Obsessed?! That’s an awfully strong word…
Dirk Hermann from the Solidarity trade union said that South Africa is becoming increasingly race-obsessed. This was reported by Fin24 almost a month ago in reference to the responses to Jimmy Manyi’s call to have white women removed from the “Previously Disadvantaged” list in Affirmative Action (AA) legislation.
I’m going to cleverly avoid the topic of white women in affirmative action by picking some related topic and focussing on that.
First I was going to disagree about the choice of the word ‘obsessed’ and argue that very few South African are, in fact, obsessed about race. That only those with a roof overhead, food on the table, running water and electricity have the luxury of obsessing about race.
But then I saw a fantastic opportunity: Nitpicking about the word ‘race!’
As much as I hate nitpicking about definitions, this one is too glaring to let through. South Africa isn’t obsessed about race. We’re obsessed about skin colour. Race is a disputed term that should not be used in law when the particular pigmentation of skin is the physical trait being referred to.
When we discuss race we’re not referring to genetic traits that can be determined scientifically. We’re not referring to the different cultural groups people of the same skin colour may belong to. We’re not even talking of nationality. We mean skin colour and should say “skin colour.”
Now that said, here’s something even more controversial for the pot. Being “Previously Disadvantaged” actually has nothing to do with being disadvantaged. Previously or otherwise. It has to do with skin colour. Always has. The number of white women employed by a company never affected the average South African’s perception of it’s ‘transformation.’
Furthermore, I submit into evidence the issue of the bursary awarded to Judge John Hlophe’s son. Funny how he’s always called that first and then by his name: Thuthuka Hlophe. This upstanding young man was judged to be “previously disadvantaged” but not “on the monetary side.”
What does that mean, exactly? It means he has the right skin colour in addition to being qualified. He was a means for the firm to have their “racial” statistics look good.
Meanwhile there are people of the “right” skin colour that are really disadvantaged. They were previously disadvantaged and now they are presently disadvantaged. They didn’t have the luxury of going to decent schools, let alone university. They don’t even have the luxury of sending their children to decent schools so that they may one day go to univirsity/college and be able to compete with others on an equal footing. They are qualified only for underpaid, unskilled work. But they can’t be paid more because the skilled workforce that pays them can’t afford to pay them more. Forcing higher pay on unskilled labour will only cause more unskilled workers to be unemployed.
Let’s face it. There is no quick-fix to help people out of poverty. No amount of BEE or AA will address the disadvantage at which many people are facing modern life. What is needed, what was needed from the very beginning was not only that the disadvantaged be given preference, but that they also be given training. But that is not a trivial problem. It involves the school and university systems. Teachers, lecturers, and a pile of money to employ and train them all. It involves bringing quality education to disadvantaged areas, or the disadvantaged people to quality academic institutions. And all this money and time pumped into the education system and disadvantaged people will not yield results for many, many years.
What opportunities are being offered to these disadvantaged individuals to not remain unskilled?
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My little say aint really to do with the obsession of ‘race’, but rather the perception that foreigners have of inter-racial marriages/relationships. I have been speaking to many a (mainly) American and they always say that “ah, well when I was in SA I didnt see many inter-racial relationships, so I dont think that the racial issues have been sorted in South Africa – I think that racism is still alive and kicking”… hmmm
I dont like that – cos it’s not really a thing with race or as pointed out above ’skin colour’, its about culture. I always try and put it into perspective and say that there are not many ‘inter-cultural’ marriages, it doesnt really have anything to do with skin colour/race!
When I mention this, then they usually go “ah, but I thought all black people were just black, and all the white people are just white…”
Our cultures are what make SA an interesting place, even if we are all seffricans, we are different, each got our own cultures/traditions/ways of life. These differences should be celebrated, and more people should be made aware of these differences. White is not always white, and black is not always black.
Just some food for thought!
On the issue of “black / white” : At the coffee stand last night I overheard 2 of the staff loudly arguing about the terms “coffee with milk” vs “white coffee” and “coffee without milk” vs “black coffee”. (They were arguing in Zulu, which I can understand sometimes). This argument was quite hilarius as the older lady was very stately and insisted that the correct term to use when serving coffee is “with milk” or “without milk” while the younger, less well-mannered women thought it was either “black” or “white” and the “with or without milk” issue was nonsense. I’m with the older lady on this one. Why be offensive all the time when it takes far less effort to be courteous?
Huh? Is this a wind up? Black or white coffee is as descriptive as with or without milk. And, in fact, as coffee comes without milk naturally, surely black coffee is the Norm and either white or with milk is the alternative. Eish, people see race everywhere in this country!
However, I agree with the premise in the blog. It is hugely important for the time being that we understand “race” to simply be simply skin colour, because it is on the basis of skin colour that people are being positively or negatively discriminated against by the endemic racism in society. Upper middle class people of colour are, on a daily basis, discriminated against. Until the workplace, etc., demographics finally shift to reflect our true make up, as opposed to white men and then women being overly represented in positions of power and assumed to be “correct”, “law abiding” and “trustworthy” on the basis of their skin tone, then we will not be able to put in place a more sophisticated Normative correction system.
The Buchanan Boyes issue is different. They were courting favour with the JP. Hey they have previous on acting in a despicable manner (see the Cape Law Society v Berrange).