There is no black in the rainbow (nation)

While some are having sleepless nights over the non-existence of “authentic blacks”, can we add another question to the cart? Why is there no black in the colours of the rainbow? If South Africa is, according to the former archbishop Desmond Tutu, a “rainbow nation”, what does that say about non-racism, freedom and democracy?

Are we perhaps living in a society where blackness will always be banished to the margins and blacks be made to feel like they are nothing?

Of course, in this context, by “rainbow nation” we mean everybody else is free to enjoy what used to happen under apartheid except for the blacks themselves who are meant to be spectators in the era of self-indulgent enjoyment of democracy and freedom. You see, the rainbow nation is a working model of democracy: “et the blacks go out to vote once every five years and the white racist status quo must remain the same.

Injustice. Inequality. Exploitation. Oppression. Marginalisation.

I mean this is what black people are subjected to every day of their lives. And yet we are to believe that they do not exist. So, what does the rainbow nation mean? Is this supposed to be life in a democracy for black people? For black people who see things for what they are, attempts to answer these questions will, inevitably, immediately bring up the issue of “coconuts”.

White people who live in this country and Shanghai will not necessarily understand what blacks mean when they talk about coconuts.

Interestingly, the blacks and the coconuts will both understand. After all, the notion of coconuts is a black thing. Perhaps we should not expect anyone white, especially in Shanghai, to understand what we are talking about.

But we have to try to answer the question of why Tutu would define South Africa as a rainbow nation. Certainly, the Arch should have been aware that black is not part of the rainbow kaleidoscope. The exercise will help us get into the real issues about the treatment of blacks in this society. I must admit that the question of the rainbow nation is, also, about both race and class. You see, as far as blacks are concerned, you find different races and classes in the rainbow nation.

The structure of this rainbow society is, as Steve Bantubonke Biko said, about integration into whiteness. “It is an integration in which black will compete with black, using each other as rungs up a step ladder leading them to white values.”

“It is an integration in which the black man (who willingly turns into a coconut) will have to prove himself in terms of these values before meriting acceptance and ultimate assimilation, and in which the poor have always been black.”

Now this false non-racial utopia has spawned the emergence of coconuts, that is, those blacks (sic) who have hastily become part of a rainbow nation whose primary aim is to promote and preserve white, patriarchal, racist and oppressive capitalist structures. Yet, as Biko says, at best “blacks (must) see whiteness as a concept that warrants being despised, hated, destroyed and replaced by an aspiration with more human content in it”.

Now, when black raise the question of the rainbow nation, it will somewhat be a prickly issue. The combative defences of the rainbow nation are to be expected. Some will write me off as a non-thinker, let alone intellectual. They will allege my arguments are flawed. Also, they will point out that my Bantu Education English is not that good.

But I do not expect all whites, both here and in Shanghai, to understand what I am talking about on the issue of coconuts. However, my offering should not distract us from what is, to authentic blacks, a legitimate viewpoint that needs a place in the mainstream.

Inevitably, of course, some authentic black will understand what I am saying and come to my defence. It is a black thing, you know. But whether the rainbow nation should be non-racist and colour-blind is yet another question altogether. (I think it should not. Instead, it should be anti-racist and acknowledge that, for now, we are colour-conscious.)

The whole issue of coconuts, authentic blacks and racism is what we should get into, especially for those who live in the authentic black world or desire to learn about its socio-political dynamics. This society is, essentially, anti-black but this does not mean that non-whites or coconuts are not having it nice with their white counterparts.

Yes, for certain classes (like coconuts), freedom, democracy and non-racism are a reality. The whole notion of coconuts is not necessarily meant to denigrate anybody but highlight and acknowledge that blacks who have integrated into whiteness do exist. In fact, they are happy with South Africa being the most unequal society on earth with the blacks having to grin and bear the injustices.

The whole debate (if people were to forget the distractions of who is logical and fluent in English) should, at least, make us aware that the rainbow nation needs some fundamental transformation and structural adjustment. In fact, the question here, really, is what is the rainbow nation doing to and for black people?

Why must blacks turn into self-insulting coconuts for them to enjoy the fruits of their own struggle for freedom? What happens when authentic black people speak up and stand up? Do any of our neo-colonial institutions represent freedom and democracy when the values they uphold and espouse are empty of authentic black culture, heritage and values?

What does the future hold for this country now that a handful of coconuts have fused into white lifestyles and values? Is it possible to reverse this process? Can a coconut that is infused with Black Consciousness and self-love go back to being part of the struggle to liberate black people?

What we need today, for the sake of the survival of this democracy, is for whites to, sometimes, shut up and listen. Whites must stop being self-appointed spokespersons for coconuts or black people.

Could it be that the co-option of coconuts is what is supposed to constitute the totality of black freedom? Could it be that the 1990s settlement was about reinventing black people in the image of white people so that they speak like them, dress like them, eat like them, think like them and practice “democrazy” like them?

The inability or unwillingness to allow black people to speak in their own languages and judge their own progress in their own terms is what will always make the majority of whites outsiders. What makes the situation worse is that whites and their cohorts assume that they must continue to do the thinking, writing and correcting while blacks listen and do as they are told (to live up to white expectations.)

This self-delusion that some whites possess the monopoly on intelligence or English is what makes them lack self-effacing humility. It would be presumptuous to think that all whites would understand what the whole coconut phenomenon is about. But it is an issue that is relevant to our understanding of the evolution of the rainbow nation where black is conspicuous by its absence.

As a black writer, I have often wondered whether it is worthwhile to write on Thought Leader. Sometimes I feel it is a platform to invite white insults based on ignorance of what is going on in “this beautiful country that no man can enjoy”. (Alan Paton)

But while some enjoy the wealth, some must ring the alarm bells.

There is, always, something about the cunning, bureaucratic, white obsession with “speaking or writing the correct English” that wants to make blacks feel inferior and thus subjugated.

My only defence is, I am what I am. Perfect.