What are some productive ways to initiate and engage in dialogue with others on issues of racism?

Funny how black people end up being accused of being racist by white people when issues of race arise. It seems as if this is tiring for white people in South Africa who want us to forget and get over it. White people accuse black people of playing the race card therefore act racist without even realizing it as they comment on the subject matter using words like “grow up and get over it”

Until we learn to have open and safe dialogue about these issues in South Africa, we won’t grow as a society. The institution of racism will continue to permeate our culture and paternalistic “white supremacy” will continue to dominate our society. I feel we must all accept responsibility for our culture and society- especially white people who are, by colour of skin, the privileged group of people in South Africa. Until this fear of losing “white culture” is eradicated, racism will not die. It must die. The fear of losing "white privilege" needs to die. Don't claim equality with your ''white privilege" cap on.

You probably wondering what do I mean by “the privileged group”, well If you look at important bodies like the Reserve Bank, the Justice courts, or at the CEO list of major corporations, or at any other body that wields substantial power in South Africa., you will count only a few black faces (and in some cases, none).  Out of the number of black faces you count, most of them will not be representing the views of the majority of black people in this country, but the views of the white minority.

One may ask; what are some productive ways to initiate and engage in dialogue with others on issues of racism?

I think that the first thing to do, especially if you are white, is to educate yourself on what racism is, and what it isn't. Become familiar with the history of racism in South Africa, when engaging in dialogue with others on issues of racism be prepared to encounter defensiveness, denial, and strong emotional response. It is also helpful to begin with common understandings such as a glossary of terms: racism, privilege, institutional racism, white supremacy.

It might also be helpful to confront the main issues that create conflict first; definition of racism (prejudice +power), that reverse racism does not exist, The right wing popularized the term "Reverse Racism" because they were really angry at having their white privileges challenged. Anyone who uses that phrase, whether they are right wing or not, furthers the right wing's cause.  This is what I tell black and white apartheid apologists and progressives who I hear using the term. What white privilege is and how it is expressed in one’s daily life and manifests itself in educational institutions, in workplaces and so on.

In dealing with racism, it is important to first understand certain terms and their meaning as described by Tim Wise; 

Prejudice is an irrational feeling of dislike for a person or group of persons, usually based on stereotype.  Virtually everyone feels some sort of prejudice, whether it's for an ethnic group, or for a religious group, or for a type of person like blondes or fat people or tall people.  The important thing is they just don't like them -- in short, prejudice is a feeling, a belief.  You can be prejudiced, but still be a fair person if you're careful not to act on your irrational dislike.

Discrimination takes place the moment a person acts on prejudice.  This describes those moments when one individual decides not to give another individual a job because of, say, their race or their religious orientation.  Or even because of their looks (there's a lot of hiring discrimination against "unattractive" women, for example).  You can discriminate, individually, against any person or group, if you're in a position of power over the person you want to discriminate against.  White people can discriminate against black people, and black people can discriminate against white people if, for example, one is the interviewer and the other is the person being interviewed.

Racism, however, describes patterns of discrimination that are institutionalized as "normal" throughout an entire culture. It's based on an ideological belief that one "race" is somehow better than another "race".  It's not one person discriminating at this point, but a whole population operating in a social structure that actually makes it difficult for a person not to discriminate.  

Far too often you have meanings of these English words redefined to satisfy the offender because as a white person he feels discriminated against or prejudiced and therefore calls it racism, this justification is a result of white privilege.

Racial incidents happen daily in South Africa. We will not get over it and we will not stop talking about it because it somehow offends your inner racist and turn around and say not everything is about race. It's very easy as an offender to defend the indefensible and not realise that what you are actually doing is really saying racism is ok. Deal with it and accept it.

It's amazing to read or listen to white people telling black people what should and what shouldn't offend them. It's easy to say it while you sitting on the chair with #WhitePrivilege on the back.  It is very easy to not take offence when the offence is not directed to you. It is very easy to say not everything is about race when the offender is white.

How do white people come to a conclusion on deciding what shouldn't offend black people? I'm actually very curious. Maybe one of you will shed some light in the comments before telling me to grow up and get over it.

I wonder.

