Friends, amongst the many elephants in the room that remain unchallenged in South African society there is one in particular Im keen to tackle this morning: RACISM As someone who works tirelessly to achieve an inclusive society, RACISM hurts me...dont get me wrong, thus far in my life Ive been incredibly blessed to not (ever) feel like Ive been a victim of racism or racial discrimination of any kind, but its through listening, watching and seeing the experiences of others that I have been hurt. In defining how racism hurts me, I literally mean physical pain (cardiovascular, anxiety and stress). I realize that by openly revealing this, you will have some (across colour lines) who will downplay this as some play on emotions or cynical attention seeking ploy, but (frankly) Im just sharing my personal experience of racism. Take for example the Steve Hofmeyr case, only in South Africa do historic beneficiaries of racism demand that their victims change their ways. The absurdity of it all boggles. The city I love, Cape Town, has been in the news lately for the most absurd incidents of racism. In past status updates, I have consistently asked fellow South Africans if enough attention has been given to understanding that 92% of the population in South Africa is constitutionally classified black, that this percentage is presentative of some 49 million people. In further contextualizing the figures, I have said that the black middle class (educated and employed professionally) is now larger than the entire white population. I have gone on to say that an estimated 74% of this countrys economy continues to remain untransformed, and that the overwhelming majority suffers from abject poverty. With all this in mind, have we began to understand the impact that race bias will start having on all of us as nation. How quickly we forget that apartheid was perpetrated over many decades and was designed as a systematic form of racial segregation, a bias of advantage, deprivation and racial supremacy. Till this day, our politicians continue to use this to keep South Africans polarize and separated: socially and economically. Racism is lazy, its sick and abhorrent.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 08:22:53 +0000
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