Racism in South Africa: why the ANC has failed to dismantle patterns of white privilege
By Mandisi Majavu -Senior lecturer, Department of political and International studies, Rhodes University
One of the sources of social discontent in post-apartheid South Africa is the legacy of white racism. This toxic legacy is evident in racialised poverty and inequality.
It is a
historical fact that the economic prosperity of whites in South Africa is based on the racist exploitation and impoverishment of blacks.
The long
history of racism enabled white South Africans to enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world by the 1970s.
In his new book, titled
Can We Unlearn Racism?, Jacob R Boersema, a New York University academic, shows that by the 21st century white South Africans’ “lifetime work-related earnings on average are four times higher than for Africans”.
Mbeki also criticised the party for not being able to organise a racially diverse audience for the memorial service of the late ANC deputy secretary general
Jessie Duarte. That, he said, showed that the ANC had failed to embody its fundamental value of
non-racialism.
Mbeki’s thinking reveals deep confusion about “race”, racism, diversity and non-racialism. He falsely assumes that diversity means harmony.
Whatever solidarity there was between different racial groups in political structures like the
Congress Alliance – which drew up the ANC’s
“Freedom Charter” in 1955 – did not translate to the social world outside politics.
The world outside politics was defined by racial segregation. That has not changed much. Apart from the workplace and in schools, ordinary blacks and whites continue to live
racially segregated lives.
The ANC, since its formation, has been ideologically trapped in the 19th century black Cape politics of Victorian liberalism – which advocated for loyalty to the British Crown. This resulted in blacks making moral appeals to
white benevolence for justice and freedom, instead of making political demands. The ANC has never fully understood how white racism functions.
The history
For most of the early 20th century, the ANC thought it could defeat racism by appealing to Britain’s sense of common justice. In his presidential address to the South African Native Congress (now ANC) in 1912 – which was published in the Christian Express, the Christian missionary journal published by the Lovedale Press –
Reverend John Dube encouraged black people to show “deep and dutiful respect for the rulers whom God has placed over us” because the
sense of common justice and love of freedom so innate in the British character (would) ultimately triumph over all other baser tendencies to colour prejudice and class tyranny.
Consequently, from its formation to the 1950s, when its leaders were subjected to government bans, the ANC failed to win a single political victory over white racism, as
historians have pointed out.
From the 1950s, it moved away from
“black Victorianism” and incorporated a Pan-Africanist worldview, as well as Das Kapital – Karl Marx’s critique of capitalism. The Marxists in the ANC argued that the aim of the struggle was to overthrow capitalism, which they saw
in terms of class rather than race.
Black people thus focused their hostility on the apartheid government, and
“never on whites as such”. Black people who dared to use race as an analytical category were eventually purged from the ANC.
By the turn of this century the ANC had rid itself of British liberalism and Christian politics. But it remained committed to the idea of non-racialism. And it has
embraced capitalism – in particular the capitalism entrenched in South Africa by white people.
There are three consequences.
Firstly, the ANC is an intellectually impoverished organisation that rewards incompetence and greed, and encourages individuals to strive to be the king of the rubbish pile.
Secondly,
corruption and blatant disregard for the
law have achieved ambient levels.
Thirdly, South Africa is dysfunctional and
social cohesion has broken down.
Failure of non-racialism
Mbeki is one of the few ANC politicians
to admit publicly that non-racialism has failed to unite South Africans. The black intellectual ecosystem has yet to develop a compelling analysis of the relationship between white wealth and black poverty.
The labour market experiences of different population groups in South Africa continue to diverge substantially, and still reflect the strongly persistent legacies of apartheid policies … Thus, black African unemployment rates are between four and five times as high as they are amongst whites.
The black middle class remains largely an academic construct. It consists of a
mere 4.2 million people whereas blacks make up 80% of the population of
60 million.
Research shows no sign of a decrease in racialised wealth inequality since apartheid.
The ANC’s failures mean that the vast majority of black people are trapped in poverty, with few prospects of escaping.
Thabo Mbeki is right to be worried. And it is not only the ANC that does not have the solution to the country’s problems.
Until black people break from the ideological capture of non-racialism, the legacy of white racism will never be dislodged.
This article first appeared on The conversation. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views or policy positions of The Joburg Post.
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