I not so recently got a job in Pretoria… after I received my acceptance letter I squealed a bit called my sister to celebrate and together we jumped around like the primates from which we evolved… as we were catching our breath my sister asked me how I’d “survive” in Pretoria with all the racism there. I told her that I didn’t think whatever racism remained in the country’s capital could be extreme… I would soon learn that there’s no "black" in the rainbow… not yet anyway… and on closer inspection you’ll find that there’s not much brown or "white" either…
Every place I find myself in teaches me a new lesson about life and even more about the sociological bubble I grew up in. While, it would be unfair to over-generalize and say that Pretoria is a racist city… Allow me to be unfair at this juncture. The irony of Pretoria’s racism is that it is juxtaposed with the internationalization of the country. Pretoria, as the country’s capital is a hub of international activity… that is how I found myself seeking employment here in the first place. The non-believer in me told me that people who allege racism are those who perpetrate it and so I reasoned that because I wasn’t racist I wouldn’t experience it… twisted logic I know, but I tend to try to rationalize irrational behaviour… suffice it to say, I was wrong.
My article is likely to only make people more aware of the “racism” – latent or otherwise – in the beautiful jacaranda tree-lined capital city… and in effect it might actually perpetuate the vicious cycle that South African society is failing to extricate itself from… BUT maybe, and only maybe, this heightened awareness will allow people to reevaluate their own relations with their friends, coworkers and Jack and Jill on the street… only maybe.
I have always said that racism is an external manifestation of your own internal self-loathing and/or feelings of inadequacy. My sentiments have not changed because the racism I have suffered has mostly come from people who don’t know me, people who attempt to measure my successes and failures within a split second at the till at my local supermarket and decide there and then that I am either not worthy of their services or grab hold of their bags because, the flying spaghetti monster forbid, I might just try to snatch their handbag and run home… aaah well.
In writing this note, I had one person in mind… a seemingly friendly girl who told me that I could not live with her because “[she’s] not sure her friends would be comfortable with [her] living with ‘a person like [me]’” (her words not mine). Unfortunate as it is that Miranda had no idea what ‘a person like me’ is other than that I have a high level of melanin, she got her way… I changed house…
So, here I am… trying with great difficulty to put a little black spot on the rainbow that is South Africa… but maybe the whole notion of a rainbow is inherently flawed… given that it makes it so patently clear that we are all not one “colour”… I’ll take an amorphous mélange of colour any day… or some whiskey… on the rocks… shaken, not stirred.
19 May 2009
What Identity?
In December 2008 I closed the book on my Rhodes experience... FINALLY flown away from my little foster home, my little cocoon - an anthropologist's dream - a microcosm of predominantly middle-class B-grade students with social lives constructed mainly around a couple of pubs, sportsbars and nothing much else. The one thing I know I've definitely taken with me (except the somewhat beautiful parchments with my embossed name and my alleged academic "qualifications") is an inflated, albeit artificial sense of self-worth and no idea where I really want to be (or maybe even "do" in the short-run at least).
I've met wonderful people while at Rhodes - mixed in with all the rotten apples and faux smiles of the others... The wonderful people I've met are those I'll undoubtedly never forget, even if I wanted to! Most of whom have contributed to my sense of self-worth.. The "diversity" at Rhodes is just as artificial. While I cannot deny that there are certain "oil and water" elements amongst the jacaranda tree and tequila stained avenues of my former campus, the majority of us gravitated towards clones of ourselves or at least people we hoped to clone. In a language many of my fellow Rhodents may understand: You either went to Friar's or you didn't (read Equilibrium). Those of us who occasionally crossed the divide were branded anomalies and more often than not "judged" by our mates from the different camps... But what a wealth of knowledge I acquired while walking on that fence!
Over the past 5years (yes, I'm THAT old!) I have learnt more about people than I ever thought possible. I have shed "friends" like the seasonal skin of a snake and have at the same time managed to separate the wheat from the chaff. I can safely say that those people I call my friends today are indeed my friends and are people I will reminisce with about things other than the jacarandas and the tequila.. People I will cherish always and without whom my years at Rhodes would have been empty.
I have grown as a person... from my early Rhodes days when I wasn't quite sure in which group I fell and when in a desperate attempt to "fit the mould" I sold myself terribly short.. Over the years I have come to terms with who I am and have discovered that there is no mould into which I must force myself. That I am unique and that the things that set me apart are the things that define me... some characteristics might be endearing to some, while grating to others... but it's who I am. I might have to thank Rhodes for that.. a seed sown has been nurtured and watered and has blossomed into the person I am today....
That said: When next I am in Grahamstown... you know where to find me!
I've met wonderful people while at Rhodes - mixed in with all the rotten apples and faux smiles of the others... The wonderful people I've met are those I'll undoubtedly never forget, even if I wanted to! Most of whom have contributed to my sense of self-worth.. The "diversity" at Rhodes is just as artificial. While I cannot deny that there are certain "oil and water" elements amongst the jacaranda tree and tequila stained avenues of my former campus, the majority of us gravitated towards clones of ourselves or at least people we hoped to clone. In a language many of my fellow Rhodents may understand: You either went to Friar's or you didn't (read Equilibrium). Those of us who occasionally crossed the divide were branded anomalies and more often than not "judged" by our mates from the different camps... But what a wealth of knowledge I acquired while walking on that fence!
Over the past 5years (yes, I'm THAT old!) I have learnt more about people than I ever thought possible. I have shed "friends" like the seasonal skin of a snake and have at the same time managed to separate the wheat from the chaff. I can safely say that those people I call my friends today are indeed my friends and are people I will reminisce with about things other than the jacarandas and the tequila.. People I will cherish always and without whom my years at Rhodes would have been empty.