In a racist society like ours where white people bend over to defend racist act and tell us to get over it, it takes a special act of courage and willingness from a white person to subject oneself to scandal or danger to step outside that system and become an abolitionist. It's not the "fault" of every member of the “master class” that black people were faced with oppression and racism and some might wish it was gone.  But the fact is that every single member of the “master class” benefits from the cheap labour of black people at every level of society. Benefitted from their blood flowing in the streets of South Africa . So unless members of the “master class” rise up and oppose the Institutionalized system of racism and try to overthrow it they're going to be complicit in the Institutionalized system of racism.

It is obvious that many Whites believe that not even racism, but race itself is something that has nothing to do with them, as if White is not also a “race.” On racism, many will refer to it as “your cause” when speaking to someone Black, as if racism does not involve Whites at all. Also, there are Black people who think that we alone can end racism, or should at least ignore it. Not ignoring it is deemed “making excuses” and “not taking responsibility” by exceptional Black people (such as celebrities) using “create your own opportunities and lift yourselves up” arguments to appease whites. Whites conveniently do not have to “take responsibility” for racism though Black people are supposed to “take responsibility” for the ways racism impacts our lives, while simultaneously not mentioning racism being there in the first place.

So "get over it and move on" is the most ridiculous of positions. Racism is not some tragic event to get over; it's the ongoing tragedy of cumulative experiences that shape how one sees the world. Moreover, stereotypical imagery affects all who see it, not just the lampooned race. The negative images of blacks, whether old blackface minstrel or today's portrayals as criminal, promiscuous, and foolishly materialistic, are an equal opportunity influencer - everyone is impacted by their repeated viewing. 

My cultural crisis...

