You are probably thinking, “Ai,
not another opinion/complaint of racism!!”
The more the topic is discussed
and incidents of it are exposed, the better our chances of eliminating it from
our society.
Being 21 years into our democracy
much has changed regarding racial discrimination in society. The racial integration of
schools and higher education institutions has empowered our future generations
to be colour blind in the post-apartheid social sphere. Greater society has strived
to eliminate the disease of racism in our lives, although various forms of it
still very truly and openly exist. A typical example is the protest #Rhodesmustfall,
from UCT students recently. Very few
people knew or understood that the protest was not only against the presence of
a racist bigoted figure of the past, but was actually a result of their experiences
of institutionalised racism within the policies of UCT. This kind of racism is
still alive and well in our everyday lives. In the corporate world, the
camouflaged presence of institutionalised racism is clear for all to see.
People are still being side-lined from promotion opportunities, from enhancing
their careers, or from being professionally trained in their line of expertise.
Other forms, like symbolism (stereotypical)
or economic (Marikana?) racism evidently still exists in our society, and it
may take another generation or more, to eradicate. Although I read about racist
incidents daily, I’m utterly disgusted to still experience it in my own life
with friends and sometimes family. I had the unfortunate incident of experiencing
first-hand, disgusting discrimination of the worst kind from an old friend, who
I thought was someone with an open mind given that this person hails from an
alleged educated background and serves in the academic field. I was taken aback
by the comments made, and realised I didn’t really know this person as well as
I thought I did.
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