Racism: The Elephant in the Room

Step Up or Shut Up

‘Step up or shut up’ is the message I get from an article on racism, yet I find this to be only part of the racism story. The story of racism can mean such different things to so many people in various parts of the world. To a multi-ethnic living in South Africa, it could mean something different from someone of similar ethnicity living in another country. Where some countries embrace enriching the gene pool with mixing ethnicity, the English language still has a word that makes this sound like an undesirable disease of some sort: miscegenation.

Vanished Tribes

The English are not the only people who thought, and some still do, that mixing the gene pool is undesirable. One could name a long list where this sentiment was and sometimes is still the prevailing attitude of various tribal groups.  It would do us well to remember that nations became extinct because of inbreeding, amongst other reasons, including ancient Pharoahs of Egypt. They also attributed the end of Portuguese royalty to the practice of in-breeding.

 

Reluctance

However, the content of this article will deal with the elephant in the room. This is a reluctance to acknowledge our own racism on both sides of the divide, and a reluctance to do something about it if we are brave enough to see the elephant. Apart from the multi-ethnic racist, and yes they do exist, there are also racists from all the other tribes, although we often see systemic racism applied by the dominant group.

Change

One of the most difficult things to embrace is change. We become addicted to the status quo and often we only make a change when we have to. When we admit we have racist thoughts, attitude or perceptions, it may be too uncomfortable, especially when this comes with feelings of guilt. Young Cooper on the right looks as undecided as most of us are about change: should I or shouldn’t I? If we gave him a choice to be black or white, I think he’d prefer to be both, just the way he is.  Now that would be a good reason not to change; the idea is to change for the better.

Fear

It is even worse when the discomfort engenders fear; if I make a mental shift, then I will have to act on it and that just may be a price too high to pay – how would a drastic move from one position to another affect my home, work or social situation? Will my tribe ostracise me, or the other side accuse me of ‘playing’ at being a liberal? Making the hard choices however almost always requires a price. We have to decide exactly what we want and how we help to solve a problem and not be part of the problem. For this, we need to take action.

Emotive

It is difficult to be objective about a subject as emotive as racism – emotion will trump reason every time. However, to acknowledge difference in appearance, habit, tradition and culture is not the same as making that difference an issue. To express ourselves verbally and actively in a way that screams racist is unacceptable, not our differences.

Unique

When I claim our difference as unacceptable to me for this or that reason, it does not make it acceptable behaviour. It’s the same as saying I dislike my biological sister because she is tall and I am short, or she is thin and I am not, or she likes classic and I like modern art, music or whatever makes us unique. We are great at projecting onto other people what we cannot deal with.

Fear of Diversity

The very diversity we fear so much is what makes life interesting rather than uniformly boring. I hope that the reason we are as emotional about racism as we are, suggests how ridiculous we feel when we behave in a racist way.  This would give me hope for the possibility of a change in our behaviour, because when we feel stupid we question, which is a good place to start. A world without questions is sterile with no room for creativity. Creative productivity requires the fecundity of diversity.

Excuses

There’s a risk that when we feel ridiculous, we may excuse unacceptable behaviour instead of making the honest assessment that our questioning prompts. A common excuse is that our tribe nurtured us to be racist, yet if we understand this then we can make the change. Another excuse is retaliation when we experience racism from a particular group. We return the favour and indulge in retaliatory racism – an immature and fruitless reaction.

Stereotype

Individual behaviour must not define an entire group of people.  When we experience negative behaviour, we must balance this against the positive experiences we have, in order to reach a fair assessment of any group. In the South African context, we engage in the stereotype narrative, just another feature of racism, albeit often done with benign intention; like a loving parent calling a chubby, too thin or short child by nicknames that stick with them into adulthood. Dumpy, Tubby, Shorty and Stretch, come to mind. These names are meant to be playful and endearing, but can be hurtful.

Crossing the Divide

Returning to my opening lines regarding multi-ethnicity, it would be remiss of me to ignore the very real racism from all ethnic groups, of all shades of the non-mixed variety. The so-called ‘pure’ breed of humanity would do well to take a cue from some of their non-racists multi-ethnic brethren, who have no choice but to embrace all sides of their gene pool because not to do so, is to be racist against oneself,  a ridiculous notion but not unheard of!  To see their own humanity, in the bridge’s reality that crossed the divide to create the multi-ethnic group, is a way out of the enslaving control of racism. It also serves no good purpose for the multi-ethnic to claim – you did it first. We must walk together to meet each other across the divide.

Photo by Susanna Marsiglia on Unsplash

Extreme

We see the culmination of persistent racism in modern times, with ethnic cleansing in the many wars around the globe. Historically, it reached a devastating peak in the second world war with millions of people wiped out for being racially, sexually, religiously and socially different. If we are to avoid a repeat of history, then it is vital that we see the elephant in the room and do something towards making a change.

Support

Practical support must come from all who have the privilege, power, and will to effect systemic change and also those who show up in the streets to support what they believe in. To do this, we should not shut up because shutting up will encourage us not to see the elephant.

Foundation

Personal racism is the foundation for systemic racism. It also helps to recall that even amongst the privileged there is an experience of discrimination. Sometimes it’s sexist, elitist, racist, ageist, or physical. To say that the privileged do not understand what it means to experience discrimination is to hand them a free pass. The degree of that knowledge may be different, but they know what it feels like alright. The trick is to get them to do something about the elephant in the room!

Lynda Rogle ©