tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89017484384685958382023-08-14T00:54:57.732-07:00Beyond Borders zaThinking about how identity, culture and worldview impacts on inter-group relations and peace-building Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-68470008293623386422017-04-28T12:07:00.000-07:002017-04-28T12:07:44.277-07:00The Right to Free Speech <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">A version of this post was originally written for <a href="http://www.contemporarychristianity.net/website/category/ps/">Contemporary Christianity.</a> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In 2012 a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">furore erupted across
South Africa following the public exhibition of a painting by a ‘white’ South
African artist, Brett Murray. Expressing a strand of public perception relating
to the numerous scandals surrounding Jacob Zuma, the current President of South
Africa, it depicts the President in a Lenin-like fashion with his genitals
exposed. As well as the painting being vandalised shortly after it was
displayed, some even called for the artist to be stoned to death for the way he
had insulted the President. A
fascinating debate followed raising the question of why something one might
have thought as an acceptable form of political commentary within the context
of a democracy could provoke such an impassioned response.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Due to the artist being ‘white’,
and bearing in mind South Africa’s history of racism and oppression, many have
interpreted the painting as racist. However, to interpret it in this way is
insufficient as it does not account for the way in which the conflicting views
crossed racial boundaries, as indeed many ‘whites’ also took exception to it.
Pointing to different systems of meaning-making (worldviews) at play, I would
argue the furore was the result of an unintended but volatile clash of values:
freedom of speech versus the right to dignity and respect, fuelled by an
unresolved Apartheid past. However, such a clash of values is not limited to
South Africa. It can be seen in </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;">the
lethal violence that ensued following the printing of cartoons by the French
magazine, Charlie Hebdo depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Like the painting of
Zuma there are those that will see the cartoons as providing legitimate
political commentary while others will interpret it as a form of Islamophobia. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These illustrations bring into
the question the relationship between political correctness and the right to
free speech. However, they also raise a number of deeper questions that need to
be probed. For example, they raise the question of identity and how different
groups interpret and make sense of the world around them. They also raise the
question of social values and how groups prioritise certain values over others.
They necessitate both asking what happens when competing values and ways of
interpreting reality collide and thinking about the impact this might have on
building peaceful societies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These questions challenge
Western liberal thought that is largely driven by an individualist worldview
and that promotes values such as gender equality, personal autonomy and freedom
of speech. While other societies may support such values they can be
prioritised in different ways. In collective cultures it is the respect of
elders and leaders and maintaining the honour and dignity of a group that is
given priority. Consequently, to draw Zuma or the prophet Mohamed in such ways
serves as a complete affront to the culture. However, what is important to
understand is that our values speak to our sense of identity and feeling safe
in the world. Subsequently, a perceived threat to these values, coupled with
histories of inequality and oppression, can solicit a violent response and
contribute to intergroup conflict as they act to destabilise ones sense of
well-being in the world – as illustrated with the painting of Zuma and the
drawings of the prophet Mohamed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So how do we respond to this?
