Is racial classification in “The New South Africa” desirable?
Posted on July 9th, 2008 by Richard Catto 2,650 views
Dion Chang wrote an interesting article on Thought Leader recently about the recent reclassification of some of South Africa’s Chinese population as "Coloured".
It is a confusing classification, in my opinion, because it does not classify ALL Chinese South Africans as "Coloured", only those born in South Africa before 1994. I find this confusing because it means that one cannot tell just by looking at a Chinese person what racial classification they now hold, instead one has to first determine if they were born in South Africa before a certain year. It strikes me as being rather bizarre.
In response I left this comment on Thought Leader:
It’s really quite ironic that The New South Africa is still engaging in the not so subtle “art” of deciding what race group a person belongs to.
I thought we were supposed to have put all that nonsense behind us?
I suppose the elephant in the room that so many wish to avoid addressing is that any system which relies on racial classifications to function brings us straight back to the ridiculousness of Apartheid.
And so here we sit again, not knowing how to address past inequalities without using the discredited tools of racial classification.
I would love to know how to fix this, because I have no idea.
And got this reply from a commenter known as Benzol:
Start a movement to call each other “people”. When asked for your “race” on a form, fill in “human”. If enough people start doing this, it might sink in one day. It is called “civil disobedience”.
To which I made this comment:
Does this mean that BEE and AA must be considered failed policies because they depend on racially classifying people?
What do you think? Is racial classification in "The New South Africa" desirable? Or is it a hangover from Apartheid that we should speedily put behind us? Is it impossible then to help "previously disadvantaged" people? How should we help them (if at all)?
Tags: AA, Apartheid, BEE, race classification
Filed under South African politics | 2 Comments »
the irony
Posted on February 28th, 2008 by Richard Catto 1,620 views
This post is an edited version of an email I sent to someone.
Ironically last year I stood by another blogger when he was being attacked online. This year he and others have joined together to brand me a racist troll, which I regard as slander.
I befriended him last year in May via his blog. Standing by him obviously helped build our friendship. It soon became apparent, however, that he and I share very different political views. He began to show contempt towards me in his comments. He regarded my political views as idiotic.
Whatever residual goodwill he might have had for me, did not prevent him from posting numerous blog posts in which he slated me.
For some reason, the post I wrote recently about Emily Williams sent him and a few others over the edge with rage. They denounced me as a troll in blog postings and comments.
The strong reaction has taken me by surprise. When I read the account, I was immediately struck by the mother’s decision to remain parked outside the house where she suspected a crime was in progress. I wrote what I felt.
I’m also finding that I’m butting heads with a lot of whites who don’t like what I have to say about taking personal responsibility for their role in Apartheid. As we are all discovering, South Africa is actually very deeply polarised on racial lines. Racism abounds.
Last year I published a blog post about a woman who said "fuck off, kaffir" to a black man at the V&A Waterfront. I was astounded by the racism displayed by many whites in reaction to my article. One Afrikaans business man from KZN unsubscribed from my newsletter leaving a racist comment as his reason.
This year, as you know, a black domestic worker discovered that her white employer regarded her as a "kaffir bitch" via a missent SMS.
These events (and others, including the Skielik shootings) serve only to further polarise South Africans on racial lines. I have been advocating that whites apologise for their role in Apartheid. This has gone over well with black South Africans but provoked a strong angry response from many white South Africans.
I am now being subjected to various attacks because of these views. I’m being smeared online as a troll and a racist, presumeably an anti-white racist, even though I am white myself.
I think this year is turning out to be a year of truthful disillusionment. The Rainbow Nation we were so proud of, appears to be an illusion, shattered by the reality of rampany anti-black racism amongst dissatified whites.
Tags: Apartheid, kaffir, Racism, Rainbow Nation, transformation
Filed under Current Events, South Africa | 6 Comments »
Why I wrote my “bad to the bone racist scum” white South African article
Posted on October 25th, 2007 by Richard Catto 2,518 views
I linked to my friend, Guy McLaren’s web site yesterday, calling him "bad to the bone racist scum" and got called a politically correct bonehead in return, which I guess is pretty mild compared to what I called him. So, to clarify, I was being over the top for effect. McLaren hardly qualifies as racist scum, he’s more of a closet, weekend warrior type of racist, and only if he remembered to dry clean his AWB khakis during the week.
One thing, though, is that I was right about white people expecting me to side with the interests of white people.
