Are we all racist?

I am white, and I am South African, so it would be easy to make a sweeping generalisation that because of the colour of my skin and my nationality, I am probably a racist. And because I am a white racist I am anti the ANC, have loads of money, a university degree, and not an ‘African’, simply a ‘South African’. Conversely, if I was black I would be pro ANC, the criminal element or a corrupt official, I would probably have AIDS, and I would be an ‘African’ through and through. It is therefore predetermined that generalisations will be made, no matter how ridiculous they are and so where better to generalise than a country with such a history as South Africa?

The fact is that I am African because of my location not my appearance, no matter how many generations my family dates back to settling in South Africa, and just because I am white should I really be classified otherwise. It is not only the Native American Indians that are called Americans and it is not only the Aborigines and Maoris that are called Australian or New Zealanders and an Asian in England or a black man in France are still called English and French respectively. So why can’t I call myself not just South African but African. The fact is that South Africa is no different from any other country; the only difference is that South Africa managed to elect a ‘Xhosa’ as its first native African president, before America elected a Native America president or Australia elected an Aborigine Prime Minister. And yes, some of you will say that is not the point, it is down to majority rule but America and Australia relocated their Native Indians and Aborigines into reserve and eventually exterminated them, almost to extinction. Which country has therefore been more colonised and oppressed?

I am not going to try and be a pseudo-intellectual or throw in a whole lot of fancy words and quotes in an attempt to make my writing seem more intelligent than it is, nor will I try and preach to know too much on the subject at hand. What I am going to try and achieve with this article is put to paper, or in this day and age, to computer, what I feel about the country of South Africa, its people and its situation, and in doing so voice my opinions like so many others these days. If you dis-agree with me then say so, I am not set in my ways I am just speaking from how I see things and this may be different to you.

BACKGROUND:

I have been travelling the country for the past six months on a new charity venture (if those two words can in fact go next to each other), and prior to that I travelled the world for eight years, so I am speaking from a slight tower of informed perception and a legitimate viewpoint I feel. For the first half of 2012 I have been exposed to an excess of opinions, newspapers, billboards, interviews and of course a diverse range of people. In this I have attempted to remain the journalist in the situation in order to give the project with which I am working, a valuable viewpoint.

“The EXPEDITION Project has set out on a mammoth task to visit 200 towns/communities/villages in 365 days in order to gain some sort of grasp on the situation the nation is facing, and more importantly what the people in the lesser know areas think at this moment in time. I should mention that the 200 areas we will be visiting in 2012 will be the smaller, more unknown parts of South Africa. This will be the beginning of a series of expeditions to further survey the country following our 2012 national census, however it will aim to provide more pertinent questions about not only what is being done but what can be done. The reason? To find out exactly what South Africans and all its inhabitants think and feel about their country right now and ultimately where they think it is going.”

IN THE PRESS:

Lately, there has been much talk about ‘The Spear’ painting, government corruption, miss-management of municipal funds, and lack of service delivery, and there is no doubt that this is going on and probably will continue to go on but what I wish to focus on is another angle to the argument.

In the early 90’s South Africa had an ideal opportunity to re-invent itself, re-design a nation and prove to the world that out of despair could come power and success. Now don’t get me wrong, the nation has done so well, come so far and continues to provide examples to the world on industry leaders, a progressive constitution and scientific advances, and not to mention sporting greatness. South Africa is doing a lot right, but what the country is not doing is directing this opportunity for greatness in the right areas and moving forward rather than looking back over its shoulders all the time.

Let us think of a few examples:

HISTORY:

For me history is there to learn from, to teach us what has worked and what has not, and why certain things have been tried and tested and eventually abandoned and failed, it is also available to establish just how our world has evolved both environmentally and socially. Unfortunately, propaganda, as in the WW2 era as well as in the lead up and around 9/11 and beyond is still very much alive and it lives in South Africa. I have read several articles lately from former ANC supporters and freedom fighters who now say that they are disillusioned by the direction in which the party has and is going. Ideals have been lost and primitive ‘dog-eat-dog’ tactics are raising their heads again. I feel that any government has to have a learning curve process, time to figure out how things are to be done in respect to the country it is managing and how the people are to be looked after in a way that suits the majority. Based on history, why certain individuals in the ANC Youth League think that Nationalisation and Communism will work when it hasn’t throughout Eastern Europe, then I don’t know. A great example of something that is great in theory but a failure in practice. The funny thing is that these same individuals want South Africa back to the native people and ‘shoot the Boer’ but at the same time want to keep all the industry that colonialism brought in compensation for past atrocities. No one is arguing with the wrong doings of South Africa’s past and yes, in an ideal world all nations of the world would have been left in peace and harmony and exploration and greed would not exist, but it did and still does. And now that greed has resided in the top drawer of government’s desk.