Should the value of free speech trump the right to dignity and respect or even
the right to religious freedom? To what extent should it be curbed by political
correctness? If we defend our value for free speech (or other western values
for that matter) are we not imposing what we perceive as the superiority of our
worldview over the ‘other’? Is that not a form of colonialism – cultural
colonialism in this case? Moreover, it raises the extent to which we assume the
‘other’ thinks like us. In the interests of building peaceful society, perhaps we
need to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>give the ‘other’ a little more room to exist, acknowledge
and accept that perhaps there is more than one truth so that we can open up the
space for dialogue that promotes acceptance and transformation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-4844462888282883742014-01-27T10:18:00.001-08:002014-01-27T10:25:57.475-08:00Long Live Madiba!<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3;">Originally posted on<a href="http://rightsni.org/2013/12/long-live-madiba/"> RightsNI Blog</a><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3;">Jonathan Shapiro, South Africa’s political cartoonist famously known as Zapiro, perhaps best captured the mood and legacy surrounding Mandela’s passing (</span><a href="http://mg.co.za/cartoon/2013-12-06-mandela-he-changed-the-world" style="background-color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">original here</a><span style="background-color: black; color: #f3f3f3;">).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">As aliens from outer space look towards planet earth and see the face of Mandela they remark: “<i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Whatever it is, it’s transformed their planet</i>”. Signified by the caption of the cartoon <i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Mandela: He Changed the World</i>, his legacy extends not only to South Africa and its people but to the whole world. Indeed, as tributes across the world pour in (see the <a href="http://madiba.mg.co.za/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Nelson Mandela tribute site</a>); and with approximately 90 heads of state attending his memorial accompanied with extensive media coverage we get a glimpse of just how far-reaching his influence extended. Described by<a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2013-12-06-00-tutu-we-thank-god-for-madiba" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Desmond Tutu</a> as a ‘moral colossus’; by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25250278" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Barack Obama</a> as a man ‘who bent the arc of the moral universe towards justice’ and who ‘embodied the promise that human beings – and countries – can change for the better’ and by others as a unifier, a giant among men and a true African hero, there will hardly be a soul on the planet who cannot say how Mandela’s life has inspired them and given them hope.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">This period of mourning and celebration is a moment in time in which we, as individuals and a global community, need to pause and reflect on his life and monumental legacy. Tribute after tribute we hear with deep respect, gratitude and admiration the powerful influence he had on promoting peace, reconciliation, justice, freedom, liberation, equality, forgiveness and the list goes on. So, it is certainly no coincidence that his memorial service should take place on International Human Rights Day – significant indeed!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">I, myself, never met Madiba, but as a South African growing up in the country’s transitional years, I was privileged to experience the fruit of his transformational leadership. In particular, what stands out for me is that despite the extreme suffering he went through, a suffering none of us can ever begin to fathom, he stood by his principles and walked out of a hell with no bitterness. Where we expected revenge and retribution he brought restoration, reconciliation and forgiveness; where we expected anger and hate he brought love and kindness.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">As I continue in my personal reflection on the life of this “giant in history” and the reaction of overwhelming love and sadness the world has had towards his passing I am left pondering what it was about Mandela that made him to be the man he was and exert the influence he did. If we want to bring the change we say we are working for then the legacy we need to be taking from him is about how he was able to do this? What was it about this man that seemed to defy expectation and in fact uphold the values we all politic about? Was it a matter of personal faith? Or, perhaps it was due to a deep spirituality?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">I certainly don’t have the answers but one thing that is sure is he was able to view humans as humans – not as racial, religious or national categories – but as humans. In this way, he seemed able to transcend the boxes with which we define each other and promote one over the other. He had a sense of humanity’s connectedness and inter-dependence with one another, understanding that if one pillar of humanity falls we all fall. Rather than looking at our world through individualistic eyes that is all about me and my needs, he saw it through collective eyes through which one’s well-being depends on the well-being of others and the society as a whole. Perhaps therein lays the challenge: to begin developing a profound sense of our connectedness with all humanity and not simply those who are part of our group. In understanding this, maybe we too can begin to adopt some of his values and become the people, the change-makers, our communities and societies need.