Comments on: Obsessed?! That’s an awfully strong word…

By: Mpho

Mpho — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:19:59 +0000

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).

By: Moeks

Moeks — Sat, 31 May 2008 11:59:23 +0000

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?

By: Nikki

Nikki — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:39:14 +0000

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!