Most of us have experienced the scene at some point in our lives. You are at a party and there is an individual being loud and obnoxious, possibly including foul language. Maybe it is as a result of arrogance or alcohol, or perhaps a combination of both. In any event the party host is forced to confront the offending person, requesting the individual to leave. The reaction is one of “why, what am I doing so wrong?” So the person is making a nuisance of him/herself, not blending in with the other partygoers, and yet seems oblivious to the impact his/her behaviour is having.
I compare the way many white people feel about their presence in this country, (this alleged “we are not welcome here” feeling), to this irritating partygoer.
One cannot continue as if apartheid had no negative effect on the majority of the people of this country, or that all must be forgotten, or that whatever rectifying of the past mistakes is someone else’s responsibility, and then wonder why you may not feel welcome here.
On 16 June last year I was in one of those tucked away shebeens in Khayelitsha. An EFF member, complete with his red beret, came purposefully across the floor to me, to shake my hand and say that I am most welcome there. What more of a positive symbol for what is possible in this country could we want? A man, from a party that eschews all this supposed radical rhetoric, welcoming a stranger from the nation that dispossessed his forefathers of their land, and newted their ability to produce a decent income by limiting their educational and work opportunities.
In terms of racial redress, to me there are two aspects. The one is tangible, and often carries a legal component. It is the affirmative action policies, the land redistribution agenda and so forth. All of this is necessary because, with the economy virtually 100% in white hands in 1994, nothing was going to happen voluntarily.
However, it is the second one that I am mainly interested in. The psychological, intangible arena. It is how the various races interact on a daily basis, the body language used. How a white person often talks to a black individual in a different way than how he talks to a fellow whitey. How a white person in a large corporation feels comfortable inviting a fellow white colleague to the Sunday braai, or the gym, but would somehow not extend the same invitation to a black colleague, not because he is racist, but because he is so programmed NOT to do it.
My fascination with this is because the white population has this “us and them” concept so interwoven in their social fabric that I suspect most don’t even know it. Of course apartheid spatial planning, which to a large extent still exists today, does not help. Those blacks that have infiltrated (and I use that word purposefully) urban and city spaces, are too few in number to make a significant dent in breaking down barriers.
Although this is a blog about social cohesion, this being South Africa, there is bound to be a political overlap. I am determined to remain apolitical, so I shall tread gently when I say the following:
I worry that a significant amount of white people have maintained the racial barrier out of a belief that, with the majority of voters that have put the ruling party in power being black, and with the supposed shortcomings in the way the country is being governed – whether real or perceived – this is somehow justification for not changing, or maybe even hardening, their racial attitudes. I can assure these people, that they may have more in common across the race divide than they currently may imagine. This does not mean people from different backgrounds will vote the same way, but that when it comes to the issues there is a lot of common ground. And, after all, are we not aiming for an issue-based electoral system?
So it is only when the white woman, living in Constantia and driving her superfluous SUV, realises that her future is intrinsically linked to the unemployed black man living in Khayelitsha, that we will finally start making some real progress. Because when that black man feels he, and his family, have a stake in the future of this land, and cease to feel like the “them” in the “us and them” scenario, will that white woman feel welcome here and then a meeting of the minds can occur. And it is as much of a responsibility of this white woman to contribute to making this happen, to help in breaking down the psychological barriers that divide us, as it is the rest of us. Then, I can assure you, issues of feeling not welcome, will evaporate.