Resist being partisan to bigotry
THERE can be no greater tribute to bigots and bigotry than for one to become bigoted in the name of fighting against bigotry. I was saddened the other day to hear a black person say they did not care about the rhino because white people thought the life of a rhino was more precious than that of a black person. They pointed to the decision by the National Press Club to declare the rhino Newsmaker of the Year 2012. That was the year of the Marikana Massacre.
That the rhino could be seen as being worthier of news than the mineworkers killed by the state in cold blood was enough for him to hate the rhino.
There are many things that are wrong with the logic employed by this person, who for ease I shall refer to as my friend, even though he is not.
My friend somehow thinks that saving the rhino is a “white thing” when at the very least it is a green thing – if you insist on adding colour.
But supposing it was true – and I insist that it is not a white thing – my biggest problem with my friend’s logic is that he has decided to attach value and importance to things depending on how a group of people he has some grudge with (I will not discuss whether this is historic, wellfounded or justified) feel about an issue.
It is like deciding whether the lemon is sweet or sour depending on whether it comes from a tree in the orchard of a friend or foe.
Deciding whether something is right or wrong should be based on our own values and not those of others, much less on the sentiments of those we already have a low opinion about.
I refuse to allow bigots to dictate to me and that I hit back with my own bigotry. I am not suggesting that I do not have any bigoted views that I need to work on. I do.
I am part of a society that institutionalised bigotry.
It is as inevitable as it is for one sitting in a smoke-filled room to leave with the smell of smoke on one’s clothes.
We are a society where it was law, and it is in many instances a religious duty to hold a view that some people are not worthy of full human dignity and respect because of their skin colour, sex or sexual orientation.
Under these circumstances, it should not be a surprise that there have been a lot of public manifestations of racism since the start of the new year.
It is cringeworthy, though, just how with each episode we find those of the offended
Only by examining our own hearts first for the prejudices we all harbour will we be able to move forward and give SA a more human face
group hardening their attitudes and plotting to avenge the attack on them.
In my book, bigotry extracts a need for equal bigotry from them, and they are just like those they claim to oppose. They are like a criminal gang that seeks to replace another. The intentions are the same.
Those in the struggle for a non-racial future – a future free from prejudice and bigotry – will not allow themselves to be sidetracked by the likes of Penny Sparrow or Velaphi Khumalo. They will not be blinded by racial solidarity to justify ignorance and hate. To them, right will be right regardless of who else thinks so.
To get to this point, we must always reflect on on our lives and viewpoints. An unexamined life is really not worth living, as Socrates famously noted.
I have recently found that I ought to hold certain prejudices against certain white people depending on the colour of their hair. Coming from a background where everybody’s hair is the same colour, I can say with absolute certainty that this prejudice is not naturally occurring. It is acquired.
In the same way that I as an outsider must learn to attach meaning to people and the colour of their hair, we learnt how to teach our children to be racists, tribalists, homophobic, jingoists or to believe that those who are like us or come from the same side of life as us are better for no other reason than that we are part of them.
The true heroes of the struggle against bigotry of all sorts are those like Black Consciousness icon Steve Biko who, while very aware of how race and racism sought to dehumanise, knew that the opposite to antiblack racism was not anti-white racism.
There are those like Biko who spend their time putting their shoulder to the wheel trying to make sure we get closer to achieving Biko’s dream: “In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift – a more human face”. But to get there, we must make the difficult journey into our own hearts and acknowledge the darkness we harbour.