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">The danger at the moment is that Mandela is being transformed into somewhat of a mythical figure and revered as a ‘secular saint’. Whilst Mandela in this mythical form is significant and much needed as he inspires each of us to be the best we can be, the danger is that he becomes untouchable, irreproducible, unreachable and written off as ‘one of kind’ – a person no one else could ever hope to be. So, we need to remember that underneath the mythical figure is Mandela the man.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">To remember that Mandela was a man is to remember that Mandela was a human being just like any of us, faced having to make the same choices, and even tougher choices, each of us have to make. The point is that, as a human being, if he could bring and embody the transformation as peace and human rights practitioners we are all striving for, then so can we.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">In conclusion, let me reiterate the words of the South African President, Jacob Zuma, in his <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=16647&utm_content=buffere7326&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Address to the Nation on the Departure of Former President Nelson Mandela</i></a>:</span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: black; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">“This is indeed the moment of our deepest sorrow. Yet it must also be the moment of our greatest determination. A determination to live as Madiba has lived, to strive as Madiba has strived and to not rest until we have realised his vision of a truly united South Africa, a peaceful and prosperous Africa, and a better world.” </span></i></div>
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Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-89650158640878278762012-11-16T11:09:00.005-08:002012-11-16T11:09:55.341-08:00I Benefited from ApartheidCheck out the T-shirt slogan gone viral: <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2012-11-16-apartheid-t-shirts-live-video/">I benefited from Apartheid!</a> I want one! <br />
I love the dialogue its provoking because like it or not I, as a white South African, benefited from Apartheid. By virtue of my skin colour I got to go to good schools, I got to have access to good health care, to clean water, I got to live in a nice, water proof house and so the list goes on. Did I choose to benefit from Apartheid? No! Does that mean I should feel guilty? Absolutely not! Does that mean I should support the abuse of BEE policies - certainly not! Does it make me a racist for speaking against some of the ANC policies and actions? Not at all! <br />
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However, what this does mean is that I know from whence I come. It means that I have a deep understanding of social inequalities and injustice and therefore have a moral and ethical responsibility to fight for and stand up for equality - the equality of all persons. But more than that: by acknowledging that I benefited from the past in fact liberates me from the shackles of white guilt! It gives me the integrity and credibility to speak up equality and speak our for social justice. It allows me to say 'This is who I am' and that's OK and you black man are OK too. <br />
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So, why is this statement so provocative? I'll tell you why. It's provocative because it hits at the core of white identity. It penetrates through to that part of white identity that still believes that whites are the superior race and that the white way is the right way. That is not to say the white way is the wrong way thereby making the black way the right way. No, the white way is simply A way and not THE way. But this is to digress.<br />
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It is provocative because it is to acknowledge that yes Apartheid was wrong and so on - but more importantly it is to acknowledge that somehow I was complicit in it. That is where it stings. But me? you might say. Surely not?! I'm a good oke and at the first chance I got I voted against it!<br />
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So, the difficult and painful thing about this is that by aligning yourself with Apartheid in this way you are left having to question the foundation and truths upon which the world you grew up in was constructed. When you do this you start to find that what you believed in all this time is fundamentally flawed. And you find that the ground you were firmly standing on wasn't so firm after all and you are left falling with no where to go.<br />
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If this white identity is built on false principles then who are you? In South Africa this is not an easy question answer. You are not black and you can't be white so where do you go? The society has insisted on keeping these categories giving you no place to go. So you start to think to yourself that yes I'm an African and you try to redefine yourself in these terms to find your place in society. But again you find that the society kicks you out. You're white! they tell you and therefore have no right to call yourself an African. But then you start to wonder who is an African?<br />
