The post Dr Alexander Speaks Against Lifting Alcohol Ban, Makes COVID Situation Worse for Healthcare Workers appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>She begins by stating that she understands that the economy has been suffering, but also adds that “essential healthcare workers” also had to suffer and make substantial personal and professional sacrifices.
She points out that dedicated healthcare workers gave up their leave so that they could make themselves available for the influx of COVID cases.
In order to avoid infecting their loved ones, they had to leave their kids with relatives and distance themselves from their elders, especially those suffering from health conditions that make them most susceptible to COVID.
There were also some days where they had no visors, no masks and when they had masks, they had to use it for the whole week.
However, despite the multitude of problems they were facing, the alcohol ban had virtually eradicated the number of trauma cases they were facing.
Dr Alexander then states that, regardless of everything they had sacrificed, they are now being rewarded with an extreme rise in Trauma cases, which is rapidly reducing the number of beds available for COVID cases.
She states that her words does not come “from a place of judgement” but asserts that South Africans do not seem to know how to behave when they consume alcohol.
When they get drunk, South Africans beat each other, throw each other with beer bottles, throw each into the fire and fight over that last glass of castle.
If you want to see the full video, check it out below:
A frontline perspective: consequences of lifting the alcohol ban.
"We've made real sacrifices in our personal and professional lives…infection rates are rising and the government decide's to lift the alcohol ban. In the past few months we have seen the lowest amount of trauma that our hospitals have ever seen. Today there were multiple people that needed to be stitched. On top of the multiple people that needed to be managed and referred and isolated for Covid." Dr Kim Alexander (Western Cape)
Posted by The ICSP Guide on Wednesday, 3 June 2020
The post Dr Alexander Speaks Against Lifting Alcohol Ban, Makes COVID Situation Worse for Healthcare Workers appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post We Don’t Need Another Article Commending Resilience, We Need Change! appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>This was a News24 headline from last week. The rest of the article read like a hero’s tale, focused on telling the story of three young men who had overcome adversity to achieve the unimaginable.
“We survived… We are here today”
Reading the article I was struck by its inevitable tone. It seemed to suggest that what these three boys had experienced was just another consequence of their environment, rather than a consequence of government and policy failure. Instead of praising these young boys, who ‘made it’ in spite of their sure fate of gangsterism, why did this article not focus on what we really need to be discussing? Why is it that after 26 years of democracy we are still writing about the far too few who make it out of the Cape Flats rather than calling on the government to take decisive action?
We all know the reality of this community. It is a community that continues to grapple with structural inequality, unemployment, poverty and gang violence. The News24 article focuses on the ‘difficult time’ the boys endured, blaming it on the normalized idea of gangs and violence that have come to characterize an entire community. Nowhere does it explore why these young men had to endure this lifestyle, instead it just leaves us with the idea that these boys are now free to forget where they come from and move on. But this is not the case. The reality is that these boys will most likely return to their community, to visit their families and friends. Perhaps they will come back to help bring change but it’s more likely that they will be met by children who continue to face exactly the same circumstances from which they left and this is where I felt the article failed.
Headlines and media stories like this one only reinforce the idea that the young children of the Cape Flats will forever be resigned to a cycle of gansterism, instead of using their power to interrogate and challenge why this cycle is allowed to continue and what can be done to fix it.
Here are some facts. Fact number 1, come March 2020 the South African Defence Force (SADF) will be ending its deployment in the area. Fact number 2, the violence has not stopped and even more importantly, poverty and inequality persist. Now, I don’t proclaim to be a sole authority on addressing social issues, but I believe most would agree with me when I say that current social policies are not doing enough to address the root causes of gangsterism.
Structural violence and its effects
Firstly, while we must acknowledge that the violence plaguing the Cape Flats is directly related to the inequalities that stemmed from the political and ideological practices and policies of colonialism and apartheid, it is current political indifference that has allowed it to persist.
