The term 'racist' has no meaning to me any more in South Africa. Whites are racist, blacks are racist, everyone is racist. All are human beings with a bone to pick with each other. Racism is used to gain a few points, or to smear someone when suitable. You can use it to get work, or kick someone out of their work. You can use it as an excuse to run a country into the ground (as Uncle Bob does up north). Racism is a game, and the game is about blame, and there is a winner and a loser. It's not very progressive.
When I hear people moan about another race group, I hope you don't mind if I switch off. Sorry but I tend to think there is something else at stake. It's a way to cheat your way for a free handout. And probably, the person making racist remarks is too lazy to accept responsibility for something they did or should have done. They're not prepared to put in the effort to fix something so they resort to racism.
An example is this drunk judge Motata. I would have thought a man of his position would have the sense - when he sobered up - to simply fess up (the facts speak for themselves - blood alchohol 4x the legal level, photos, voice records, a demolished wall and and car, and yet the guy still has the balls to defend himself, he still reckons he's not guilty (I guess the car did a Herbi-goes-bananas trick or something....) Please explain to me why this guy can't say, "Guilty as charged, sorry I messed up." It turns out those drunk ramblings have quite a lot of purchase in his right mind...because his actions as a sobre guy seem to back-up the actions of the drunk guy.
I have a sneaking suspicion a lot of people echo those sentiments. It's a rainbow daydream to think of South Africa as a democracy. A lot of people see it as a white to black handover, thanks very much, and now the blacks will make the whites pay. What did he say: "...it used to be a white man's land...now South Africa is ours. We are ruling." And this is a guy who has just bulldozed his car onto someone's property, and one presumes a judge who has had to sentence a lot of criminals...and so what does he say to himself when he passes sentence: "This country is ours. We are ruling."
David Bullard has been called a racist, even by colleagues writing in the media. I mean really. Racists can be spotted from a mile away. They have to defend their egos and they do so in plain sight. Racism is also part of their vocabulary. Did it take 14 years to figure out David was racist? He did make some remarks that aren't very nice, that was his job...and he was also sketching a scenario. My point is do we want to give David a break and say, "Hey, c'mon, we don't like this...but here's an opportunity to make good..." Remember the proceeds of David's book wereto a charity...one that I think builds shelters. Now I don't know about you, but where people put money says a lot about where their hearts are. I also think we shouldn't MAKE someone a racist. Either they are, or they aren't, but making them as bad as we think they can be shows something wrong in us, not them. What are our motives when we derive pleasure or ego satisfaction in proving how wrong (and er...how right) someone else is...of course...compared to us.
Ironically enough, the piece Bullard wrote that was held as evidence for firing him alluded to the Chinese. What is wrong with giving South Africa's Chinese community a chance to participate? I for one have felt bad for them, forever sidelined...to an extent maligned even more than blacks because they seemed to have been completely overlooked...did they even have their own race category during Apartheid? It disturbs me to see people who have 'struggled' endlessly to fight Apartheid shout loudly to exclude these people, people who have also suffered, and thus endorsing their own shadowy Apartheid. Is it all about looking after number 1? Because that's not what Mandela espouses. It's equality for everyone, whatever your religion, sex, color, whatever.
I have a suggestion though. Perhaps black Africans are worried that their African-ness gets hurt by grouping the Chinese under BEE. (I don't honestly believe that is the reason though). It's more likely that they are worried they won't get sweet deals because someone else might get them. In other words, they want to maintain a sense of entitlement... So why not have CEE - Chinese Economic Empowerment? Personally I think mainland China would love that and it might be great to boost business and industry and deal making between our countries.
But the locals don't seem to think that far. They don't mind name changes that foreigners won't be able to pronounce (and might not visit for the same reason). I was out of the country for a while and it has taken me a while to know what Polokwane refers to. And to be honest, I am not interested in knowing about Polokwane or visiting Polokwane because to me it is a meaningless name. You may say that what i think is unimportant, and anyway, I am outnumbered. Fair enough. But then explain why you want to host international events like the Soccer World Cup. It's to make money right? Exactly. Name changing is - or should be about money, but we know what it is really about. Giving the whites the finger, even if it sort of starts ruining the marketability and prospects of the whole country (never mind the cost to change all these names). There's something Zimmy (as in Zimbabwe-like) in that philosophy...ego satisfaction, but at the nations expense.
The other thing is poverty. We carry on as though we have emerged as a great power...but you know, only some of us have. Did you know MOST people in our country are poor. Don't have enough to eat. Including children and the elderly, the majority of people in SA don't have jobs. So actually we can't afford to be diverting money that could save lives (in AIDS treatment, in food, to build fucking houses) to painting signs with new names to the same places. So, let's not kid ourselves what is in the public interest and what is not.
It's a concern when the wannabe-president of a nation - anywhere in the world - sings songs to his followers about a machine gun, and the figureheads in his support encourage people to kill if justice prevents them from getting what they want. The thing that we don't understand about justice is that it doesn't just protect us from others, or redress harm done to us, it can also protect us from ourselves. Sometimes, it may not be good or right that we get what we want. Justice allows some forced discipline and balance in society. When we do away with that, we begin to turn our own homes, our living rooms and kitchens, into toilets. Nobody - except Bob - wants that. And you know, maybe the MDC could have let Bob have his way one more time. Maybe they could have accepted it...and maybe it would have saved a few lives. Because probably Bob won't be around in just a few years. What you fight, you strengthen. When you accept something, you know better how to defeat it. This is why the war on terror and the war on drugs and crime continues. When you accept and understand, the necessary change and transformation starts.
Which brings me back to racism. I've made racist remarks. Does that make me a racist? What about you? Have you uttered a swear word in your life? I'm not dumb enough to need an answer. I've even called Afrikaners Dutchmen (and I consider myself more Dutch than Afrikaans, and also more English than Afrikaans). So what does that say? Maybe it says I was pissed off at the time. Maybe it says I had a bad experience with a Philips washing machine. Who knows.
People judge others by their actions, and we judge ourselves by our intentions. It's not enough for me - or for you - to know that I am not a racist. It is not enough to know if you (or I) don't do anything. And how do you do something that is not racist? That's for you to come up with, but I have a feeling it has something to do with giving and sharing...and it is the opposite of these, those who seek to take, and dominate, those with a selfish view of their own interests, that have a skewed sense of relationship not only to other races, but to other human beings in general. Speak now with your actions and shutup about racism.
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