My Constitutional crisis

Ok, as a Zulu man I am faced with a constitutional crisis of sorts. I grew up under the distinct and unquestionable impression that there is a particular dichotomy between the sins of our fathers and the curiosity of young minds. Simply put, no amount of infantile curiosity could ever warrant the interrogation of the actions of an elder. So if my grandfather decided that we should all sleep at 5 p.m. because he has said so (regardless of any homework commitments) then it shall be so. On the odd occasion that one dared question authority then the attendant punishment often resembled something so revered by the lynch-mobs of the Ku Klux Klan, except this was black-on-black punishment disbursed under the mystical guise of love and discipline. This obviously worked for most of my peers as my generation is perhaps the last black generation that still practices those age-old habits of respecting the elders and complying with the code of conduct prescribed by the community. The importance of the hierarchy of respect within the black community cannot be disputed. There is always something tragically upsetting to watch a 4-year old hooligan argue with her mother in a supermarket regarding some meaningless pretext or the other, and an even greater sense of shame when the inept parent then yields to the demand of the classless brat. I always look on such episodes with condescending curiosity. Is it merely because ‘new age’ black kids are now being raised in the liberal, laissez-faire social atmosphere so lamented upon by George Orwell in 1984? Are the new blacks ever so eager to disassociate themselves with the traditional and apparently backward-looking methods of rearing kids in a world so intent on hurtling us all forward towards a future of neo-liberalism? The greatest inheritance of black society in South Africa has always been the militant commitment to respecting one’s elders. It may be said that without such an approach in which one child had an indisputable duty to respect all elders within the community equally then the black community would slide into anarchy of sorts.
There remains something particularly awkward in the boardrooms that I am exposed to when the blacks have to address a direct question and then promptly fail to make eye-contact with the other parties. This is simply because it is a minor scandal for a black person to stare directly into the eyes of another during conversation. This may be interpreted as confrontational and rather aggressive. With the other cultures however, it is the most critical element of honesty, probity and transparency in a conversation to maintain good eye-contact. Failing to make eye-contact gives undertones of evasiveness, self-doubt and perhaps an element of dishonesty. A few years ago I was tasked with hosting a few matric students who were to be presented to various sponsors for interviews. On the eve of the interviews, I then undertook to prepare the students for the interviews by simulating the potential scenarios. 2 of the individuals were from that fortress of Zulu traditions- Nongoma. During the simulated interview, these individuals never at once looked up into the face of the mock-interviewers. They were firmly of the opinion that to do so would be a scandalous betrayal of all they had been bought up to be. Unfortunately, they were interviewed by 2 white individuals who could never understand how on earth they should ever sponsor people who lacked the temerity to ever look them in the face. Inasmuch as some may overlook this distinction (excuse the pun) it remains the most obvious example of the mild socio-cultural conflicts so prevalent in our modern society. In South Africa’s case this is even more complicated as we pledge allegiance to a vast number of difference cultures and the related behaviours. What binds these multi-faceted cultures together is an observance of the most important document produced in the republic since the Freedom Charter; the Constitution of the Republic, fondly knows as Act 108 of 1996.
Under the provision of this Act we are all South Africans and indeed every single culture is duly recognised. That means that the Hindu culture enjoys the same privileges, stature and importance afforded to the Zulu, Xhosa or Afrikaans culture. Furthermore, the same Act supports a system of governance known as democracy which among other things, recognises the rights of the Fourth Estate (commonly known as the media) to exist and indeed make its presence felt. And that is the essence of my crisis. No lesser a man than Mr Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (I tried to say Honourable, really) is the president of the Republic. This means that he is not the custodian of the Zulu culture but of all cultures in the Republic. He is not the messiah of the Christians in South Africa but the custodian of all religious creeds in the country. As the chief custodian of the Constitution it unfortunately falls within his mandate to ensure that all races, religions, cultures, practices, traditions and preferences enjoy equal acceptance and the liberty to practice their freedoms of association, speech, mobility and the fundamental right of every individual to call himself a citizen of South Africa.
So here I am sitting with a group of individuals who are of the opinion that nothing he does is beyond public scrutiny. No element of his life can be separated into private versus public. Furthermore, such individuals are indeed of the opinion that in their own cultures, people have to earn respect rather than claim it as a historical inheritance. Such people are of the conviction that if you believe a public figure is acting in a manner unbefitting his stature then the Constitution grants you the right to question such actions and demand responses or restitutions. The notion that we are all Africans is an important issue here. Are we Africans based on the depth of our cultural inheritances or is this merely an ideology imposed upon all South Africans by the geographical and constitutional mandates? The ridiculous notion of freedom of speech means that I actually have a right to trash-talk any practice I take exception to. This means that whoever forms the opinion that Zulus are indeed steeped in sensuality and vice is actually allowed to state such reservations without fear of prosecution. We saw this issue come to play regarding the killing of the bull incident last year. Bizarrely, the courts were asked to rule on the barbaric nature of the practice and yet no such ruling was demanded from the people who, by virtue of questioning such a practice, actually brought into question the validity of its existence which is amazingly enough a violation of the constitution itself.
Inevitably, the Zulu culture has come in for some harsh criticism and ridicule of late and I for one feel hamstrung to defend it. This is simply because if I as an individual believe that my culture is being misrepresented by an elder then I should be able to defend it except for one minor problem; if I am to obtain an explanation from an elder regarding why he is misrepresenting my culture then I am questioning his actions which is well, err, a complete violation of the culture I would be claiming a defence of. This is precisely why we as Zulus feel ill-at-ease questioning why Mr Zuma could ever adopt optional practices and then rebrand them as cultural imperatives. This simply lacks substance as I have now been asked whether any Zulu man who fails to take multiple wives is infact a half-Zulu eager to betray his own cultural practices. How do you respond to that?
There is a school of thought that has formed the opinion that perhaps the Constitution of the Republic is actually incompatible with the African practices it seeks to defend. There can be no doubt that the constitution mandates accountability from the head of state but there is absolutely no way a Zulu person could ever ask the president to explain his aversion to condoms and whatever else he seems reluctant to adopt. That the constitution can promote equality and still make allowances for arranged marriages and polygamy flies in the face of common sense. If a group of individuals can sue a particular cultural group for practicing its culture then surely the constitution itself is breeding the confusion by stating that all such cultures must co-exist? More importantly, does this allegiance I am pledging to my Zulu culture and its reluctance to confront elders amount to a form of self-censorship? With this in mind, who exactly is going to defend the culture itself against verbal scrutiny and hysterical attacks if the culture itself makes little allowance for any debate with the elders which would infact, furnish us with the ammunition to lodge a logical defence in the name of the Zulus and their culture? 