The social and long-lasting effects of gangsterism on the Cape Flats is one that is so ingrained in the history and identity of the community that any way to solving this issue must involve collectiveness, social organisation and promote the principles of social justice and human rights. When looking at most reports on gangsterism, it is mostly discussed as a criminal entity, which minimises its very real social and cultural complexities. Gang violence is very rarely spoken about within the context of the structural violence this community was forced to endure.
Any approach to reducing gang violence and gangsterism must be lasting and must be led by the people who understand these complexities in its entirety. This is why I believe the government must seriously consider a well-funded and structured community development approach.
Change from the ground up must be at the heart of any approach.
A key aim of community development is to build structures that facilitate democratic participation in decision-making. Lowering the crime rate, decreasing the number of murders, increasing access to education and creating employment opportunities are all ways to combat the cycle of gangsterism on the Cape Flats.
Coloured communities have long been marginalized when it comes to having their say in the economic and social development of the Cape Flats. As Steffen Jansen notes, the post-apartheid government thought the gang violence would stop once the regime changed, however their failure to address the root causes of the ongoing violence is why government’s since have increasingly focused on security measures while development of the community has been rolled back.
One community development academic, Sue Kenny, notes that social issues can’t disappear unless the “systematic inequalities” are addressed and ironed out. This is why key elements of community development, such as empowerment and human rights, must be embraced when working with the community to understand how to tackle gangsterism.
British economist, Naila Kabeer, also highlights the importance of citizenship and empowerment to enact institutional and individual change. This is why any community development approach taken by the government must empower the Coloured youth on the Cape Flats to understand their identity and own their vision for a just society.
As Steffen Jansen has argued : “gangs are products of history, identity and necessity”, and until this is directly acknowledged, we will continue having to read about the “brave” and “resilient” few, rather than celebrating an entire community who deserve far more than anything that has been afforded them thus far.
About Michel’le Donnelly
A writer and recent Master of Development Studies graduate, Michel’le’s work focuses on anti-racist and intersectional feminist approaches to addressing the social issues borne out of the white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal society we live in.
The post We Don’t Need Another Article Commending Resilience, We Need Change! appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post A Day in the Life of a Doctor – Jessica Writes Ode to Superhero Husband appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>Last year, I had the opportunity to “shadow” my husband at work. Although I know what medical doctors do, I never actually knew exactly what their day consists of. Eli always comes home utterly exhausted, wanting to relax, sleep and just unwind with some PlayStation. Sometimes it’s frustrating – I also want to spend time with him and go out and have some fun. To understand his life better, I decided to walk a day in his shoes.
It was chaotic. Patients lined up with problems ranging from dislocated shoulders to stab wounds to broken bones. Paramedics bringing in motor vehicle accident victims, including a 2 year old John Doe, to an 85 year old delirious, septic patient. At one point I had to step aside and collect myself. It was tear jerkingly sad.
Not only do they have to diagnose and treat hundreds of patients, but they also have to do heaps upon heaps of paperwork – all while patients are complaining that they’ve been waiting too long, or wanting to know why they haven’t been called in yet for their minor problem. Oh and let’s not forget the complete lack of resources these government institutions are given – no equipment or drugs needed to save some of these patients lives, resulting in them having to be referred to bigger hospitals.
Although all I did was observe, at the end of the day my feet were burning and I was exhausted – emotionally and physically. I’m just so thankful there were no resus patients this day, as the previous two days brought with it an 18 month and 10 year old – both crushed by cars and who both, unfortunately, did not survive. I don’t know how I would’ve contained myself if this were to happen in front of me.
This, however, is the day to day lives of medical doctors. They’re doing their best on a minimum amount of sleep and with the little resources they have. They’re trying. They sacrifice their lunch break to help patients, working long after their home time, and spending free time doing courses to extend their knowledge so they can help even more patients.
After this day, my respect for this profession and my husband has grown even more. Eli – I am thankful for all that you do – you are a real life superhero!
Note: Jessica Rhode is a dentist who completed her degree at the University of the Western Cape, while her husband, Eli Rhode, is a medical doctor who completed his degree at Stellenbosch University.
