Why is racism so stubborn? This far into our democracy, it doesn’t seem to get any better. If anything, it feels like it gets worse, year after year.
Since I started writing this page, sadly not a year has passed when I wasn’t forced to address this issue.
The latest incident involves the elderly Joburg substitute teacher who was filmed writing racist comments on the blackboard. Her goal was apparently to encourage the kids to stop being offended by the K-word and other slurs, since they are too young to have experienced the dehumanising reality of apartheid.
In her logic, they shouldn’t be offended by words that hold no practical weight for them; that isn’t part of their daily lived experiences. I kinda get her point. But you have to bear with me, to understand why I say that.
The last time we had a similar situation, it involved Professor Adam Habib, who was recorded using the N-word during a lecture about the appropriate use of words like that in academic discourse.
At the time, I wrote about the knee-jerk reactions that occasions like this still illicit, especially from populist politicians keen to be on the right side of the racism argument.
But as in the case of Habib, I would recommend that we pause and consider context, fairness or intent. Obviously not all the time, because some cases are clear-cut and should be judged with outright contempt.
But let’s also consider the times we find ourselves in where social media, cancel culture tends to go into overdrive at even the slightest provocation. While there’s definitely a place for it in the modern world, the internet does seem to place too much power into the hands of young cyber bullies.
These are armchair slacktivists who are not always the social justice warriors that they claim to be, but instead are a gang of misguided pseudo-intellectuals, revelling in the online fame they hope to court from their virtue signalling.
This often comes at the reputational expense of people who don’t deserve the treatment they are subsequently subjected to. But there are of course many exceptions that give us hope.
I have often written about the hope I have for the younger generation, which I believe is not as blinkered and narrow-minded as the older folks.
Born-frees were forced to integrate and mix widely, meaning much of the cross-cultural fears and ignorance were instantly erased by circumstance. Access to the internet also means that they are communicating more freely and openly about sensitive topics that we weren’t able to do in previous years.
Generally speaking, they have a severe aversion and intolerance to prejudice, the result being that they are growing up with the appreciation and understanding that people are much more similar than we care to admit.
So in this day and age, given all the social progress, why does such a broad range of racism still exist? Science has proven that children are not born prejudiced, so it’s not nature.
Given everything I have said about access to information, we know it’s not entirely societal. That leaves just one thing – nurture.
Racism is being programmed into these kids by their racist parents. It’s either an open and hostile racism that’s being practised at home every day, or a subtle racism that is being aired through supposed jokes told around the braai.
These are the die-hards who care only about themselves and the privileges that prejudice affords them. After all, a racist society is good for cowardly white people of average intelligence and whose prospects are diminished should the playing field be levelled.
And this is where a different tactic is called for. The time has come for us to bring the K-word back into general use amongst ourselves, the way African-Americans took ownership of the N-word.
When we own it, then it can’t be used against us, to cut us and hurt us. We need to take the sting our of these words. Because while we are trying to raise healthy, respectful and morally-balanced offspring, there are people who are still passing their hateful insecurities and moral bankruptcy on to their children.
Let’s take some of the ammunition out of their weapons. I’m hoping that is what that the Joburg teacher meant.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za