Written by Khaya S Sithole
Twitter: @CoruscaKhaya 

White Privilege in South Africa

White privilege was legally enshrined in South Africa through apartheid, which lasted formally into the 1990s. Under a7partheid, racial privilege was not only socially meaningful—it became bureaucratically regulated. Laws such as the 1950 Population Registration Act established criteria to officially classify South Africans by race: White, Indian, Coloured (mixed), or Black.

Many scholars argue that 'whiteness' still corresponds to a set of social advantages in South Africa, and conventionally refer to these advantages as "white privilege". The system of white privilege applies both to the way a person is treated by others and to a set of behaviors, affects, and thoughts, which can be learned and reinforced. These elements of "whiteness" establish social status and guarantee advantages for some people, without directly relying on skin color or other aspects of a person's appearance. White privilege in South Africa has small-scale effects, such as preferential treatment for people who appear white in public, and large-scale effects, such as the over-fivefold difference in average per-capita income for people identified as white or black.

If I was a White South African. These would be my #WhitePrivileges

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.

2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.

3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.

4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.

5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.

8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.

10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.

11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.

12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.

13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.

15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.

16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.

17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.

18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.

19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.

20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.

23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.

24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.

25. If a traffic cop pulls me over I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.

26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.

27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.

28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.

29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.

30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.

31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.

32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.

33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.

34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.

35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.

36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.

37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.

38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.

39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.

40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.

41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.

42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.

43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.

44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.

45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.

46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.

47. I can travel alone or with my partner without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.

Women and Other things.

To many typical cases of pseudo-intellectualism involve pre-pubescent "15" year olds that think they have everything figured out, including, but not limited to: life, religion, politics, education, relationships and sex. Ironically, they have never quite experienced either of the aforementioned. 

Lemme share something with you about men but before I do never ever assume you understand and know men because they act different around you, don't come here with that bullshit yokuthi "Only boys think like that". Mina i say to you, when men are with other men. You'd probably faint if you eavesdropped a convos between your fathers and uncles, amazing. Stop claiming you know men, you know their dicks, men will always show the "other-side" in a company of women and strangers.

Anyway...next 

Go through "things" does not make you an expert. You crossed that path but that does not necessarily mean that you understand men. Stop bullshitting yourself, it's not cute.

As much as men have tried to figure out what women want, women think they have figured out what men want. Which is very interesting. One reads a lot blogs when pre-pubescent teens write and tweet about love, relationships and so forth. They somehow think that because they dated 15 guys, loved one screwed over by 14 they're now expert. Wait a minute. You experienced in dick not love. 

Anyway...next

THIS is why you can't find a steady relationship! It's YOU! You're unstable! Yeah, you like to call your shallow inconsistency, "impulsiveness"... Call it whatever the hell you want. Fact is, you've had at LEAST 4 fucking "flavours-of-the-month" in the short time and you think gonna find a man with all that baggage? 

Anyway... next subject

What pisses me off is women who constantly bitch and moan about how they don't like to be used as sex objects. If you feel like that, fine but you girls  have to realize that that goes both ways. You don't want to be treated like prostitutes well you have to stop acting like a prostitute. Start treating men like actual human beings and not as a means for financial gain, and maybe you will get a little respect every now and then. You want to know why you get stuck with the ass holes. Because when it comes to picking men, your priorities are assed backwards. You claim you want to be treated with with respect, then stop meeting men at clubs. You say you want a man who is working but if that guy at work who drives a Toyota looks at you too hard, you cry sexual harassment. But yet you break your neck for that bad-boy with his grandpa's Merc whose idea of a job is going to visit Tops often, who doesn't have respect for himself let alone you. You let him mooch off of you. You let him in with based on his looks or the size of his penis. Knowing damn well when you met him he didn't have a job. You knew he was an alcoholic when you met him at the bar and for every one drink he bought you he bought himself three. You knew he slept around because when you fucked him he had a wife,a mistress and three girlfriends. You knew that he was only going to use you for sex because he couldn't keep his eyes of your titties and his hands off your ass, but you fucked him anyway.You thought you could change him. And when you found out that you couldn't you say ALL MEN ARE SCUM/PIGS/DOGS or whatever else.

Girls make me sooo angry! Why do they make me angry? I'll tell you. It's because they sneak up on you when you're doing okay- never great, but stable mind you- and then they rough you up and get you thinking of bigger and better things than your previous loneliness. Then- just when you're starting to smile for no reason- they crap all over you. And the best part is, the good ones don't even realize they're doing it. I'm holding my heart in my hands and she's got no idea...