[maxbutton id=”1″ ]
The post A Day in the Life of a Doctor – Jessica Writes Ode to Superhero Husband appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post Are Coloured Professionals Struggling to Break Free of Apartheid Labels? appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>By Kurt April
New research from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) shows that Coloured professionals are struggling to transcend apartheid-imposed labels of identity and that this has impacted negatively on them in the workplace – making it harder for them to succeed at senior management level.
This is backed up by the Employment Equity Commission report for 2017/18. An annual snapshot of the country’s workforce, the report lays bare the glacial progress corporate South Africa has made in the past 20 years towards transformation. Just under 68% of top positions in business are still filled by white South Africans, followed by 14.3% of positions filled by black African South Africans. Indian South Africans occupy 9,4% of top positions and Coloured professionals are in only 5,1% of such jobs – despite representing 9% of the population (roughly the same as white South Africans).
The inescapable conclusion of this is that, 24 years of democracy, employment equity legislation, policies, and work-based practices have contributed little to the de-racialisation of the management profession. And Coloured people in particular remain disproportionately poorly represented.
The failure of the legislation to effect change suggests that there may be other factors at play and the UCT GSB research suggests that a crisis of identity amongst Coloured people is at the heart of the issue.
Bar the rigorous research conducted by Dr Ruben Richards and written up in the book, Bastaards Or Humans: The Unspoken Heritage of Coloured People, few have attempted to unpack the complexity of Coloured identity in South Africa, let alone in the workplace. Ever since the propagation of black consciousness ideology in the 1970s, the notion of a Coloured identity has been an emotive and contentious issues amongst the middle class, educated and politically astute, who opposed the classification. In post-apartheid South Africa, the focus has been on creating a collective national identity, but this appears to have resulted in the further marginalisation of the Coloured community along with a dissonance in ideological and cultural beliefs in those communities.
The UCT GSB research explored the notion of double consciousness within the Coloured community – and a diminished sense of belonging – a concept discussed at length in Professor Mohamed Adhikari’s book “ Not White Enough, Not Black Enough: Racial Identity in the South African Coloured Community”.
Of particular interest were the perceptions of Coloured identity and how this affected Coloured professionals’ work-based experiences. Common responses from respondents included the sense of “being watched” by superiors and having to work harder than peers to contradict stereotypes, for instance of Coloured people being lazy, unmotivated and fond of drinking.
Many respondents who attained leadership positions reportedly became alienated from others in their community by preferring to assimilate into the dominant economic White group at the workplace – beginning to watch rugby, taking up cycling and golfing or listening to different music to fit in. More concerning, there was evidence that they withheld support and mentorship from other Coloured professionals and engaged in unhealthy levels of competitiveness – what we termed, the ‘Cape cobra syndrome’.
Once in top positions, several individuals described themselves as being powerless to truly effect change. They found themselves not having access to the right White networks in the private sector and similarly in the public sector, and also did not have access to the right networks in the Black African government sector.
Boardroom decisions were often taken outside of work without their involvement and then ratified afterwards in the office. Many Coloured professionals also said that they felt like token appointments (empowered powerlessness).
Historically, the intrinsic nature of Colouredness is based on the ideology of racial hybridity and the misconception that it resulted from interbreeding between White and Black people. This brought the stigma of racial inferiority and illegitimacy, which has been prevalent in populist thinking and is still found in contemporary work environments. On a psychological level, the effect is hugely debilitating as well, contributing to feelings of low self-esteem and confidence.
Perhaps the most worrying finding of the UCT GSB research was the lack of support and mentoring within the Coloured professional community. Conventional wisdom holds that discrimination against minority groups can be redressed by placing more people in positions of power to help mentor and be role models to juniors, and to help improve outcomes for others.
But, in understanding the power dynamics at play and potential access, participants in the UCT GSB study chose cross-race mentors – and did not seek out other Coloured protégés once in positions of power. They displayed characteristics of self-distancing , manifesting in individuals seeing themselves as unique in their ambition and commitment and different to others in their group. This view is often perpetuated in the vernacular of White people when addressing skilled Coloured individuals.