I don’t think it does white people any good to be seen to be favoured over other races. That’s why when Spur has a competition and all the winners are white, that fuels dissatisfaction amongst black people.
Same applies to sports’ teams. It’s now apparent that many black people are unhappy that so many Springbok rugby players are white.
"If you haven’t been called a kaffir you haven’t been playing in South Africa."
"Most rugby players in South Africa are black – as are around 80 per cent of the population – but the Springbok team photo is unmistakably pale, with only two coloured players in tonight’s starting XV."
So I happen to think that they have a good point. I’m not going to side with whites just because I am white. Transformation in South African sport MUST happen. It is not optional.
You know, so far, white people in SA have been lucky. We’ve had ANC governments which have not outrightly persecuted whites. That might change, though, especially if frustration boils over. That’s basically what happened in Zimbabwe with the land grab.
Black Zimbabweans lost patience with white Zimbabweans, because they felt they were enjoying less success than the whites.
I don’t think black people are impressed with whites who say that they had nothing to do with Apartheid, especially those whites who served in the Apartheid security forces.
Really, I think the best approach is to just admit that we played our part and apologise for that. I think white South Africans need to make an apology to black South Africans for being responsible in whole or in part for Apartheid.
I also think that white South Africans need to stand against favouritism and racial inequities wherever they may encounter them. That is the reason why I have zoned in on Spur’s racially biased competition, and also on the Springbok rugby team. It’s good that South Africa won the Rugby World Cup, but it would have been better still if the racial demographics of the players were not so skewed in favour of white players.
White South Africans need to realise that it’s not okay for us to racially dominate anything anywhere anymore. It’s just not okay.
Tags: Apartheid, kaffir, racial bias, Rugby World Cup, Springbok Rugby team, white favouritism
Filed under Apartheid, Racism, White South Africans | 13 Comments »
The trouble with white South Africans is …
Posted on October 24th, 2007 by Richard Catto 19,345 views
The trouble with white South Africans is that they suffer from a distinct LACK of white guilt. The reason is that they are racist to the bone. The more loudly that they protest that they are not racist, the more certain it is that they are. An absence of white guilt and / or taking pride in the fact that they are white is conclusive proof that they are bad to the bone racist scum.
Let’s get this straight once and for all – white South Africans, ALL OF US, were responsible for Apartheid. Every single last one of us. Even if you joined Umkhonto we Sizwe and attacked a white church with hand grenades and assault rifles, you, just by being WHITE, were an intrinsic part of the problem.
Apartheid was YOUR fault. It was MY fault. It was OUR fault.
And it is high time that we stopped denying this, minimising this and wishing it away. It will never go away. It is just the way things are.
South Africa’s unemployment rate is pushing 40% and it has one of the world’s highest murder rates. But analysts agree that white South Africans are still relatively cushioned from such hardships.
- White South Africans fail to win asylum in US
Observe the bleating of white South African racists (above), shit scared that blacks are gonna kill them. Why are they so scared? Because WHITE South Africans are corporately responsible for all the deaths of all the black South Africans who died as a result of Apartheid.
Did you serve in the SADF (South African Defence Force) or SAP (South African Police) during the Apartheid era? I did. I carried a rifle in a township. I oppressed black people. I assisted the SAP who brutally attacked, beat, arrested, tortured and killed black people who just wanted to be FREE. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t do it myself or that I never fired a shot in anger. Mea culpa. I did that, because I was there, with a gun, prepared to kill on demand of my country.
And now today, because I speak out and confront my fellow white South Africans whenever I see racial bias in favour of whites, these white South Africans can’t understand why I’m doing this. They regard me as a traitor, as if I swore a holy oath of fealty to unconditionally support the interests of the white race group JUST BECAUSE I AM WHITE.
WRONG!
I owe white South Africans dick shit. My loyalty is not towards white South Africans, my loyalty is to SOUTH AFRICANS.
Don’t ask me, like white South African racist NeilO did, “what race are you?” because my race is completely irrelevant.
Honestly, I don’t know why white South Africans expect me to buy into the insanity of their racism just because I share with them a white skin. Perhaps they’re so accustomed to being surrounded by white racists that it comes as a complete shock to them to meet a fellow white person who doesn’t instinctively support their self-serving bullshit?
Listen up white South African racists – I AM NOT ON YOUR SIDE. I bat for the other team.
Tags: Apartheid, South Africa, The Struggle, White South African racists
Filed under racists, White South Africans | 185 Comments »