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In the end you find your entire inner world collapsing. As painful and disillusioning this might be you do have options. You can either stay clinging onto your former white identity and create a world for your self in which you feel secure. I would certainly advise against that but if you so choose I understand. Or if you like you can leave your white identity entirely and become someone else. I don't know - anyone but you will remain shackled. There is however another way. Go on a journey with your pain and find who you are. Find out who your Creator God made you to be. Let your pain show you your brokenness and humanity. Identify with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. When you do these things you will begin seeing the humanity in others. you will find that we need each other to be fully human. In doing so, that guilt, that shame, that fear, that anger and resentment that caged you in will be gone; that ground that fell away will become firm again; and you will be free to enjoy life in a way you never thought possible! Why? All because you decided to admit you benefited from Apartheid and find out who you really are. <br />
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<br />Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-37670425994315721392012-09-15T11:47:00.001-07:002012-09-15T11:50:16.240-07:00They who point their finger will have 3 pointing back at them: South Africa 2010 vs London 2012<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Adebiyi Openiyi and Cathy Bollaert</div>
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When the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued
security warnings against potential terrorist attacks, ticket scams and ramped
street crime – to name but a few - to British fans heading to South Africa for
the World Cup Football competition in 2010, many in the country were aghast as
those security concerns were for many South Africans grossly exaggerated. The
nanny-state it seemed was over-stretching its bounds, the result of which led
to a lower turnout of British fans compared to other countries. However, by the
end of the competition, despite such afro-pessimistic sentiments, there were no
terrorist attacks and nobody got stabbed as had been predicted. In fact, the
World Cup Football went ahead with very little incident! </div>
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Now with the Olympics Games currently in progress in London,
in the interests of equality, it is only just that one stop to reflect on the
former judgements made by the pompous British media and see if the UK is able
to do better. Based on a very brief scan of what happened in the run up to the
Games – it would appear not! </div>
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Firstly, one should take note of the staffing issues that
took place in the UK Border Agency (UKBA). A security warning would have been
well served for the potential security breaches that could have gone undetected
as a result.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To compound matters,
thousands of Home Office staff, including UKBA agency workers called a strike
in the run up to the Olympics. Moreover, the dispute over job cuts, salaries
and privatisation also involved staff at the Identity and Passport Service and
the Criminal Records Bureau. For a nation that has already experienced one
terrorist attack – this is disconcerting to say the least! </div>
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Secondly, there were serious problems over London’s ability
to provide adequate security and security personnel for the duration of the
Games. In the end, due to such inadequacies, the British government had to
draft in more than 3000 troops to boost security conjuring up images of London
turning into a mini Baghdad! </div>
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Such are the concerns of sport fans that many decided to
steer clear of the British Isles this summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One Jamaican who wanted to see Hussein Bolt compete at the Olympics
said, ‘I am not convinced really about the security in London, even though I
already made my booking, the situation is not encouraging’. Many visitors to
the UK have to factor in the memory <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8901748438468595838" name="_GoBack"></a>of the7/11 bombings
in London and are aware of the fact that many of the suspects apprehended in
the War on Terror have come from the British Isles. Not to mention, trite as it
may appear, Britain is home to the most notorious football hooligans in the
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So, instead of pointing pompous fingers of judgment to other
nations England would do well to first look at its own imperfections and
short-comings! Whilst we can all breathe a sigh of relief that there have been
no major security breaches during London 2012 – be reminded that despite the
afro-pessimism surrounding South Africa’s ability to organise the World Cup
securely and efficiently, at least they did not confuse the flags of one nation
with another!</div>