There was furthermore a denial of discrimination, resulting in opposition to actions aimed at redressing inequalities and improving conditions. Together with ‘workplace belonging insecurity’ (different to community belonging), the study found an alarming prevalence of negative stereotypes in the workplace, as well as the self-deprecation, perpetuating the denigration of Coloured identity .
The status quo in SA’s workplaces, particularly as it relates to Coloured professionals, clearly needs to shift. The UCT GSB study suggests that if corporate SA wants to change, it has to redesign transformation and employment equity policies so that they are properly inclusive of Coloured people and make provision for equal participation under the definition of regionally-appropriate, designated groups. In addition, changing perceptions around Coloured identity may help to move the thinking beyond the stigmatising notion of “mixed race” identity and towards seeing cultural identities comprising detailed bodies of knowledge, specific cultural practices, memories, rituals and modes of being.
As Associate Professor Zimitri Erasmus from the University of the Witwatersrand puts it, “We can’t deny the meanings attached to skin colour. But we can learn to live differently in our skins. There is more than one way to be Coloured and more than one way to be Black.”
Kurt April is an Endowed Professor and Allan Gray Chair of Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business and was co-author of the study Diasporic Double Consciousness, Créolite and Identity of Coloured Professionals in South Africa, with Alun Josias, the CFO of STISA Pty Limited.
Source: This article first appeared on the website of the University of Cape Town
The post Are Coloured Professionals Struggling to Break Free of Apartheid Labels? appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post Heart 104’s Clarence Ford Says de Lille will Change Political Landscape in Western Cape appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>See Full Post Below:
Western Cape Politics is about to Change
By Clarence Ford
Today is D Day (or is it DA DAY) for Patricia de Lille. In a nutshell today is about the following;
The DA, yesterday laid charges against Patricia de Lille and Brett Herron, in what can be described as a classic rear guard action. Such an action, is a classic strategy to enable the safe retreat of a losing party or on the battle field, the safe retreat of defeated troops.
The action is not so much based on fact or evidence, but more on jeopardizing whatever, post DA strategy, Patricia may embark on. They seek to muddy the waters for voters who head to the polls in 2019, by dragging Patricia through a legal process in the lead-up to such elections.
The action proposes that the DA is in fact scared of the fall-out that the spat with Patricia can cause. So what is the fall-out?
Patricia was the poster girl for the DA, in the last local government elections. As poster girl, and given the widespread discontent with Zuma, 66% of voters in the metropole voted DA.
DA Policy, discontent with Zuma (corruption) and Patricia’s resonance with the voters enabled this landslide victory. The DA is scared of the amount of voters that Patrica may take with her, if her future is an old, existing or new political movement.
I have argued in the past, that the DA has national ambitions, and cannot be seen to be pandering to minorities who bolster its constituency in the Western Cape.
I have also argued that the ANC, with its policy of “Blacks in General” and “African Blacks in Particular” have ostracized coloured voters.
Add to this a myriad of coloured nationalist and even secessionist movements that are mobilizing at present, it is possible that Patricia could, through a new movement, mobilize sufficient support to significantly alter the political lay of the land in the Western Cape.
What is clear is that, the Western Cape could be a very different place in 2019.
I just hope that the future is a resurgent solidarity with the poor and the working class, regardless of race!
I am gonna be watching a lot of tv today!
Lekker Dag!
