Racism in Africa
Society
The Pathology of White Privilege and Racism in South Africa – A Personal Perspective
May 8, 2012
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A whites-only sign used during Apartheid. South Africa has a history of racial discrimination which continues to cause bitter relations between the various racial groups in the country.
Racial tension currently unfolding on social networks has once again proved that South Africa is still far from fostering any real sense of nationhood among its disparate racial groups. Be that as it may, it has been the white response to complaints by black South Africans regarding Jessica Leandra Dos Santos’ racial outburst that has captured my attention, and prompted me to explain and hopefully bring to the attention of white South Africans what I term the pathology of white privilege, denial and racism in South Africa – a play on a lecture delivered by American keynote speaker, Tim Wise, entitled “The Pathology of White Privilege”.
“Apartheid is over, these people need to get over it” – it is not uncommon to hear white South Africans say this or a variation of this sentence in referring to what is often termed the “the chip on black people’s shoulders” – the history of oppression under apartheid. Commentary informed by this very thinking surfaced again this weekend, with many white South Africans reducing the whole incident to simply a misunderstanding rather than a racial issue, bringing me to my core point of modern-day South African white privilege: denial.
South Africa has a brutal history of oppression mostly perpetrated by white South Africans, it is only natural to want to quickly forget this segment of history, naturally; it is an uncomfortable part of our history. But to simply dismiss everything that is connected to this history, will not serve to improve racial relations in South Africa.
White denial manifests itself in many ways but most telling is the vilification of corrective policies taken in post-Apartheid South Africa such as affirmative action
The Pathology of White Privilege and Racism in South Africa – A Personal Perspective
May 8, 2012
..
A whites-only sign used during Apartheid. South Africa has a history of racial discrimination which continues to cause bitter relations between the various racial groups in the country.
Racial tension currently unfolding on social networks has once again proved that South Africa is still far from fostering any real sense of nationhood among its disparate racial groups. Be that as it may, it has been the white response to complaints by black South Africans regarding Jessica Leandra Dos Santos’ racial outburst that has captured my attention, and prompted me to explain and hopefully bring to the attention of white South Africans what I term the pathology of white privilege, denial and racism in South Africa – a play on a lecture delivered by American keynote speaker, Tim Wise, entitled “The Pathology of White Privilege”.
“Apartheid is over, these people need to get over it” – it is not uncommon to hear white South Africans say this or a variation of this sentence in referring to what is often termed the “the chip on black people’s shoulders” – the history of oppression under apartheid. Commentary informed by this very thinking surfaced again this weekend, with many white South Africans reducing the whole incident to simply a misunderstanding rather than a racial issue, bringing me to my core point of modern-day South African white privilege: denial.
South Africa has a brutal history of oppression mostly perpetrated by white South Africans, it is only natural to want to quickly forget this segment of history, naturally; it is an uncomfortable part of our history. But to simply dismiss everything that is connected to this history, will not serve to improve racial relations in South Africa.
White denial manifests itself in many ways but most telling is the vilification of corrective policies taken in post-Apartheid South Africa such as affirmative action