The battle against racism must include all races

I HAVE a friend who gets irritated every time he sees a white beggar. He normally tells the beggar he had all kinds of opportunities under apartheid and asks why he did not use these opportunities. My friend believes if he, as a black person, had access to the opportunities whites had under apartheid, he would have been a lot more successful in life.

But I have also seen in recent years how some coloured people feel excluded from the economy because of their race; how some white people feel blacks think they are entitled to certain benefits others never had and how some black people feel our economic liberation remains far away.

In a country like South Africa, with its long history of racial oppression under colonialism and apartheid, it is not unexpected we would be obsessed with race.

We are only just over 20 years into our democracy and despite attempts to portray us as a “Rainbow Nation”, we are far from it. In some ways, buying into the myth of a Rainbow Nation in the early days of democracy allowed some to absolve themselves of responsibility for our racial problems or, even broader, for us not to deal with these problems at all.

We thought we were all reconciled after we became a democracy. But reconciliation has to be accompanied by sincerity and unfortunately we have not had much sincerity in our reconciliation process.

It’s as if we expected reconciliation without retribution; as if, once we voted in our first democratic elections, everyone expected us to live together in harmony forever. Now that this is not happening, some are acting surprised. But should they be?

Discrimination can be found in almost every country in the world and there are rich and poor people in most countries, but in South Africa the issue is probably more blatant because race discrimination was legalised for many years. The inequality between the rich and poor in South Africa is among the greatest in the world.

Undoing discrimination was never going to be as easy as undoing the legislation. A large part of what drove apartheid was not just the legal framework but, importantly, the brainwashing of all sectors of society, oppressed and the oppressor, into believing apartheid was necessary and even beneficial to society.

Apartheid perpetuated a belief whites were better than blacks and went out of its way to create opportunities for this to become true. Consequently, most whites in South Africa ended up being better off than blacks.

Changing mindsets is far more difficult than changing legislation. Therefore the scars of apartheid will live with us for a long time. I understand it is sometimes uncomfortable for some white people to talk about the effects of apartheid, but it is a necessary conversation. Think about how uncomfortable it is for those who grew up being victims of racism and discrimination.

You cannot hide behind the fact you cannot blame whites, especially young people, for the sins of their fathers. As someone said at a panel discussion I chaired last month: “I wonder how it feels to be a poor white person who lives in Thornton and you get blamed for apartheid, something from which you have never benefited in a concrete way.”

While young white people did not implement apartheid, many of them still benefit today because of the wealth accumulated by their families under apartheid. It remains easier for young whites to receive a decent education and, for instance, open a business than it is for young black people. Many young white people benefit from old school tie networks developed over years.

We need to begin talking about how we can get rid of racism finally and completely. It is important for any discussion about race in South Africa to be inclusive. You cannot hope to find a solution to racism if you exclude white people. Their voices need to be heard and they should not be drowned out by the loudness of black voices who speak with confidence on this topic.

We will only be able to deal with racism if we work together, irrespective of our skin colour, and if we are prepared to listen to one another. Too often South Africans get caught up in group dynamics, which can sometimes embolden people when they feel they have difficulty with dealing with certain situations.

Racism is often perpetuated by groups of people against other groups. But, ultimately, a commitment against racism is very personal. The more who commit to fight racism, the better. If we make this commitment, it means we no longer look at people’s skin colour but rather the content of their arguments and contributions. In a racialised society, such as South Africa, that is easier said than done.