Africans need not apologise for affirmative action

It is always disappointing to read or listen to a story of an African who refuses to acknowledge that, directly or indirectly, they benefit from affirmative action.

Unfortunately, there are some Africans who claim to have made it on their own, without any help from affirmative action. This is a tragic development, indeed.

Africans need to be confident enough not to be ashamed of being beneficiaries of this government’s transformational policy and programme. It has become too common to hear of Africans who wish to distance themselves from the affirmative action programme.

I think it is too soon. In fact, Africans need affirmative action for the next 100 years!

There are many highly gifted academics, business people and other professionals who have come through the School of Hard Knocks. These are people who should be highly commended for they have truly made things happen for themselves rather than wait for affirmative action.

But that does not matter as, at the end of the day, structures and process have been in place since the days of the Sullivan Code in the 1980s to further boost these individual efforts.

Of course, there are countless examples of African men, women and children who have, ironically, used the normal life struggle route to make it in an abnormal apartheid created circumstance. They deserve our highest praise for being examples of hard work, self-discipline, determination and focus. But, surely, they have NO BUSINESS to think that affirmative action has done absolutely nothing for them.

There is no doubt that the majority of African people may look up to them as inspirational figures, not only because of their excellent achievements, but because of their Africanness. It is nothing that should embarrass or fill one with shame.

We all know cases of outstanding business super-achievers and high-flyers that would have soared to greater stature and heights except that they were African. In fact, there are countless African people whose successes have been limited and their dreams shattered simply because they were born African.

Thanks God that we now have many more examples that have been spared this pain and tragedy by affirmative action. We all need to realise that, for now, racism and the politics of identity are factors to be reckoned with in the context of white economic injustice and control. Africans still own less than 1% of the economy!

It is sad that there are some super-achieving Africans who want to turn attention away from their lived experience of ‘Africanness’ owing to ‘making it.’ These Africans claim to have gotten far without any help from political connectedness or affirmative action. This is somewhat a setback to efforts to boost the low self-esteem among the majority of Africans.

Instead, such super-achievers should use their stature and height not only to be shining symbols of African achievement but to champion the cause of anti-racism in the country. It is self delusion for any African person to insist that they are NOT ‘African’ or, to use a vague term, “black.” This shows short sightedness and lack of political insight for we do not yet live in a colour-blind world.

At present there is plenty of racism for African people to deal with in the media, politics, business or general life. Perhaps high minded intellectuals and white apologists would find it understandable for some Africans to become vocally upset at being labelled African or, if you like, “black”.

But few would dispute the fact that when Africans are awarded a prize, position, opportunity or any other thing, the first fact that everybody recognises about them is their Africanness.

This does not mean that Africanness undermines their merit or takes away their personal glory. In fact, their African identity is not a matter of personal choice. It is not enought to even suggest that it was the creation of white racism which regarded them as the ‘other’ and went on to force people like Robert Sobukwe to assert African Identity.

I guess Africans need to be wary of this new tendency to underplay their Africanness simply because they seek white approval and empty integration.

Today, it is the lesser of two evils to be a non-racist than to be a bold and self-assertive African who does not curry favour with whites by denying that African people are still oppressed in this country … and deserve to reap the fruits of affirmative action.

The least we can do to contribute to the ultimate creation of an economically just society is to acknowledge that the non-racial struggle was to liberate Africans, first, and everybody else later.

Let us not wish affirmative action away in our eagerness to embrace a yet non-existent colour blindness.

This is still a racist society.