Race and Ethnicity of South Africa - Essay Example

? inserts his/her number Race and Ethni The Case of South Africa INTRODUCTION Racism in South Africa during and after the period of Apartheid has been of particular interest to researchers. Although the apartheid movement ended long time ago, its philosophy still remains alive in several towns of Africa. This paper shall investigate the racism during and after this movement and highlight the miseries of black Africans as they face discrimination from the Whites. It concludes with suggestions on how to alleviate the miseries of the indigenous people of South Africa in the context of the discussion. THE APARTHEID South Africa has been marked with 350 years of colonialism and apartheid movement which has ingrained the superiority of fair skin, narrow features and straight hair in the minds of the locals (Manning, 2004). At the same time, have a broad nose or curly hair or even black skin is associated with ugliness. The local Zulu or SeSotho language has been abandoned in favor of English which sounds classier and associated with being civilized and educated (Manning, 2004). This, combined with a preference for music that is classic European as opposed to the ‘noisy’ African “marabi” or tap dance have resulted in the belief that it is more worthy to live the life of a “white” as opposed to a “black” in Africa (Manning, 2004). It is not uncommon to associate Africans as laborers who live in shanty, overcrowded towns and are uncivilized whereas Westerners are associated as being smart, working in white-collar jobs and being more educated. This racial stereotyping has resulted in the birth of a false ideology that the white skin is superior which is manifested in the mindset of both the white and black South-Africans. The above has its roots in the Apartheid movement which resulted in the geographic separation of humans defined through decree. It was a gradual and procedural process of systemically categorizing humans based on race. Although history has defined the start (1948) and the end (1994) of this policy, it cannot be classified as a one-off event since its ideology was borrowed from the subtle yet dominant arbitrary categorization of South Africans during the colonial era of British rule (Franchi, 2003). These colonialists had already constructed the racial difference by “Europeans” were distinguished from “coloreds” or the native Africans. Henceforth, an act was passed which divided the population into four categories namely the White, Colored (those belonging to mixed races), Bantu (native Black Africans) and Asians (that included people from the subcontinent as well as China) (Franchi, 2003). This, however, was later followed by a more severe legal implementation of the actual “Apartheid” policy that exacerbated the exploitation and de-humanization of the local indigenous majority at the hands of the White colonist minority. Social privilege was granted to the South Africans that were “white-skinned” such that they monopolized political authority to continue to enjoy this supremacy. This policy encompassed all spheres of life including political, social and economic aspects that progressively deprived the Black South-Africans of their dwellings, nationality and civil liberties. Laws were passed in this regard from 1948 to 1958 that prohibited the sharing of land, education, labor, marriage, sexual relations and social services between the native Black South Africans and their White counterparts (Franchi, 2003). Black South Africans were required by law to bear “pass-books” that contained their work and home address (Franchi, 2003). Indigenous South Africans who failed to produce necessary documents upon spot checks were later subjected to brutal treatment and expelled to their demarcated regions (Franchi, 2003). What had begun as a political oppression had now traumatized the lives of the indigenous blacks of South Africa. This psychological imprint remains fresh in the minds of many such natives to date. However, this was not all. The socio-economic inequality resulting from reservation of white-collar jobs for the “whites” along with the institutionalization of racially discriminative practices at work led to the sustained demotion of Black South Africans along the economic ladder. As per the education policy, these Blacks were barred from getting education from private schools and were forced to seek education from schools that lacked resources and were overcrowded (Franchi, 2003). Only the Whites enjoyed access to privileged education which further substantiated class differences between the two. The racial basis on which the Apartheid was founded continued to legitimize the sustained oppression of the native majority at the hands of a foreign minority. The demise of the Apartheid regime, however, has marked continued efforts towards the preservation of the self-presentation and self-identity of the indigenous Africans who struggle to recover from the mental and physical trauma they suffered during this period. REPERCUSSIONS OF APARTHEID IN THE POST- APARTHEID ERA The end of the Apartheid regime left the “Afrikaners” in the middle of an existential crisis. Since the Apartheid system centered on the Afrikaners it was difficult to imagine a democracy that is based on the demise of everything pertaining to the nationalism of these Afrikaners. The failure of the Apartheid movement has resulted in chaos, confusion and lack of direction amongst the Afrikaners who have lost their identity. This psychological trauma has exacerbated to the extent that these individuals ask themselves “who are we?” (Verwey & Michael, 2012). The fear inculcated in these people makes them reluctant to associate themselves as Afrikaners. It is not possible for people to redefine their Afrikaner identity which they had used earlier to assert their political and human rights (Slabbert, 2000). It is interesting to note that “Afrikaner” and not “African” was classified as a racial group in the Apartheid movement (Verwey & Michael, 2012). Africans not just include Afrikaners but various other groups. However, after the demise of Apartheid, the term African began to be used in place of Afrikaners with respect to employment opportunities under government policies. Hence, the