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<![endif]-->Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-58500946052789633432010-07-11T05:40:00.000-07:002010-07-11T05:52:18.810-07:00My Floating Generation: The Elephant in the Room...as a South African presently living in London, what to do next? (By: Shaun Mclennan)<div style="text-align: justify;">What does it mean to be a white South African living in the UK? We come from land where our upbringing, influences and teachings were welded from a melting pot of freedoms we as white folk never shared with our generational equals living on the other side of the race line. As a generation, as well as an individual, I was never given a choice either way – this was the life we would grow up in. I have a choice now.<br /><br /> As a young South African I never quite grasped the realities of Apartheid as it was winding it was way to freedom revolution of 1994. I had a maid, I went to good schools, I enjoyed the best that South Africa could offer without a stitch of guilt – the beaches, the mountains, the rivers, the bush, the warmth , the food, the braai’s, the pool, the, rugby, the safety and security…the safety. There was Natal, Vaalies, Leon Schuster, takkies, Combi’s , red-nose day, koeksisters, chappies, pronutro and boerewors…mmm boerewors. It was Utopian melody of life’s luxuries made possible through a generational apathy and made easy through government suppressing the cries for change from voices living in comparative hardship. Having said that I don’t know if I would do anything differently to my parents, and to be frank I don’t think that many of you reading would have done either. Think about it, your entire life you were never made to fully appreciate what adversity was being experienced on the other side of the breadline. Government was a well oiled machine ensuring that this was the way of the life, this was right – we as whites were guilty of going with the flow and in our minds I think we felt we deserved something for the progress we contributed to: they fought and won wars on neighboring borders, they built infrastructure linking the coast to the mainland, they built hospitals, schools, developed a thriving agriculture sector, developed the most powerful economy in Africa. In truth, these triumphs of civil progression and military thrust were only possible through the blood, sweat and tears of our brothers in arms, all South Africa’s people. All 48 million of us deserved the fruits of these victories and only a fraction of us got to taste them.<br /><br />This has all been said before but the reality of the years of inequality frame the big question on all our minds – all you South African Londoners reading this. We are all here for fairly similar reasons: travel, money, security and relationships and I find a common reality for a lot of us, for my generation is that we are floating – we have big questions hanging over us as what do we do next? Do we go home? Where do our roots now belong? Where is home? Is it here? Is it in Australia or Canada? These questions were never asked of our parents generations – this is our biggest challenge as a generation…finding the answer.<br /><br />In attempting to try and answer this question you need to be realistic about the realities in South Africa which are often very difficult to swallow for many of us: 1) your children’s experiences in South Africa for better or worse will be very different to those ones you had; 2) safety will be an issue for the next 30-40 years at least; 3) giving your child the same quality of schooling that you had will most likely mean you will have to invest a lot more in their education; 4) you will work to a government which has still got growing pains and will make mistakes and is most likely to be threaded with corruption here and there – you cannot compare it to the well established governments and delivery structures of the UK, Oz or any other 1st world country; 5) the value your saved Rand in 40 years is uncertain, so you need to plan accordingly; 6) getting employment will require a slightly different approach to London or anywhere else but there will always be a need for the skilled, and a place for the motivated; 7) the chance of things going pear shaped politically is there as the Malema’s of the world take shape.<br /><br />One has to balance these realities with the positives of a move back home or moving anywhere else. In considering these realities, the answer to the big question remains very personal and can only be. For me, weighing up the good and bad, I have chosen to go home accompanied by my green mamba passport...I think someone once said, “the red dust of Africa is difficult to get off your feet” and in truth that’s simple for me; I feel like I exist in London’s small houses, busy trains and pubs and as awesome as this experience has been, I feel like I live at home…maybe it will change as the romance of living in the wide open arms of South Africa will be cast away as the realities of a developing nation take hold.<br /><br />I wish you luck my fellow floaters in coming to your decision...may you find roots and grow in happiness wherever u land.<br /><br />Shaun<br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-12123035293705331482010-05-29T10:56:00.000-07:002010-05-29T10:58:33.491-07:00Afro-Pessimism: The World Cup and Stab Vests (By: Stephen Bollaert)<div align="justify">Today I googled “Stab Vests” – 27,600 results – and the first and most obvious relate to South Africa and the Soccer World Cup – quite an eye-opener – but I am getting ahead of myself.