So much has happened since last we spoke, I have been most distracted, these past years, unpicking knots in my mind. My childhood was spent being told that you were inferior, by people who let you raise me. You fed me, carried me on your back and played with me. Imagine that. Abandoned by my […]
race
Posted inNews/Politics
I know whiteness through and through
Racism is alive and living in the confines of the whiteness construct. This year alone has thrown up many local and global racist incidents that prove that we are a long way off from a post-racist society. It seems to me that whiteness is losing the plot and in serious need of deconstruction — hence […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The unbearable ‘rightness’ of whiteness
By Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende There has been a robust discussion on the issue of white privilege in the world and in South Africa in the last few days on Facebook and I am relieved to see that finally people can have these discussions and express their views without the whole exercise degenerating into an e-blood bath. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why (I think) I don’t have more white friends
Last week I was asked to explain why I do not have more black friends. Turns out I am just a prejudiced and complacent old fart with baggage that I need to get rid of. I thank each and every one for their replies to the article for getting a worthy debate going. However this […]
Posted inNews/Politics
I’m scared of white men
By Miranda Mkhumbuzi I strongly believe we were all created equal and that we’re all the same. Race is a social construct with little biological significance. But most of my friends are the same race as me. I think this is because I live in a predominantly black area. Soweto to be exact. As far […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Dear Brendon Henry Shields,
I am writing to let you know that your whiteness is not my whiteness. I am doing this because contained within your “frank” confessional piece is the absolute assumption that this discourse represents all white views. Your tone is jocular, earnest and guileless — in fact I can almost visualise you patting yourself on the […]
Posted inGeneral
‘I’m not racist but…’
The defence of the indefensible. This is how George Orwell described political speech and language. But such is not the sole domain of politicians. The verbal gymnastics used to justify bigotry often reminds me that within us there exists a potential muddier of thought against whom we must guard steadfastly, lest we defend or commit […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why (I think) I don’t have more black friends
A comment by Sunday Times columnist and author Ndumiso Ngcobo on Twitter got me thinking recently. Ndumiso tweeted that “in a country with an 80% black population it must take some effort to not have any close black friends” – or something along those lines. Ndumiso is of course spot on. While I lived in […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The blame game
By Lethukuthula Mxolisi Kheswa In all major setbacks, be they political, social or racial, there’s a dominating need to look around for the weak link to place the blame on. We’ve seen it countless times. Blame the bank for charging high fees, blame the government for failing to deliver, blame the principals for not enforcing […]
Posted inGeneral
The problem with ‘non-racialism’
Enshrined in the Constitution and serving as a basis for public rhetoric the ANC-led government has repeatedly billed itself and its policies as “non-racial”. I think however that this position is at best questionable and at worst actually makes more problematic the various narratives of race which the country and its citizens have to negotiate […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Don’t touch me on my Facebook!
It seems the revolution comes in many packages, as seen on Facebook in the form of scantily clad sexy babes who sell radical black revolutionary speak, along with perfectly trimmed stomachs, silicone breasts, voluptuous derrieres and overtly sexual profile pictures. Now I know anything to do with black radicalism is dangerous territory for a whitie […]
Posted inGeneral
Gay Pride is political
“I’m queer, too, you stupid f**k,” screamed the Joburg Pride board chair, Tanya Harford, as she lunged at me. Her attack was in response to my colleagues and me telling her that we were part of the LGBT community. She was trying forcibly to remove us from the road where about 20 of us (almost […]