The post Heart 104’s Clarence Ford Says de Lille will Change Political Landscape in Western Cape appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post How Mandela Stuffed Up South African Sport appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post How Mandela Stuffed Up South African Sport appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post Craig Lucas, Depression and Coming Out as Gay for the Second Time appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>by Craig Lucas
An open letter to my family, my friends and my fans:
This is an update of an open letter I posted to social media at the start of 2016. I had been deeply unhapp y for such a long time. I hit rock bottom on 15 January 2016. I was at work, thinking about how I nearly flung myself out of the train that morning. I’d been thinking about suicide a lot. It scared me. Suicide and mental illness runs in my family, especially amongst the men. My dad committed suicide when I was three. A number of other close family members did to – some succeeded, some didn’t. I hadn’t felt alive in a very long time – is this what they felt like before they decided to put a gun to their head? The death of my father planted a seed in my mind. Those seeds had sprouted; flowers over a grave. I spent many years denying a big part of myself. I carried my shame and my self-hatred around like a rotting limb. The rot was spreading and it was killing me. I didn’t want to die. I swore I would never be like my father, I would never put my mother through that again. I hit rock bottom on 15 January 2016 – thank God for rock bottom. Everything became clear and I knew that in order to be free I needed let go of all the shame and all the pain I’d been harbouring. And I did, and I was successful. I was free. Two years later, I found myself right back there. Sorry, you’re probably so confused. I’ll explain. I want to tell you a story…
Let me start a couple of years back- December 2011 to be exact. I remember coming home one night. I’d been out drinking. It was late. My mother messaged me to say that they weren’t home and that she had hidden the key in the usual spot. It took every ounce of strength in me to keep my body from caving in on the way home. I managed to make it just past the kitchen before falling to the floor. I prayed. I screamed. I cursed. I prayed some more. I should probably backtrack a little more. You see, I’d spent that day out drinking with a friend- someone I met during my first year at UCT. We had most of our philosophy lectures together. We became very good friends over a very short period of time. We were extremely close- best friends even. We’d go out to drink often. We’d get drunk and talk about anything and everything. It was his birthday that day. It wasn’t supposed to be any different to the other times, except for the fact that we’d probably get just a little more drunk than usual. But that day wasn’t like all the other times.
There was an energy pervading our little corner table that I hadn’t felt before. I felt slightly tense. I could tell that he did too. Our conversations started becoming deeper with every drink. Stares lingered just a bit longer than normal, our seats moved closer and time seemed to slow down with every shot of whiskey. I found myself fixated on his eyes and his nose, and on his lips- the way his top lip curved like the ebb and flow of the ocean, how the creases danced over the skin like folds on a rose; his lips parting and then meeting with every word he said like the wings of an eagle in flight- virile but tender, crude but graceful. I was so enamoured that often I didn’t even hear what he was saying, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered in that moment was that he was there, and that I was there with him. That was the moment that it hit me- I was in love. I was unequivocally, profoundly, violently in love. I was unequivocally, profoundly, violently in love with a man. My head started spinning and I felt like I wanted to throw up. I made up an excuse to get home. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
You see the problem was that I had dated girls before, and I was sure that I loved them. I had sex with girls before and I knew that I enjoyed it. What I was feeling didn’t make any sense. I’d never been more terrified in my life. I cut all contact with him. I spent the subsequent three years in a perpetual state of war with myself. It took me four years to accept what happened that day.
15 January 2016: I shared my story with my friends and family. I was free. I found love for myself again, and love found me. Then came The Voice.
People started telling me to keep the fact that I was in a relationship with a man a secret – “the audience is conservative” “no one will vote for you.” So I did, and I won. “I’m glad I listened to them” I thought. People then said “no one will buy your music if they think you’re gay” “girls are your biggest market, you will alienate them.” Before I knew it, I was right back in the closet again.
It’s been one year since I won The Voice. My dreams had come true. I was in a relationship with an amazing man. My career was flourishing. I was wholly depressed. Suicidal thoughts plagued my mind. I’d become a very angry man.. Hurt people really do hurt people. I hated myself. I was wasted every other day. There was even drugs. I’d forgotten myself. I’d forgotten that I was smart, talented, funny and kind. I’d forgotten that I was loved. It took me hitting rock bottom once more to realise that I’d been living a lie. Now more than ever I have so much to live for, and I want to live.
My skies have been grey and cloudy for way too long; a cloud is only allowed to become so heavy before it bursts and rain comes falling from the sky. I’m ready for that rain to come and wash away the sadness that has been tainting my mind and my heart for the last 2 years. I’m ready for the rain to water my gardens and give life to the seeds of joy that I know lie buried deep within my soil.
I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I expect to lose a couple of friends and fans, and I expect a couple of familial relationships to become strained as a result of this letter but it’s ok. I sing about “Hearts Exposed” but hid mine. So here I am pulling my best Frank Ocean.