<br /><br />On Tuesday (26 May) I arrived in the UK on the first leg of a cycle tour from London to Switzerland. First stop - my sisters home in the genteel middle class and rather conservative village of Welwyn Garden City north of London (despite the name it is more of a village than a city). Very neat, clean and leafy – reminds me of Pinelands outside Cape Town.<br /><br />Having a few weeks in hand to organise a bike, set it up for touring and do a couple of trial runs I fancied the idea of finding casual employment to supplement my meagre supply of pounds – the Rand does not go too far here. This idea turned out to be wishful thinking in the current economic climate but, while irrelevant to the issue of Afro-pessimism, it does explain why, within 4 hours of arriving in Welwyn Garden City, I was seated in a local employment agency.<br /><br />So here I am doing the rather futile round of employment agencies (by the way I am “legal”) and being interviewed by a very helpful lady when we (that is the staff and I) are disturbed by a man entering the office and acting rather strangely. Being fresh out of South Africa my thoughts went straight to armed robbery. A bit of an adrenalin rush then relief – ‘he does not seem dangerous’ – ‘but he is a lot younger and beefier than me’ – ‘maybe on drugs or maybe simply a bit strange’. Nevertheless, my natural response to protect women and children had already kicked in and I left the agency to call in my back-up (my brother-in-law). Though numbers were now on “our side” clearly size and age was not.<br /><br />Fortunately the “offender” almost immediately followed me onto the street and straight into the arms of a local community policeman. My guess is that the other staff member had called in for help at the outset of the disturbance. Within a minute or two help was at hand. Impressive! I was equally impressed to see how the policeman handled the situation. The thing I noticed was the distance he kept between himself and the “offender” while fully controlling the situation. This got me thinking about knives, stab vests, the World Cup’ Afro-Pessimism and the resultant visit to Google.<br /><br />What is it that drives this irrational fear of violence in South Africa? Perhaps it is Afro-Pessimism and a subconscious desire to see Africa fail or maybe it is driven by a sense of “white” and, in particular, English superiority. My guess is that while these may be factors the real reason is ignorance and fear of the unknown. A little “street smarts” which is essential anywhere in the world is probably all that is needed for a perfectly safe and memorable visit. Of course, ill advised visits to the shadier sides of South African cities is potentially dangerous – but then this applies across the world and, having “survived” walking through downtown Johannesburg with no other “white” in view; selling chickens in the heart of a “black township” which most of my “white” compatriots have never and never will visit; as well as regular cycle rides through the back roads of our local “black township”, I wonder what all the fuss is about.<br /><br />Then it struck me. I have never been held up or mugged though two of my children have. I have never been subject to armed violence aimed at my person except when I ill advisedly tried to help a “damsel-in-distress” only to be attacked by the very same “damsel” yet, when faced with this mans strange behaviour in a country I perceive as perfectly safe, I immediately think ‘armed robbery’. The cause – all the hype and bad press – nothing sells like bad news and I, probably like most, have been conditioned to expect the worst. Sad isn’t it?<br /><br />Incidentally the “offender” is as “white” as I am and if - IF - over the next few weeks of cycling in the UK and across France to Switzerland I am subject to personal violence the chances are that it will be at the hands of someone pretty much the same colour as me. Of course I am not expecting that – my greatest fear is heavy trucks on narrow roads.<br /><br /> </div>Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-80770909148727242972010-04-28T13:05:00.000-07:002010-04-28T13:15:59.637-07:00...classified as a white person<div style="text-align: justify;">The other day I was rummaging through my old documents trying to track down my birth certificate. There, in the midst of all my old report cards, I stumbled upon my very first identity document. As I flipped through its pages there it was – my formal classification document in which I, Catherine Bollaert, was legally ‘classified as a white person’ under the Population Registration Act as legislated in 1950.<br /><br />I was flabbergasted! In all my thirty-three years of existence it had never once occurred to me that I might have owned a real-mckoy document of such historical significance! I mean I knew that Apartheid had done this to people. But there it was - my name on this little piece of paper with a stamp that declared that this person has been ‘classified as a white person’. Immediately my mind began interrogating the significance of this discovery. Was it intended to be a treasure or a curse that needed to be burned?