White-washed

Why I wrote this article:
I wrote this article because issues of race play on my mind often. I wrote it because this South African chose to use his race as the reason he needed asylum, and in doing so appeared as a spokesperson for all white south africans who feel afraid, without their permission. I wrote it because I am afraid, and this is not because of the colour of my skin, but because of the ignorance of politicians who prevent critical debate and govern the lives of my fellow south africans recklessly.

I am white and I am afraid.

I am not afraid because I am white. I am not afraid because others are black or indian or coloured. I am afraid because I am the survivor of crime in South Africa. I am afraid because I anticipate that I will have to survive more crime before my life is over. I am afraid because my life has been and is governed by reckless politicians, patriarchy amongst the leadership, racist and unequal apartheid policies, and fear of diversity.

A South African sought asylum in Canada. He was granted refugee status because he provided compelling evidence that his life was in danger, and that he was afraid. He used his race as an element of his explanation for himself as a target, and in doing so ensured that South Africa once again became the target of international scrutiny. He didn't cite his class, or his gender. He didn't cite his sexuality. He didn't cite his religious beliefs or educational qualifications. He chose his race, and placed this at the center of his analysis, claiming that the government had not, and would not be able to, provide security for him. This action has been viewed negatively by the government, and has been viewed with envy by a number of South Africans of all colours who do not have the opportunity to escape a climate of fear.

He is a refugee, but what has he been saved from? He has not saved others from further crime in South Africa. His actions have done little to disemminate respect and love for difference, but have created difference as something to be afraid of. His action will create defensiveness on the part of the accused, and fear on the part of other people who have not had the opportunity to flee. His action has not contributed to the lessening of my own fear, because he is just another person who has refused to participate in his community and make a change where he could. He was a survivor of crime who could have lessened the suffering of others by providing a kind word of support, a shared smile of empathy and an embrace when one was needed.

He has not saved himself from disrespect based on skin-colour. Refugees are the first victims of fear when economic conditions change. Perhaps a moderate place like Canada may be less stratified than other places, but in times of scarce resources it it those whose roots in a country are not immediately evident who are the first to become scapegoats. Xenophobia is alive and well across the world, and his could contribute to continued and deepened Xenophobia against other people who are regarded as un-African, or not quite South African enough.

Do his actions have any positive effects? I will put my neck on the line here, in the hopes that my statements are not seen as representative as an entire race, gender or population group. I think they could. I think that they could return scrutiny to South Africa, which has startling crime statistics, and is a country with such a high incidence of rape it could be likened to sexual genocide. I think that scrutiny needs to be returned, because crime cannot disappear while inequality is present. When most South Africans have little or no access to security, have little or no access to economic empowerment, have little or no access to savings, food and healthcare then the crime that this refugee feared will continue. When South Africans who have access to privelege, profit and property do not share, do not contribute in their community and continue to laugh when racist jokes are told then crime will not disappear. It is time for us all to take responsibility, to give back and to invest in others.

Desperate times breed desperate behaviour, and I hope that his action will stimulate desperate and rapid action on the part of government to do something about crime, rather than to sit over tea and complain about racism whilst looking out at their beautiful gardens through burglar barred windows.

Race Erasure?

I took a bus into Cape Town last week, which ordinarily is a fairly peaceful experience, but which this week was disrupted by accusations of racism. A passenger asked the driver to stop at an atypical spot, and the driver refused. The passenger retorted that he was a racist, because he always used to stop at her requested stop for another passenger, who was of the same race as the driver. The driver reacted in anger, saying that this was untrue, and that this had never happened. The angry passenger through a couple more insults at the driver, before getting off at the next planned stop, where insults continued to fly at the driver as the doors were closing.

The remaining 20 or so passengers, including myself, remained quiet during the entire episode. We remained quiet as the driver loudly tried to verbally villify himself all the way to the bus terminal. Nobody came to the driver, or the passenger's defence. Nobody smiled sympathetically at either one. Everyone took the opportunity to gaze out of their dirty windows and examine the street that had never before seemed so interesting.

This issue has niggled at my mind for a week now and I'm sure it is because of my own experience of being labelled a racist. During a lecture at University, a discussion arose about giving back to the community after ones degree. A presenter from Cuba had told us all about how community service was compulsory there, and many people literally went out into the fields to share knowledge upon receiving their degree. I raised the point that this sounded great, but that in a country with as many official languages as South Africa, that this may not be the best way to share knowledge , as most people with tertiary degrees were educated in English. So perhaps alternate avenues could be pursued by people only speaking one language, and other people who spoke in a different official language could work on the on the ground training. The result of my statement was a branding my a fellow classmate as an unhelpful racist. I was left in a stuttering and stammering mess, imploding and wondering how my comment on practicality had been translated into a racist remark. Like the situation on the bus, nobody said a word. Classmates faced forward, eyes directed for the first time at the board, awaiting the lecturer's response. Nobody looked at me, or my classmate. Nobody defended either of us. The lecture was adjourned early, but the issue clearly was not one that could be confined to lecture banter.

After the lecture a few people came to me and stated their outrage at what had happened, they expressed disdain for the lecturer's poor handling of the issue and were unhappy that I had not had a chance to compose myself and respond properly. They noted that my classmate had her own issues with race and that this was clearly a misinterpretation. But come the next class, eyes turned forward again and silence prevailed.

So what was my classmates problem then, and my own problem on the bus. What were we all afraid of that forced us to stand down and avoid dealing with the issue of race? In the race to avoid being raced, it seems that rather than confront the issue we look to distance or other ourselves from people involved in a conflict that is seen as racial so that we are seen as apart from or above it? We fear that the eyes of others will turn on us and judge us at face value. We don't want to be involved, because debates like that remove us of any other standpoint than the colour of our skin.

And were these two incidents examples of racism on the part of the bus driver and myself? Do we have a predisposition to be more helpful to those who are 'like us' in race/class/gender terms? Or are these simply easy stereotypes to fall back on when our expectations of humanity in other people are disappointed?

I still wonder what myself or the bus driver could have said to convince those on the attack that we were not attempting to be unjust. Is there anything?