I welcome whatever is coming my way with an open heart and an open mind. Until then, I have some making up to do with the people who stuck by my side even when I was at my worst, and some amazing fucking songs to write.
Love only, Craig.
The post Craig Lucas, Depression and Coming Out as Gay for the Second Time appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post The Racist South African Traveller appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>Yes, I am inherently a racist.
I’ve been travelling outside of South Africa since 2011 and since then I’ve learnt a lot about the topic, not just from my point of view but from others too.
Let’s start with the term ‘coloured’. I’ve come to hate this term and have openly shared that over the past few years, I’ve been met with much criticism for it but I think it’s time I explain myself, as clearly as possible.
My first time leaving South Africa was in August of 2011, myself and a few colleagues attended a conference in Kampala, Uganda. A dear friend, Mark and I decided to extend our stay exploring this beautiful country.
A few days into our exploration, we found ourselves sitting at a dinner table in Jinja, a town at the source of the Nile overlooking this majestic river.
Now, South Africans are obsessed with skin colour and make judgments accordingly. So naturally, we introduced the topic to our new friends:
Cole, a local Ugandan, and Kia, a volunteer from Europe.
She is white European and he’s a black African. We, however, turned out to be quite the mystery to them. We are and would be deemed as coloured back home but when we tried explaining this we struggled to express how we were the same race.
Mark, under visual assessment looks Middle Eastern: fair skin with green eyes and dark features and I look more South American with darker brown skin and dark brown features with brown eyes.
Kia and Cole struggled to somehow grasp that we were classified as the same race, and after 45mins of trying to explain that we were, I began to struggle too.
This was the very first time someone had not considered me coloured.
Maybe I should go back to my younger years for some context.
I started primary school in 1994, which was an interesting year (our first democratic election) and attended Pinelands Primary, a former Model C school or a whites only school.
I was one of four people of colour in my class but this didn’t matter. I had learnt nothing of race at this time and school was school.
My parents of course knew better and I can only surmise that I was sent to such a school because we were now allowed to and it was common knowledge that the model C schools had a superior curriculum, and it did.
There was a problem that they could never have anticipated though, my identity.
As I said, I knew nothing of race at the time and got on with everyone just fine and made friends with just about everyone. The only difference between the kids, that I could tell, was where we lived. I lived over an hour away from the school and was used to the 1 hour in each direction commute to and from school. However, the majority of my friends lived within walking distance.
As I settled in I begin to get used to my new surroundings and way of life and what this meant for me was picking up a little bit of an accent and new jargons or slang which is fine for school but became a problem for friends back home. They’d tease that I speak like a white boy.
This didn’t bother me much at the time as I spent most of the day at school anyway. My first real racist encounter was the following year in grade 2.
His name was Wesley, a bunch of us were playing handball and he pushed me over and called me a kaffir.
At this age (7) I had heard it but never knew what it meant personally. I hit the tar and bled from my left elbow. I still have the 2-inch scar today.
Things changed a bit after that. I wasn’t quite white, and at the same time I was ridiculed back home for not being coloured enough.
My next trip overseas was to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in 2012. A vibrant part of the world where I seemingly fit in rather well. All races seemed to live in harmony.
South Africa is known as the rainbow nation but I had never seen such a mix of people in my life. The favelas were filled with all races: blacks, whites and coloureds, it was amazing.
About 2 weeks into my trip my limited Portuguese often got the better of me and I’d drift off in thought as the conversation got away from me. At this particular time I noticed a gentleman trip and fall in the distance and, naturally, I giggled. This caught the table’s attention and they enquired to my sudden outburst.
I began to explain that the “BLACK gentleman across the road” had tripped and fallen at which point I heard gasps and through my teary laughing eyes I saw disappointment and disgust. I immediately changed my tune and asked what was wrong and someone simply replied, why do you call him “black”?
To me it was obvious, the man was black, but he went on by asking: why couldn’t you describe him by the clothes he was wearing? The orange T-shirt, the guy with the blue jeans?