CONSITUTION:

The problem I have is the government and the people equally need to get their act together. South Africa’s constitution, although progressive and inspiring is providing a platform from which to make your protest about anything and everything known. Now this is not necessarily a positive in my eyes, and it really needs to be channelled to the pertinent otherwise it will quickly get lost into a sea of negativity. So for one, the people of South Africa need to realise that you can complain about everything now and for ever more or you can start in your own home and business and help to provide the answers. If the people aren’t happy with something then sure you must do something about it, but the nation will have to realise what the immediate problems are and what the things are that they as individuals can solve themselves. The government then needs to realise that everyone will not always be pleased and impressed and they need to stop and re-evaluate the nation and work on one thing at a time and start to be selfish for the sake of the people, not the sake of their own pockets.

APARTHEID:

Apartheid brought South Africa two advantages; firstly, it proved that the nation could be self-sufficient. If the world didn’t want to deal with South Africa then South Africa would provide what it needed on its own and so it did. Secondly, this left South Africa’s economic grading as far superior to most of Western Europe and the world due to this and the lack of lending that went on when the rest of the world borrowed from the World Bank and now find themselves in massive debt. South Africa’s ‘A’ grading puts itself on stable ground.

JOBS:

So, to the present day, let us take this positive out of the darkness of Apartheid and turn it into what defines the country. South Africa needs jobs and so the country should be providing these and be building the supply and demand of local industry slowly up from there. It may not be as cheap as China initially but eventually South Africa will be able to cater in both price and quality. China didn’t get to the point it is now over night, it had a long term plan and so must we. We all know that South Africa, as the wealthiest African nation, can provide quality in everything they do, and we all know that South Africans are world renown for their ingenuity to do it, so what is stopping them? But taking it a step further, it’s not just jobs we need but careers, and there is a big difference. Careers for me are long term, sustainable and channelled towards the individual’s interests and skills rather than just a monthly or weekly wait until pay day.

NEW SOUTH AFRICA:

It has been a generation now since South Africa’s new democracy; in 1965 the holocaust survivors were not still blaming their lives, be it negative or positive, on the Nazis twenty years previous. The US may have abolished slavery back in the time of Lincoln, but the fight for equal rights still went on into the 60’s and 70’s, and then 20 years from then the blame for that did not still occupy the minds of Americans as an excuse for their daily lives. The LA riots proved that tensions still existed in the 80’s and although they were clearly a forerunner in cultural drowning much like the English colonialism, they still made it clear that they would still strive on becoming a world leaders.

RACISM:

There are examples all over the world and the fact is every country has had and still has racial and culture conflict and this will probably always be the case. Where there are differences, be it in colour, religion, culture, there will be conflict in something as simple as a bar altercation right through to a civil war. In light of this South Africa has managed a transition in a proud and peaceful way, something to be satisfied with, and the country can indeed hold its head high. But right now it is time to get on with it. Move on. Move forward. What has happened has happened, we can all learn from it and the beauty of that is that we can grow even better because of it. The question really is whether South Africa as a nation is strong enough to admit mistakes not just 50 years ago, but 10 years ago. Admit that it hasn’t been all a ‘bed of roses’. Service delivery has been slacking off. Health care for the poor is so bad and for the rich so expensive. Jobs have not met the demand. Education is becoming a joke and crime, although not nearly as bad as the world makes it out to be, is still a problem. This is something the government has to accept and I for one would have a lot more respect for the current administration if they admitted their short-comings, gave the people real results and figures and from there provided realistic forecasts rather than blaming their in-efficiencies on the 1980’s. The generation right now, the children being born today and the ones that were born 20 years ago have the fabulous opportunity to be immersed in a nation of positively not a nation full of blame and carried on shoulders full of chips. I think racism does still exist in South Africa and of course it will but I also think racism is automatically thought of as white on black thing, however right now it is quite clear that the government also needs to let go of the past and with that, let go of its attitudes as well as the previous government’s faults.

MOVING FORWARD:

What do you want to do? Do you want to complain and be negative, it is so much easier isn’t it, after all who doesn’t love to complain and talk about how crap Jacob Zuma is as a president (this has been made very obvious in the press recently; it seems to be the people of South Africa’s constitutional right) or what Julius Malema has said recently? But lets all try collectively as a nation to move forward for our own good and for that of our children. Take a lesson from the Germans or the Japanese, when faced with a troublesome passed or a crisis, they dust them selves off and work out a practical way forward in a way that benefits not just the nation financially but the nations morale.

I for one an doing just that, and if you would like to join me then participate on The EXPEDITION Project – a series of annual expeditions set on finding out where South Africa is, where it is going and what we can do to make that direction a positive and beneficial one.

I am African, I am subject to racism just like you wherever you live and whatever you are, but I will not let my country’s past define me, I will define my country’s future.

Taken from News24