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June 25, 2014
Written by Bonnie Joy Massey
Considered “one of the cruelest forms of institutional racism ever
devised” (Marx 1992:x), South Africa’s system of forced racial
segregation or apartheid from 1948 to 1994 resulted in extreme
inequality for its non-White citizens. Laws and policies enforced
unequal distribution of food, education, work, and medical care among
other resources as well as abolishing access to civic or political
participation. In 2010, as an American graduate student in South Africa I
was exposed for the first time to the country’s violent history and
recent move towards democracy.
The eighties were a turbulent time for South Africa, which
experienced a “culture of revolt”: large waves of civil disobedience,
violence, the disappearance of citizens and the incarceration and murder
of civil rights leaders. Now twenty years after the country became a
democracy, I became curious about the effect this transition had on the
lives of South Africans today. This is important, as current attitudes
“may be critically related to the long-term prospects for a stable
democracy in South Africa” (Duckitt and Mphuthing 1998:811). Nelson
Mandela envisioned the future of South Africa as a unified, equitable
“rainbow nation” of all races. If the country is going to make progress
toward this dream, citizens must come to a common understanding about
past injustices and agree on the best way to move forward.
I imagined that the lives of South African citizens had been
drastically affected by the recent changes in the country’s structure,
government and policies. I set out to discover the way White South
Africans born during apartheid spoke about this societal shift and how
it has impacted their day-to-day lives. I interviewed five men and six
women over the age of forty from diverse backgrounds. I was naïve and
consciously ignorant as a twenty-something Californian woman completely
new to this culture—an outsider. However, the majority of South Africans
I interviewed were warm and friendly people, willing to share past
experiences and thoughts with me. Whether over a pot of rooibos tea or a
pack of cigarettes, we found it easy to chat about music, food,
relationships and more.
During the interviews I was struck by the differences between each
individual’s explanation of the historical events, their own
interpretation of knowledge, and truth. South African author, Anthony
Marx writes that, “History is born of the subjective interpretations of
specific experiences. That is not to say that people are free to act as
they wish, for material constraints do impinge. But people respond to
such constraints and try to learn from them” (1998:xi-xii). One’s
experience of the political struggle in South Africa is seen through
various lenses, each affected by his or her racial classification in the
apartheid system. I examined my transcribed interviews with a
fine-tooth comb, searching for common themes amidst the emotions and
stories within the seemingly relative constructions of reality.
As I progressed in my research I quickly found that I was wrong in
assuming that these White South Africans had experienced extreme change
in their daily lives. Throughout the history of apartheid, a power
struggle existed between Blacks and Whites having profound effects on
the social system. I discovered that little had changed in this regard
following the transition to democracy. Many concerns from the past
continued to remain. There seemed to be few, if any, self-identified
changes in White South African identities, practices and thoughts since
democratization. However, there was a shift in individuals’ definition
of the country’s social problems and the reasoning behind their beliefs.
Sadly, some South Africans continue to blame other racialized groups
for their own uncomfortable predicament of extreme poverty and societal
unrest.
White South Africans have very different experiences depending on
their political and social perspectives. There exist many progressive
White South Africans who are actively fighting for the human rights and
equality of all persons. These progressive activists have experienced
stigma in the past and present, facing ostracization from other Whites.
However, conservative Whites often hold onto their segregated lifestyle,
still fearful of the Black population and supportive of separatist
social policies. While these conservatives may support integration in
theory, they oppose it in practice.
The guilt Whites possessed during apartheid continues to manifest
itself today through various coping mechanisms. Many Whites appear to
dismiss the severity of the existing injustice, outright deny the
inequality that existed between races during apartheid and ignore the
link between the apartheid system and poverty in Black South Africa
today. However, some Whites admit that the situation could have been
handled differently, but still claim intentions and hearts were in the
correct place even if the system of the apartheid system was
systematically unfair and the outcome was less than desired.
While discussing the past, numerous Whites put forth excuses for the
country’s inequality, stressing how they truly had believed in the
supposed benefits of apartheid. They explain how they thought that
providing a separatist system was best for the development of non-Whites
within the country. They denied any participation or responsibility in
active discrimination, yet still philosophically believe in the
separation of people based upon the color of their skin and continue to
engage in discriminatory behavior and self-segregate.
One interviewee, Michael, saw himself as powerless against apartheid
and explained that it was a social constraint pushed on him against his
will, which he could do nothing about. Yet, he related to the logic of
the apartheid system and claimed that its downfall was that it was not
carried out properly:
It was forced on us, that was how they thought it should be. It was
normal… saying it’s the only way of developing. You could develop these
people quicker without the interference of the competition for work or
anything. [Having to] compete with the White guy, you see it would have
pushed them back.
He explained how he although apartheid was not bad, it “wasn’t
ideal.” Later on he tried to clarify this idea and said that “apartheid
was bad but it was really good in theory.” He explained the logic of a
beneficial “separate development regime” which tried to “help” out the
less “developed” population of South Africa. To do this he saw it
necessary that the government encourage the Black population in the
lifestyle of the White population by forcing them into isolation. He
spoke of how the system of apartheid actually gave “good paying jobs” in
Cape Town to those who lived in “underdeveloped” areas, without forcing
them to compete with White people:
Separate development was the idea that you take this group that was
disadvantaged, [and you] don’t put them in the mainstream. You see it
would have pushed them back. [You] give them separate development then
eventually you put them together. You could develop these people quicker
without the interference of the competition for work or anything. It
was time to get them on the same paths as the White guys without pushing
them to compete. Apartheid was bad but it was really good in theory.
