clicks advert portrayed black women’s hair in a way that is below beauty standards that are modelled on whiteness, leading to a nationwide protest against Clicks stores and the hashtag #blackhairmatters.
The advert is an insult to black women and denigrates us. It hurts to be subjected to this brutal racism daily and quite frankly, it is very draining.
To be a black person in this world is an act of courage – courage that I no longer feel or even have. Like George Floyd, we simply can’t breathe!
On September 12, we celebrated Steve Biko Day to commemorate Steve Bantu Biko, a black hero whose political convictions matter even more today than before. He pioneered the Black Consciousness Movement and 43 years after his murder by the apartheid regime, his words still reverberate with us, “Black man you are on your own”.
Again, with the brutal murder of George Floyd, we find ourselves at the crossroads of race matters.
The Black Lives Matter movement has inspired the world to stand in solidarity and call out racism wherever it shows its ugly head.
There are no surprises too that South African athlete and twotime 800m Olympic Champion, Caster Semenya lost her appeal on September 8, in a Swiss Federal Court, over the restrictions of her testosterone levels.
It is a stunning outcome which upheld the ruling of the Court of Arbitration and invariably upholds the regulations of the International Association of Athletics Federations. This sparked scientific analysis and put the spotlight on human rights, especially women’s rights.
The World Medical Association and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are some of the international bodies supporting Semenya, seeing these regulations as discriminatory. This moment must be a rallying call for all conscientised and human rights loving people, as alluded to by one of Semenya’s attorneys, Dorothee Schramm.
It is reminiscent of the public humiliation that Sarah Baartman, another South African black woman, endured in faraway lands. It is unimaginable that Semenya has to deal with her sexuality in full public glare – on a global stage, as if black people and women do not matter.
In a nutshell, she is not allowed to compete and defend her title at the Tokyo Olympics as she is – she has to use drugs to lower her “elevated” testosterone levels. Such is the injustice and unfair discrimination imposed on her.
Semenya said in her response: “I am very disappointed by this ruling, but refuse to let World Athletics drug me or stop me from being who I am.”
What does this ruling tell us about systemic racism and institutionalised racism?
The bias is apparent and woefully relevant to examine. The nuance of this appeal is centred on white privilege and male privilege which somehow decide on black and women’s bodies.
Juxtapose that with the compliments received by the US Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps whose body was lauded for being of rare talent. At no point was he subjected to the scrutiny Semenya has been subjected to. He is white – let that sink in!
Until Semenya and all discriminated people are given their fundamental human rights, the fight continues.
Just as Rosa Parks refused to be pushed aside in what sparked the Montgomery bus boycott against racism that inspired Martin Luther King jr to rise and say “Let freedom ring”, Caster Semenya refuses to be drugged. Racism must STOP. Let Freedom reign!