<br /><br />With this discovery, it felt as though I had landed with a thud into the heart of South Africa’s Apartheid history. Where did that leave me? Even though I was too young to have really experienced what Apartheid was all about, the colour of my skin meant that I was guilty. Nonetheless, I had benefitted at the expense of the ‘other’. For this, justice and restitution had to be made. So, was this the hard evidence proving me guilty as charged? However, on the other hand, because of the very nature of my being white, I am now cast an outsider – an illegitimate child.<br /><br />So, it was as though this little piece of paper contained the curse of my identity. With THAT stamp the rest of my life had been pre-determined. Unless I could change the colour of my skin there was nothing I could do about it. Because of these four little words I would grow up in an all white neighbourhood and go to an all white church and be educated in an all white school, each of which was over-flowing in privilege. Most would consider me lucky! A blessing indeed to have been born white in a context where to have been born black meant being classified as sub-human and treated as such. Nonetheless, it was also because of those four little words that I would be trained in the ways of racism; that I would be taught to privilege privilege itself; and taught to fear the black man coming towards me. Because of those four little words I was now part of the world wide web of oppressors. So, the discovery of this little piece of paper was like discovering hidden muthi – the magic charm that contained the power of my curse. For this reason alone it needed to be burned.<br /><br />No. This little piece of paper is now becoming my treasure. It is evidence that I too am a product of the society into which I was born and which continues to be defined by the stamp that the authorities on that day felt like putting on your little piece of paper. Can we really be defined by the tone of our skin colour or by the ability of our hair to retain a pencil? Does this not only go skin deep? Can we not see the absolute absurdity of all of it? Should we not be laughing out loud in mockery of those words - to think that I, that we, have allowed them to dictate who we are today? Whilst I am in no way dismissing the magnitude of the injustice of Apartheid and the severity of how it destroyed the lives of millions of people – the least of which is mine – can we really let those few little words on that little piece of paper continue to maintain its pervasive power which is still plaguing the stability of our society? In as much as you had no choice in your being classified as a ‘black’ or ‘coloured’ or Indian person, whose consequence you have had to live with, I too had no choice in being classified a ‘white person’. I too have to live with the consequence of that. But it is me who now gets to choose how.<br /></div>Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-13127845969069500332010-01-19T03:08:00.000-08:002010-01-21T13:54:11.599-08:00Angola, South Africa: It's all the same...right?<div style="text-align: justify;">It’s unbelievable really. The African Cup of Nations suffers a major attack; the Togolese deep loss and trauma and the Western media is more concerned whether this is the “litmus test” of what’s to come during the football world cup later this year in South Africa! What is that all about? Nonetheless, I thought the response of a South African who was being interviewed about this perceived security risk, by a Sky News reporter, was priceless. Drawing the parallels he asked the reporter that if a bomb went off in London (as indeed it has) whether it would deter them from going to Amsterdam? Of course not – it wouldn’t even cross one’s mind to think that!<br /><br />For a moment I want to draw a few comparisons to gain some perspective on this. First of all, the continent of Africa is larger than the size of Western Europe, China, USA, India, and Argentina put together! Secondly, as Time Magazine points out, the distance between Cabinda (where this attack took place) and Cape Town is about double the distance between Paris and Kosovo , double the distance! (http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1952798,00.html). Thirdly, for me to fly from Durban to Cape Town takes about the same amount of time as it would to fly from England to Switzerland. A vast continent indeed! With countries that are separated by massive geographic distances! Why then is the Western media so concerned that what happened in Angola is going to happen in South Africa?<br /><br />Is it because they still think that Africa is one and the same country? Surely not! However, considering the number of “non-Africans” who still refer to the African state they are about to visit as ‘Africa’ – then perhaps this remains a valid hypothesis. But why such fear?<br /><br />With the way the world has been politically and economically structured, it is usually those with less power who are obligated to enter into the world and worldview of those who exert the power. The result of this in South Africa meant that most “blacks” have had great insight into who “whites” are – as they were continually having to enter into the “white” world. On the contrary, for “whites” knowledge of who “blacks” are has largely been based on what the media and religious institutions have said (or didn’t say) they were. For “whites” this created a deep-seated fear of “blacks” that was pivotal to upholding the Apartheid rule.