Girls do whine, moan, cry, and bitch about everything. To women everything is feminist, it pisses me off, how they can get any of us in trouble by lying and saying we are discriminating women. But, women do bring everything upon themselves, they do act like sexual objects and later on bitch on how men treat them. I am also very pissed on how women are allowed to organize bullshit rallies and claim a sexist crime to get what they want, and the other bitches(women) in office allow them to and give them whatever they want. But, what would happen if Men were to hold some rallies against anything or maybe lie about a sex crime, that's right all hell breaks loose, and they are seen as pigs. Stop with your feminist anti- men bullshit and go back to washing dishes and gardening.

Anyway...i'm out

Blackface is offensive!

Respect the position of people that aren’t you. It’s social intelligence.

It should go without saying that costumes using racist imagery should be off limits. Your costume party should be about fun and not hatred.

In 2014 no one should be telling white people that #blackface is wrong. It is offensive.  Blackface represents a time when white people would paint their faces black and act out incredibly racist and offensive stereotypes about black people. This goes back years and years ago. The symbolism of a blackface is insensitive and racist. This is a fact and it’s not up for a debate. Knowing white people when it comes to matters of race, the attitude towards blackface is that it’s just face paint and shouldn’t be taken as offensive. It’s the same thing as using the K-word and saying you not racist. Who you trying to fool here? If you racist. Be racist. That is not going to change. Don't try and justify your racist act.
What I find more offensive with this racist act is that there’s always that black person  who wants to defend such an act or defend racist offensive words. This is how black people that have gone through a weakening process think. The mind is still colonised (Gert calls someone a K-word  and Sipho his friend defends him “Gert is not racist, I’m sure he was just tired”)
Now these are the type of people that need to go through the process of Decolonising the Mind because they still see white as better, they the ones who makes jokes about black when around white people. They will do anything to fit in the “white community”. These black still need to going through that process of decolonising the mind, it is never too late. It is important to de-colonise the mind before de-colonising the body; if the mind continues to be trapped within the walls of colonial interpretations then the freedom of the physical anatomy would be rendered futile. The compulsive need to be recognized and acknowledged by the parameters of white people have to be shrugged away so that individuality and subjectivity can mature in full clarity and adequate visibility.
So, going back to the University of Pretoria with those two white female students, we have clearly established that the blackface is something that’s at its best in best taste and at worst an act of unflinching racism. Those two white students in the University of Pretoria have clearly shown that by participating in this act, they admitting that they don’t care who they offend or what symbols of oppression they perpetuate.
Blackface to me is as offensive as calling me the K-word.
Blackface was used by whites to show blacks as having social imperfection, being inferior and having a lack of mental capacity.
Some white readers here may be thinking “hey, this chap is overreacting” and some black folks may be thinking “there’s nothing wrong with it, it’s funny”. The fact is, blackface is still seen as incredibly offensive to a lot of black people.
Too often, though, it’s the offending party who tries to determine what’s offensive to subjugated groups. It’s always white people and white experts who go out of their way to convince black people not to feel offended, a basic exercise in hegemonic privilege: “ Because I don’t feel offended by it, you shouldn't either”
Offenders stand firm in their belief that they don’t care if it’s not offensive to them.

The fact remains you guys can masquerade and "make fun" yet return to your lives as a privileged racial class. Black skin is no joke. Black skin is not "funny."

It appears that there is little historical perspective here. Understand that the Blackface was  meant to portray Black people in the most demeaning light possible and you guys think we should just "get over it, its just paint."

The history we have since we first crossed each other's path has been death, destruction and desecration of what we hold dear.

Consider yourselves fortunate that many of us are sedated into "integration." 

I wonder why you ask us to "lighten up". It's because of that mentality I will remind my children and grandchildren to be vigilant in recognizing that mentality. They know that if they are ignorant of history, they are doomed to repeat it.

By the way, when you may see a refined Black man or woman who may appear educated... be aware that many of us are equipped to recognize what lies behind your eyes. Though we share the same beds and offices, we are watchful. Like the Jews say "never again"

Dear white people, if you're just dying to use paint on your faces, go Incredible Hulk on your face.