Social cohesion and ideas of racial identity

THE debate of what is human and what makes us human has been long argued.

For me, most recently, I engaged this conversation in J Bourke’s book, What it Means to be Human: Reflections from 1791 to the Present, where she posits that the classification of “human” was only constructed (by humans, might I add) so that there could be an “other”, an animal or “less human”.

And, of course, if something is less human or an animal, well, it justifies all sorts of atrocities that we have witnessed throughout history.

So, when we have former president FW de Klerk say that apartheid was not a crime against humanity, it may not be that he is denying the severity of the violent actions, oppression and atrocities meted out, but could point to the belief that such atrocities cannot be constituted a crime against humanity, as the victims themselves, well, weren’t really humans (read: white humans).

In South Africa, white, black and brown citizens co-exist, share space, and engage, but always through a thin film that separates us. A thin film I call, and borrowing from the Netflix Original show, Stranger Things, the Upside-down: a dystopian and chaotic parallel universe that exists alongside the “normal” reality.

De Klerk just confirmed that this membrane that divides how different races experience the world still exists. That on one side of the Upside-down, violence occurred but it wasn’t “that bad” because they weren’t that human to begin with; that we are 25 years into democracy so it’s time to “get over apartheid”.

I think the De Klerk comment, and the reactions on all sides of the race divide, again illustrate white South Africa’s continued distancing from the South African social cohesion project. This distancing is fuelled by a continued lack of social education around our past (what is exclusion, power, diversity (identity) and privilege?).

In my work around equality, diversity and inclusion, I seek to address the above gaps both in the education and corporate spaces. Not exclusively talking to white people, but rather inviting us all to face our inherited beliefs and narratives that support the structure of the parallel universe.

As a way to understand how to achieve social cohesion, I have developed the following acronym: R.A.I.D.

For me, social cohesion is created when individuals and organisations: Recognise that history has systematically and unjustly excluded groups from social, political and economic spaces;

Are aware that historical structures and behaviours of exclusion are not easily dismantled and still exist in our democracy today;

Become intolerant of this continued exclusion that continues to occur along historical lines of exclusion;

Drive towards meaningful inclusion of those who have been historically excluded by focusing on behavioural structural change. RAID is the piercing of the membrane that separates our parallel universes. It is the opening line of our Constitution, “We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of our past”. It is the tool that allows each of us to connect with and drive the South African social cohesion project for the betterment of all.