<br /><br />So, when reading about the fears that the West continues to have of Africa I am reminded that such dynamics are not peculiar to South Africa but form part of the global order. I am also reminded of how similar “white” South Africa and the West are with their attitudes towards Africa. For me, this Togolese tragedy is a beckoning for those of us in the West to step beyond our ideological boundaries and discover that in fact the distance between Cabinda and Cape Town is as safe as the distance between London and Amsterdam. In doing so not only will we feel more secure but so will the rest of the world!</div>Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8901748438468595838.post-83201407564578182562009-12-20T14:22:00.000-08:002010-01-09T08:33:23.865-08:0016 December: Day of Reconciliation<div style="text-align: justify;">Today in South Africa its a public / bank holiday in which what is now called Reconciliation Day is being commemorated.<br /><br />Originally called the DAY OF THE VOW, this day was observed as a religious holiday by the Afrikaans (the Voortrekkers at the time) in memory of their victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838. Before the battle, the Voortrekkers had taken a vow to observe a day of thanksgiving should God grant victory. In return for this, they promised to build a church - which in fact was built in my home town of Pietermaritzburg (church of the vow). For centuries since - until 1994 that is- this day has been annuallycommemorated by whites and particularly the Afrikaans.<br /><br />But such a victory must be interogated. Can one really attribute such a victory to God. Really! Guns versus the spear? Is this not to suggest that he favoured the Afrikaners over the Zulus? That he loves one more than the other? That whites are more important and superior over the blacks? Isn't this the conclusion that many of us have come to and that assisted in justifying what Apartheid was all about?<br /><br />You can imagine then that what a celebration of this nature, year after year by <span style="font-style: italic;">whites</span>, means for <span style="font-style: italic;">blacks</span> who suffered the oppression of Apartheid, as year after year it re-inforced "god-ordained" <span style="font-style: italic;">white</span> nationalism and <span style="font-style: italic;">black</span> subjugation.<br /><br />Today, following the abolishment of Apartheid, this day has been re-named the <span style="font-style: italic;">Day of Reconciliation</span>. For me this is a magnamimous gesture on the part of the new government - as they have sought to redeem a most heinous past. For me this is <span style="font-weight: bold;">an absolute act of humanity</span>!<br /><br />The problem however, as uncle Zuma in his speech today rightly points out, we have a long way to go.<br /><br />As I was reading what some of the respondents had to say in the news (<a href="http://http//www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-16-reconciliation-sa-has-a-long-way-to-go-says-zuma">http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-12-16-reconciliation-sa-has-a-long-way-to-go-says-zuma</a>) - it becomes apparent:<br /><br />For many <span style="font-style: italic;">whites</span> - there is still much anger. I am interested to know why. Is it because the change in dispensation and the fact that the belief in God's favour over them is being challenged poses a great threat to their identity - for which one must fight for?<br /><br />But for many others across all the colour groups, including many <span style="font-style: italic;">blacks,</span> the 16th of December is simply a great holiday - a short work week. If I were in South Africa - I would naturally be naturally fall into this group - something I have a really hard time with. Surely this should be a day of reconciliation; a day of coming together; of remembering from whence we come; and actively seeking how, in small ways, we can continue redeeming and bringing restoration to the communities in which live and going beyond the borders in which we have been culturally designsated to live?<br /><br />Nonetheless, for most <span style="font-style: italic;">blacks</span> it is about celebrating the liberation struggle and the long road to freedom. This year the focus has been on providing for those who fought in the struggle. Of course this has been cause for the arousal of deep anger from many <span style="font-style: italic;">whites</span> who were deceived and betrayed by their former bosses, the chiefs of Apartheid as they too have suffered their own losses. Consequently, this days shows what a long road we have ahead of us a brewing racial tensions are brought to the fore.<br /><br />But this day should no longer be only about reconciliation between <span style="font-style: italic;">blacks</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">whites</span>, as unlce Zuma points out - its also about laying aside our xenophobic reactions towards other Africans. After all was this not a part of the liberation struggle was all about? As today is an act of redeeming our humanity as South Africans, so should it be a day to renew the humanity of those seeking refuge and security in our land.<br /><br />So it is that those who are seeking to redeem the past should be supported. Until such a time that a sense of restorative forms of justice and the humanity of the other is redeemed none of us will be able to live in an environment in which peace and stability is prevalent. This requires the risk of stepping beyond our borders to find the humanity of the other on the other side.<br /><br /></div>Cathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04756118276462484597noreply@blogger.com0