He was of course wearing those things but it never occurred to me, that I was being offensive or worse, racist.
The conversation moved on, but I felt embarrassed. Why did I do that? It was so instinctive for me, I didn’t think I was being racist, I mean how could I be?
I’m a coloured from South Africa! Mandela destroyed racism over 15 years ago!
I thought long and hard after that day. I came home and became harsher toward our unknowing racism. I wasn’t oblivious to hate crime and the difficult circumstances people live in, but I focused more on the unspoken racism, the one people don’t address. The internal instinctive racist within us all.
I have friends of all colours and races, nationalities and genders and so the natural thought would be that I couldn’t possibly be racist, but I now realise this wasn’t necessarily true.
It’s now a few years later and I live in Shanghai, China. Apparently, Southern and Eastern Asians have a prejudice that Africans are inferior to them, but I haven’t come across this personally just yet.
What I have come across though are my fellow countrymen. My brothers and sisters from my home country. We might not share similar ancestry but we do share a familiar lifestyle and the notion of Ubuntu.
When I meet foreigners they never seem to be able to place me, which makes sense. For all my years of travel I’ve never been accurately described as being a South African. But then again, how could you? We are a rainbow nation after all with no one typical feature.
There is one group of people who can place me though, and they share it with me as soon as they meet me. South Africans.
We are fixated with race, and before I’ve introduced myself I’d already be told, ‘you must be a coloured from Cape Town’ which is closely followed by “Aweh mybru” in an impersonated coloured accent.
I don’t get visually upset but I do tend to not entertain conversations the same after that. But if I have to, I bring it up a little later and try my best to explain why I find it a problem.
It goes something like this.
Coloured or ‘people of colour’ from South Africa have more of a mixed heritage than most people on the planet! I, for example, can trace routes from Holland, Germany, India and Saint Helena.
But there’s a problem with our ancestry too. You see, if a European was in a relationship with a non-white it was considered against the law and of course was largely unpopular to own up to. The knock on effect of all this, is that coloureds cannot easily trace their routes.
All we know in some cases is that we are some part European and tend to hold onto this. We will often claim our surnames and proudly proclaim our European heritage, and for me this is so sad. The law of the time literally changed the way we view ourselves. Instead of being proudly African, or South African, we rather boast to be 1/8th European.
But what does this mean? In the days of the ships it more than likely meant the European would sleep (with or without consent) with a local African woman, which he would never own up to.
Or in more recent generations the European would sleep (with or without consent) with a local African woman but this was against the law and would be considered a crime in which case it often wasn’t owned up to.
The legacy of all this? Multiple generations of mixed children with no history or traditions to follow, as well as no father. What is left though is the all-important surname (family name)
As a coloured South African traveller I try my best not to get onto the topic of race, some people aren’t ready to confront racism or outright deny it, and who am I to judge. Just a few years ago I shared the very same thoughts. I do, however, have some new views.
I no longer identify with the term ‘coloured’. I see myself as mixed race. I feel it’s a far better summary to explain a person with such a mixed ethnic background.
I am not disowning my local history or people but I have moved on from the generalised stigma.
I don’t have a solution to this problem, but imagine acknowledgement and moving on is a great start.
That doesn’t mean ignore, it means accepting first and then moving on.
P.S
I really dislike those damn ballad cards that ask what race I am.
Rezeen
Rezeen Daniels is a photographer and blogger currently based out of Shanghai, China. If you want to check out his photography and writing, you can go to his website at, www.rezeendaniels.com .
The post The Racist South African Traveller appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post Ashwin Willemse Exposes Subtle Workplace Racism appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>Ashwin Willemse has just touched a raw nerve by walking off the SuperSport set, while accusing Naas Botha and Nick Mallet of undermining and patronising him. This is a topic fraught with nuance and ill-intent that is difficult to identify, easy to deny and impossible to prove.
It is prevalent in the workplace, but almost never obvious.
And that’s because it comes wrapped in an air of misplaced intellectual superiority; disguised in years of experience that the speaker peddles and makes sure to slip into conversation subtly.
And often not so subtly!
