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Mondli Makhanya: The need for unlearning racism and detoxing racists

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Mondli Makhanya is editor in chief of City Press.
Mondli Makhanya is editor in chief of City Press.

There is this thing about bigots and their belated apologies.

They usually mumble some forced statement that ends with the phrase: “I am sorry if/that I offended anyone.”

Which means that, firstly, the person is so prejudiced that they did not know that what they said was offensive and, secondly, they would not have apologised if nobody had objected to their utterances.

There was that crusty Penny Sparrow, who, in a bid to avoid a harsher sentence for comparing black people to monkeys, told the court that:

It is difficult to put into words the regret I feel. I will from now on strive to be a better citizen, respecting others, working towards making our country a better place to live in.
Penny Sparrow

We also had Adam Catzavelos “repenting” about having filmed himself appreciating the fact that there were no “k***irs” on the Greek beach he spent his holiday enjoying.

He told us that, after watching the video that he had been so proud to post on social media, he felt “total shame” and was finding it hard “to put into words what I want to say and genuinely apologise”.

More honest was Vicki Momberg, who apparently didn’t know that the word ‘k***ir’ was gravely offensive, instead believing that it was just another arbitrary swear word.

Her incredible advice to black people

They should not take it personally, unless they feel or believe they are what they are being called
Vicki Momberg

Last week, it was security company Beagle Watch Armed Response’s turn to be racist.

The company circulated a flyer online giving clients and potential clients tips on how to spot a criminal suspect or suspicious-looking character.

The image used to illustrate the suspect looked a lot like this lowly newspaperman – a swanky man with dark skin, cool cap, branded T-shirt, stylish sneakers, trendy tattoos and fearsome scars.

The message was clear. 

After it was called out for being racist, Beagle Watch’s response followed the usual pattern.

A company spokesperson told TimesLIVE that its client base was diverse, and that its “corporate culture and values demand that our priority should always be the protection of our clients, irrespective of race, religion or gender”.

Basically, some of Beagle Watch’s best friends are black.

The flyer, according to the company, was merely meant to “assist the public in understanding characteristics that assist the police in the apprehension and successful prosecution of criminal cases”.

Then came that line: 

We regret that this illustration offended some South Africans because it was never the intention.
Beagle Watch’s apology

Of course not. It is never the intention of bigots to offend. It comes naturally because it is part of their being.

So when bigots practise prejudice of whatever nature, they do it because that is what they know and it is something they are not willing to unlearn.

They are comfortable in their prejudiced space and acting out their prejudices comes naturally.

In a piece in US publication Medium, writer Kirsten Schultz wrote that racism is something that is instilled in someone by society, family and institutionalised privilege.

“Racism, like any other ‘ism’, is taught. It is something our children learn by being in a racist environment. If you’ve ever watched kids of different ethnicities playing together, they may be interested in why skin is different, but that’s about it,” wrote Schultz, who described herself as “extremely pale white usually described as ivory”.

That is why a community surrounding Rustenburg Girls’ Junior School in the Cape found it so easy to make life uncomfortable for teacher Nozipho Mthembu and eventually drive her out of the institution.

This is the reason a Grade 5 pupil at the same school could wonder out loud whether black teachers were real teachers.

Even though racism can never be totally eradicated, we have to start making gains in reversing it.

The fact that there are large swaths of South Africans who find it normal to be racially prejudiced in this day and age should alarm and spur us into concerted action.

Fortunately, the courts, society and law enforcement agencies are treating racism as the despicable offence that it is.

Racists are now being punished through fines, jail sentences and economic ruination. Racism is being made distinctly unattractive.

What needs to be given greater impetus is the unlearning of racism and the detoxing of racists.

There are already many credible and powerful initiatives run by civil society organisations aimed at precisely that. These need to be supported and widely propagated.

The need for unlearning needs to be accepted and acted on by white South Africans – they need to embrace what the past did to their mind-set and be wary of passing this on to the young and innocent.

As Samantha Kambule of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation argues: “South Africa needs whites to join blacks in confronting racism and any prejudice on the black skin ... After all, racism and apartheid were created by white people. It is up to them to help bring its still-lasting effects down.”


Mondli Makhanya
Editor in Chief
City Press
p:+27 11 713 9001
w:www.citypress.co.za  e: Mondli.Makhanya@citypress.co.za
      
 
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