symbolic struggle over who is included in the African group determines who gets structural equality such as affirmative action. Whiteness, however, is a racial and ethnic group that is still universally associated with privilege. In the case of South Africa, white South Africans enjoyed exclusive access to economic and political privileges. Although political power is no longer the exclusive privilege of white South Africans, economic privilege still remains exclusively with them. Even though the middle class has witnessed positive changes from economic reform in South Africa, the polar classes have not. For instance, roughly 28% of Afrikaners are reported to have been unemployed compared to only 5% of Whites (Verwey & Michael, 2012). Even though the change is sluggish and patchy, white South Africans are dealing with enormous shifts in their identity and position in South Africa. Political realignment in the post-Apartheid era has, therefore, given birth to revision in the social sphere which has resulted in South Africans engaging in one of the most intense shared psychological modifications of the present-day world. Furthermore, the Apartheid has legitimized race as an instrument for violence. The era of Nelson Mandela saw the rebirth of Africa as a “rainbow nation” or an era where racial harmony, understanding and harmony marked he social order (Verwey & Michael, 2012). At the same time, however, the use of race to institutionalise violence in the past was largely ignored such that no attempts were made to redress the racism that was silently operating in the minds of Africans. Although overt attempts at racism had been curbed, the inherent psychological trauma in the minds of the Afrikaners had not yet been erased. The Mbeki era has seen the return of recognition of injustice owing to race. While Mandela’s era focused on forgiving and forgetting the racial prejudice against Black South Africans, Mbeki’s era saw the return of the “two nations” approach with reforms to address the inequality present in the society (Verwey & Michael, 2012). Although issues pertaining to racial prejudice were highlighted, little had been done to reconcile the two nations (black and white South Africans). THE WAY FORWARD After having accounted for the nature and extent of the racism against indigenous South Africans, it is important to understand the way forward in such a situation. Although the terrors of the Apartheid era may remain fresh in the minds of many natives, attempts may be taken to reach reconciliation. It would be too simplistic to state that the Whites should acknowledge their privileges and respond to their continuity since it is difficult to define these privileges today and uproot them. The process of removing the “whiteness” is, therefore, a complicated and long process. According to Sullivan, it is easy to change the ‘self’ that is defined by habits pertaining to ones race but reconstructing ones racial individuality is a slow paced and scrupulous course of action with no guarantee that it will be successful (Sullivan, 2006). It is even more dangerous when the Whites associate their “whitely” habits of being fair, impartial and unbiased in racist struggles as this pre-conceived notion can be self-defeating. In the light of this, a cautious approach to dealing with this issue is proposed. Considering that the process of unlearning white habits is tedious and lengthy, separatism seems to be a way forward. Also considering that the whites have presumed dominant positions and sought to control their environments, abandoning their comfort zones and moving to other spaces will reinforce the existing disparity rather than reduce it (Sullivan, 2006). Therefore, if these individuals limit their participation in struggles led by Black South Africans they may accommodate the domination of voices of the oppressed Afrikaners. Not only will this enable the Blacks to consolidate themselves and appear as strong in terms of the message they convey but also serve as a sign of respect to the Blacks from the Whites. The involvement of the White people in such struggles may create self-praise amongst the White community but offer little help to the struggle. Furthermore, the process of unlearning the privileges bestowed to the Whites can also be done in covert ways as opposed to overt support. For instance, the Whites can read literature pertaining to the lives of Blacks which will open up their culture to the Whites so that they can better understand them. Instead of being a part of this struggle by showing support to the Blacks in their society, the Whites ought to gather support for the Blacks in the Whites’ society. Also, it is important to note that while some White people were actively involved in the Apartheid, others were not. Yet the “unconscious” White habits infected these individuals as well and labelled them as part of the Apartheid (Sullivan, 2006). CONCLUSION To conclude, this paper demonstrates the power of Apartheid in drawing a line between the Black and White South Africans which remains existent to date, although to a lesser extent. It also proposes covert attempts on the part of Whites to detach the system of privileges that has been the exclusive right of the White population. While this process may take several decades, the recognition of the racism that existed and its repercussions is in itself a leap forward in the path to change the racist social, economic and political makeup of the South African region. References Franchi, V. (2003). Across or beyond the racialized divide? Current perspectives on ‘race’, racism and‘intercultural’ relations in ‘post-apartheid’ South Africa. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 125–133. Manning, J. (2004). Racism in Three Dimensions: South African Architecture and the Ideology of White Superiority. Social Identities, 527-536. Slabbert, F. v. (2000). Tough choices: reflections of an Afrikaner African. Cape Town: Tafelberg Publishers. Sullivan, S. (2006). Revealing whiteness: the unconscious habits of racial privilege . Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Verwey, C., & M. Q. (2012). WHITENESS, RACISM, AND AFRIKANER IDENTITY IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA. African Affairs, 551-575. Read More