To appear fair (or appease their guilty conscience), they toss you a bone every now and again with the occasional compliment, spiking your serotonin. And soon you’re craving more. You have just become hooked on a powerful drug – approval!
Of course you know that you’re good (even excellent) at what you do, but the compliments are just rare enough to make you doubt yourself … ever so slightly. This erosion of self-confidence happens slowly at first, and before you know it, it’s all you have.
By only sometimes being told indirectly that you are good, but not quite good enough to be as expert as they are on the subject at hand, you essentially hit a glass ceiling.
And it doesn’t matter how long you may have been practicing your craft, that person will always make it known to you that they know much more than you do; and that you could never really know as much as they do.
It is a corporate power dynamic that keeps certain people in their place and tempers any designs you may have for growth and progress.
It is seldom, if ever direct! And in fact, it may even appear that they like and respect you. But only for as long as you understand that they are superior to you … and that their “wisdom” holds sway over yours.
This destroys not only self-confidence, but also loyalty; turns a passion into a job; makes people feel helpless and eventually listless and defeated. At times, their frustration comes out in destructive ways, which of course just serves as proof of their supposed inferiority.
But it’s not just an individual loss of confidence that occurs. This dynamic also squanders exceptional talent; talent that could’ve resulted in a company soaring to new heights.
It may just have meant the difference between corporate brilliance and corporate mediocrity. And all because egos are easily bruised (and threatened) by aptitude.
And that really is the crux of this grey area that defies exact definition. These victims of power are undermined simply because they have a natural talent for something that others may have had to study for many years to master. And because they studied it and have degrees to prove their supposed intelligence, they end up in positions of power, given to them by other people with degrees and sensitive egos.
Making themselves the sole of purveyor of wisdom, they have constructed a kingdom where they have the final word that may not be questioned or opposed.
They intimidate, because they themselves are intimidated.
By your natural flair.
Source: Copied from the wall of Bobby Brown
Video: If you have not seen the video that this article relates to, check it out HERE!
The post Ashwin Willemse Exposes Subtle Workplace Racism appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>The post Jennica Beukes Wins appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>Nobody knows this but I told myself I will keep it to myself until after this day.
I used to attend Tygerberg High, a predominantly white school. During these 2.5 years I had a hard time getting used to the manner coloureds were subjecting themselves to white standards in order to truly consider themselves ‘Tiere’… Me, however… I was different and would always find myself defending who I am and where I come from.
I recall white learners disrespecting a coloured teacher(or maybe she was just standing in for the day I am unsure) and speaking to her as though she’s just another housemaid. I even recall some learners who would speak about black people and referring to them as ‘k*ffers’ as though it is not offensive at all and in some instances ‘hotnots’. I even recall receiving detention merely for speaking with my normal coloured accent and was then given detention on the ground that I was being disrespectful with the way I speak.
But when I had enough was when I was in grade 9 and an old (racist) teacher, Mrs Kleinhans (she also has a daughter who was teaching LO at Tygerberg at the time), informed my very close friend (white) that she should stay away from me unless she would want to end up on the streets the way I would one day. This woman never gave me any lessons nor did she even know me from any side. She merely formed her own conclusions after seeing the colour of my skin. After this I refused to go back to school and my father asked me what happened… But I never told him. Afterwards he just asked me if I want to go to another school upon which I said yes and that was the end of it.
Well, your words obviously stayed with me for a very long time. I am now 24 years old and still recall these events so vividly.
But can someone please tell that RACIST OLD ASS THING that I MADE IT!
I passed my LLB without ever not once failing a single module, finished in record time and obtained 15 distinctions in the process. I made deans list and completed my final year of law with 6 distinctions.
On the streets where???? We were raised by the very same people who fought against you and took back a whole country which you stole from us. Perhaps you didn’t see then what we as non-whites are capable of, but those warriors have raised us and we are strong dedicated beings.
I have equipped myself with the tools and the knowledge to break down each and every racist I will ever encounter in a court one day. But today no court was needed for you, I already won.
The post Jennica Beukes Wins appeared first on Coloured South Africa .
]]>