The theory was right, I still believe it. So the theory wasn’t bad.
A cognitive dissonance still exists within the White community—they
are unsure of what their new place is within the changes of the country.
Some are reexamining their White identity and feeling guilt for the
advantage of having white skin. Many, finally feeling their minority
status in South Africa, cling to the past values held during apartheid.
They are frightened of the idea of loss of culture and power and do
their best to maintain privilege in the economical and cultural realm,
since they no longer have power in the political realm. Individualism is
championed and affirmative action is often rejected and dismissed as
unnecessary. Unfortunately, this helps to rationalize further exclusion
of millions of poor people within the institutions of South Africa.
Similar to the United States, overt discrimination no longer is as
acceptable as it was during apartheid, but race relations continue to
hold conflict. Color-blind racism is very common, with an individual
blaming culture instead of biology for inequality. Some believe that it
is not skin color that causes the still-occurring racial separation in
modern South Africa, but the persistence of Africans’ cultural heritage.
When asked how race relations could improve, another interviewee,
Alicia, said that Blacks needed to adapt to what she characterized as
“our” or the White’s “lifestyle.” She complained that unlike American
Blacks, African Blacks have poor hygiene:
I don’t think they are very used to personal cleanliness and [sighs
and laughs] things like that. They smell really, really bad. When you
walk into the hostel, when I took my kids there, I opened the door and
you could smell it, it was really disgusting. [sigh of disgust] You
know, we are really not used to things like that.
Anti-integration sentiment among the White population continues as
Whites still dominate the resources of South Africa, unwilling to engage
in a change of lifestyle in order to create a more equal society.
Wendy, another interviewee, did not see current problems as one’s
that could be fixed and said she yearned for the days of apartheid. She
said:
I wanted them to live separately from us. I didn’t want us to mix. I
want what I have, I want them to have. But I didn’t want us to be
together… I didn’t want to be better and they to be down there. I wanted
to be on the same level, but I wanted them to be on their own and I
wanted us to be on our own.
The only thing Alicia said that changed for her and her family after
apartheid ended was the fact that her children now had to go to school
with Black children. She expressed her displeasure with this:
Our kids had to go to school with Black people, and in the hostels
they had to stay with Black people, which was not very pleasant. I
really felt sorry for my kids, that really wasn’t something very good.
These people are just not like us… they grew up differently; they are
just very much different to us. You know I don’t have anything against
these people, I get along with them very well… we are just not the same.
They are just very, very different.
This thinking is almost directly taken from a statement made by Edmund Garrett in 1895 in defense of apartheid:
Say not that we are superior and they are inferior, but simply that
we are different, and that difference involves, as a matter of practical
comfort and convenience for both races, a certain amount of keeping to
themselves. Of course we should go on thinking of ourselves as the
superior race (quoted in Abdi 1999:147).
Many White people still hold onto fear of Black people or “the
unknown” and continue to live separate lives. Although interviewee
Richard believed that the new generation of Whites might be “different,”
he expressed to me his astonishment that fifteen years after
democratization Whites still can choose their lifestyle carefully and
sustain a life that does not include Black South Africans if they wish
to do so.
Since the initial stages of change in the early 1990’s there is
little progression towards continued racial integration. Segregation
continues to be rampant. High degrees of class division and extreme
poverty endure, but hope remains as progressives understand that South
Africa still has a long journey ahead. While Richard admits that the
transition continues to be a “torturous process,” he believes that the
activists should be “largely satisfied with a lot of progress we made
and be concerned a lot with the issues that still are outstanding.” He
compared his actions of determination for human rights with those of a
sculptor creating something new, “If we just chip away at this great big
marble, if we keep chipping, something is going to happen at some
stage.”
Similar to the United State’s symbolic or modern racism, while
“beliefs about Africans […] may have become more egalitarian, their
underlying racist attitudes and affect have not changed much, because
basic racial attitudes are learned and ingrained through socialization
and are therefore very resistant to change” (Duckitt and Mphuthing 1998:
813). Although most South Africans feel that race relations have
improved and appreciate the large degree of the shift in attitudes and
everyday practices following the transition from minority to majority
rule, there is still a large amount of evidence of persistent
attitudinal racial divisions in South Africa, with White South Africans
more satisfied with current circumstances than Black South Africans
(e.g., Grossberg, Struwig and Pillay 2006).
There is also a fear within the current South African government that
if they are unable to encourage change and growth of the economy that
another revolution may be ahead. This fear may well beexasperated after
the recent death of Nelson Mandela, a beacon of hope, unity and a strong
believer in the “Rainbow Nation.” South Africans and the world watch
intently, waiting to see how the dream of a new South Africa survives
past his lifetime.
Bonnie Joy Massey is a Lecturer of Sociology at California State University, Fullerton.
References
Abdi, Ali A. 1999. “Identity Formations and Deformations in South Africa: A Historical and Contemporary Overview.” Journal of Black Studies 30(2): 147.
Duckitt, John and Thobi Mphuthing. 1998. “Political Power and Race
Relations in South Africa: African Attitudes Before and After the
Transition.” Political Psychology 19 (4): 809-832.
Grossberg, Arlene, Jare Struwig, and Udesh Pillay. 2006. “Multicultural National Identity and Pride.” Pps. 54-76 in South African Social Attitudes: Changing Times, Diverse Voices, edited by U. Pillay, B. Roberts, and S. Rule. Cape Town, ZA: HSRC Press.
Marx, Anthony. 1992. Lessons of Struggle: South African Internal Opposition, 1960-1990. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
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