We are often confronted with the question of whether a united South Africa can succeed. Perhaps the relevant question aught to be whether we want it to succeed?

During the course of the past month I have repeatedly come across an argument which follows to the effect of 'blacks can never be racist.

From the onset it is of critical importance to consider the definition of the term racism : 'The belief that all members of a race possesses characteristic, abilities or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as superior or inferior to another race or races.' By the definition of the term, a statement such as 'blacks can never be racist' is is not only false, but also racist in itself.

One might argue, as some have, that racism is intertwined with supremacy, however, would not the inability to possess a negative trait lead to the logical conclusion that one is intellectually or even spiritually superior?



Racism vs Institutionalized Racialism

Unlike racism, institutionalized racialism requires the existence of a social manifestation, for instance in the US black Americans are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white American. In South Africa the average white child is born into a middle class suburban home and attends a former module C school. The average black child is born into poverty or a working class home and attends a non fee governmental school which is consistently out performed by former module C schools, primarily due to superior funding(amongst other factors) in the form of collecting monthly fees above and beyond government grants.

The average white child is not only more likely to attend but also to complete university courses due to availability of capital. Unemployment among white South Africans stands at 5% compared to a 35% national avaverage. These are but a few examples of the system of institutionalised radicalism and white privilege in South African society.



All of this is true not because the average white child is inherently more intelligent than his fellow countrymen but due to a system of institutionalized racialism that has been built up over the course of decades.

From this one one might draw a third argument in favour of a statement such as 'blacks can never be racist' being that one can only be racist if one has the power to subjugate. That is to say that, for instance, the owner of a business can be racist in taking a decision to lay off workers, yet the workers cannot be racist towards their employer as they hold no such authority over their employer. This argument, while more credible than the two which preceded it, is still flawed.

Before 1994 in applying this argument it would have been difficult to think that a black person could be racist taking into account that the government was under minority white control as was the judiciary and all other levers of power, while black South Africans were consciously used as cheap labour to drive the mines and the machines that kept their 'white economy' operational. Yet is such a blanket argument still applicable to South Africa 21 years into democracy?

Today we have a majority government which controls 30% of our national GDP, we have a greatly reformed judiciary with seven out of eleven current Constitutional Court Justices being black. While it is true that the much still has to be done to transform the private sector, it is also true that 21% of JSE listed companies are under black South African ownership. 42% Of all stocks traded are foreign owned. Today the black middle class has not only grown larger than the white middle class but we also have a new upper class that operates side by side with the pre-94 upper class.

How does one then argue that black South Africans can never be racist, that a government official or the owner of a private company might not be driven by racial prejudice to use the power vested in them to subjugate against a minority group? Indeed today there is little difference between a statement such as 'blacks can never be racist' and Hitler's belief that Germans were a superior race. One suggests racial supremacy while the other states it outright.

Struggle continues

It is upon the firm conviction that the only way to overcome racism is by condemning it in whatever form we may confront it in our day to day lives that I, and any person who is serious about non racialism, refuse to accept racism so long as it comes from one section of our society while condemning it whenever it comes from another.

To quote former President Mandela: "I despise racialism because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man".

The struggle for equality is not yet complete, the battle for political freedom for all South Africans has been won yet a vote without bread - without food, shelter, health care, quality education ect. - has very little value. I hope to contribute to this struggle in whatever way possible and to live to see the day when every child and adult alike not only in this country but the wider global community can stand side by side as equals in every aspect imaginable be it political, economical or social. When we will all stand side by side and the colour of a child's skin will have no greater influence on his destiny than the colour of his eyes or hair.

We are often confronted with the question of whether a united South Africa can succeed given the seemingly different ways of life of millions of our people. The obvious answer appears to be yes, but perhaps the relevant question aught to be whether we want it to succeed? Of course, millions of South Africans can hardly afford to answer no. The quality of our lives, the quality of the lives of our children and that of generations to come depends on the success or failure of our country.

I can't answer for anyone but myself, however, in answering yes I can not condone racialism in any form.

It was Einstein who said that we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them and indeed that the definition of insanity is doing the as thing twice whilst expecting different result. We have seen the results of unfettered racialism - of that utter idiocy which judges men not by the contents of their character but by the colour of their skins.

We have seen the pain, the hatred and the suffering. For this reason I, and any other person that is serious about non racialism, must reject any ideology which seeks to excuse racialism in any form with the utter contempt that it rightfully deserves.