A serious look at racism

IF YOU were in a coma for the past 21 years and woke up in the last few weeks you would think that you were still in 1993. There has been an explosion of racist utterances and accusations of racism left, right and centre.

The issue of race has come to the fore in a big way and is threatening to blow the country apart. The rainbow nation as envisaged by Mandela seems to have been torn apart or maybe the veneer of a rainbow nation has been removed.

One may believe that the racially charged narrative is a necessary evil and we need to talk about race and race based advantage and disadvantage.

The “white privilege” needs to be confronted and done away with. Others may believe that the debate that is raging is taking us backwards to a place we left behind 20 years ago when democracy made a belated appearance.

To be still debating race is an affront to the rainbow nation and people should just “move on”. Whether you believe in either of the divergent views, what is apparent is that South Africa needs to deal with the race issue once and for all and to do so honestly, openly and sincerely.

A lot of strides have been made in trying to uplift the standard of the previously oppressed majority but unfortunately, as things stand today, poverty still has a colour, and it is black and predominantly black African.

In 1990 Mandela said, “The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.” It is now 2016 - and have we built the sort of nation Mandela was talking about? Was he dreaming and unrealistic in his convictions? The events over the past few weeks have shown that we are still a divided nation and that race still matters.

Protea cricketer Hashim Amla said when Temba Bavuma scored a century, “Personally I know the pressures players of colour go through when they first come into the setup. Everybody doubts you, either because of the colour of your skin or for various reasons, even though you have the stats to back it up domestically.”

This shows that in all spheres of life racism and its manifestations - either subtly or overtly - have not been dealt with.

We are at a crossroads, whichever way we go is crucial.