Engaging with race is an unforgiving affair, however one approaches it, writes Michael Morris. If embracing it can be, and perhaps always is, tainting – as it flirts with the fiction of difference – seeming to disown it, in the sense of pretending it is unaffecting, is surely delusional, as it overlooks the power and […]
No one has tackled the awkward yet urgent question: just where does the “coloured” belong? writes Dr Siona O’Connell. I was struck by the comment made by a UCT student who approached me after a lecture last week. “I must thank you, Siona,” she said quietly, “for talking about the ‘coloured’ experience at UCT, as […]
Debates around race and its role in undoing the ‘rainbowism’ of our early democratic era have attracted much attention of late. It is not surprising. What is baffling though is how the bigotry of an East Coast realtor would be the straw that would break the proverbial camel’s back and set social media and society […]
Janet Smith spoke to Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State, about how to raise a non-racial child. 1. I don’t agree with this view, that racism is entirely a consequence of economic inequality. In that case, you’d have to explain middle class American racism. It is importantly a function […]
As we approach municipal elections and the likely attendant bad behaviour from the competing parties, measures to combat racism take on new urgency, writes Ryland Fisher. It was an honour to attend the launch on Thursday of the Racism Stops With Me campaign, which is supported by Independent Media and a few partners. It was […]
Janet Smith: Please describe the suburb in which you grew up in terms of racial identities, and how people did or did not find each other across those divides. Ronnie Kasrils: Well, first let us start with another question. What are the causal roots of racism? Racism is a system of domination that came into […]
It all starts with where you come from, how you fit in and where in South Africa you stand as a person. This has alot to do with the privilege bestowed upon you. We had asked a group of people in South Africa about their “privilege” and this was their response. Take a look, and […]
In the USA, Arab-Americans have been classified as white for the past 70 years. With recent contestation arising around this classification, it must be asked: in a multinational context, what are the tensions around being considered white, despite being a person of colour? Aaisha Dadi Patel chatted to 34-year-old Mina Demian, a Swedish writer of Egyptian descent, living in Westdene, […]
It’s 2016 and racists, sexists and misogynists are getting schooled as soon as they expose themselves. As they should be. But is the social policing we’re witnessing spreading hate, or pushing people towards worthy dialogue? Crucially, what happens next? Aaisha Dadi Patel and Dana da Silva weigh it up. Calling out “problematic” people on social media is now […]
Racism is no monkey business, but after the racism debacles of January 2016, we could all do with some comic relief. And we tried to find it! We approached a bunch of comedians to talk about race, Mandela’s vision and whether our country could ever move past the race debate. Their answers were not so funny. Goolam Hassen reports. […]