I have grown as a person... from my early Rhodes days when I wasn't quite sure in which group I fell and when in a desperate attempt to "fit the mould" I sold myself terribly short.. Over the years I have come to terms with who I am and have discovered that there is no mould into which I must force myself. That I am unique and that the things that set me apart are the things that define me... some characteristics might be endearing to some, while grating to others... but it's who I am. I might have to thank Rhodes for that.. a seed sown has been nurtured and watered and has blossomed into the person I am today....
That said: When next I am in Grahamstown... you know where to find me!
The knife cuts both ways
I have been on a writing hiatus and have particularly not said much insofar as Zimbabwean politics is concerned... but following the death of the Prime Minister Tsvangirai's wife on Friday 06 March, I have been drawn into the fold.
Now, FTR I do not condone the deaths of many - caused by the cholera outbreak, hunger and alleged political violence - or the fact that our country is suffering from hyper-hyper inflation (currently pegged at 231 million percent - who knew that was possible?!)... and we're not even at war! I, however, cannot deny that President Mugabe - from a pan-Africanist, revolutionary struggle, rights to land perspective - has a point.. but for the purposes of this article I shall not delve into the complex intricacies of land reform, land tenure rights and land ownership rights... google is your friend in that regard..
The purpose of my note is not to play devil's advocate, but to clear the air and to help people have a more objective outlook on the situation in my beloved motherland.
While, Zimbabwe has been ready for "change" for nearly a decade now, I don't think a politically immature former weaver is our redemption. You are free to criticize me on this, but first hear me out...
On Friday 06 March 2009 at around 16.00 (Local Harare time), Mrs Susan Tsvangirai and her husband were involved in a car accident caused by a collision with a USAID truck that had veered into the wrong lane. Both the US and the UK have expressed their deepest sympathies and have declared the incident an accident. WAIT one bloody African minute... so when it's a US/UK truck that collides into a government official's car it's an accident, but all other high-profile road deaths were orchestrated by ZANU PF? Seriously now..
But that's not even the point of my article... the point is that the Government of national unity (GNU - read "ZANU PF led government") has been condemned by the media and lay arm-chair critics for not providing the "second most important man in Zimbabwe" sufficient protection. I too would have argued this had Tsvangirai himself not rejected a GNU motorcade and state-sponsored security personnel, alleging that he is not "comfortable" with the GNU yet and that he fears that the security forces are still under Mugabe's control... So, while the death of ANYONE is saddening and is a reminder of just how easily life can be taken from us, Tsvangirai is not entirely blameless here. He had the option of greater protection, but instead opted for a 3car motorcade (with cars not designed for security purposes). For one, Barack Obama will tell you that when you suddenly become "important" you need the most protection you can get.
Let's not topple the already fragile GNU by alleging conspiracies... sometimes accidents do actually happen... and if it indeed wasn't an accident, I think people should be considering that the truck was a USAID truck, driven by an employee of USAID and not an axe-brandishing war-veteran. However, Given the speculations, it is clear that a credible, independent investigation into the car accident is needed. The results of this investigation will help settle the matter expeditiously... and then we can get to the business of reconstructing Zimbabwe.
Remember... knives cut both ways...
That said... can the change promised start already...
Now, FTR I do not condone the deaths of many - caused by the cholera outbreak, hunger and alleged political violence - or the fact that our country is suffering from hyper-hyper inflation (currently pegged at 231 million percent - who knew that was possible?!)... and we're not even at war! I, however, cannot deny that President Mugabe - from a pan-Africanist, revolutionary struggle, rights to land perspective - has a point.. but for the purposes of this article I shall not delve into the complex intricacies of land reform, land tenure rights and land ownership rights... google is your friend in that regard..
The purpose of my note is not to play devil's advocate, but to clear the air and to help people have a more objective outlook on the situation in my beloved motherland.
While, Zimbabwe has been ready for "change" for nearly a decade now, I don't think a politically immature former weaver is our redemption. You are free to criticize me on this, but first hear me out...
On Friday 06 March 2009 at around 16.00 (Local Harare time), Mrs Susan Tsvangirai and her husband were involved in a car accident caused by a collision with a USAID truck that had veered into the wrong lane. Both the US and the UK have expressed their deepest sympathies and have declared the incident an accident. WAIT one bloody African minute... so when it's a US/UK truck that collides into a government official's car it's an accident, but all other high-profile road deaths were orchestrated by ZANU PF? Seriously now..
But that's not even the point of my article... the point is that the Government of national unity (GNU - read "ZANU PF led government") has been condemned by the media and lay arm-chair critics for not providing the "second most important man in Zimbabwe" sufficient protection. I too would have argued this had Tsvangirai himself not rejected a GNU motorcade and state-sponsored security personnel, alleging that he is not "comfortable" with the GNU yet and that he fears that the security forces are still under Mugabe's control... So, while the death of ANYONE is saddening and is a reminder of just how easily life can be taken from us, Tsvangirai is not entirely blameless here. He had the option of greater protection, but instead opted for a 3car motorcade (with cars not designed for security purposes). For one, Barack Obama will tell you that when you suddenly become "important" you need the most protection you can get.
Let's not topple the already fragile GNU by alleging conspiracies... sometimes accidents do actually happen... and if it indeed wasn't an accident, I think people should be considering that the truck was a USAID truck, driven by an employee of USAID and not an axe-brandishing war-veteran. However, Given the speculations, it is clear that a credible, independent investigation into the car accident is needed. The results of this investigation will help settle the matter expeditiously... and then we can get to the business of reconstructing Zimbabwe.
Remember... knives cut both ways...
That said... can the change promised start already...
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