Let's start a conversation...

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they have all learned to live together in the same box!"

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Thoughts on Durban, racism and Durban racism

Philippe's parents live in Durban, as do both of my sets of aunts and uncles. So we were down in Durbs for a few days before Christmas.
Us, and most of gauteng.
While we were down there I was amazed by a couple of things.

Firstly I realized that most people assume that because I am white, I am racist and feel that they then are able to openly make racist comments about other races to me. Weird! I would never, when I don't know someone assume that I know what they think about something sensitive and make offensive comments about it.

Secondly I was struck by how much more racist Durban, as a whole, is! Or is it just more overtly racist than johannesburg? I have been wondering why...
A couple of thoughts- firstly Durban still feels more segregated than joburg. I am not sure if it feels more segregated because Phil's parents live in a previously coloured area and so I do kind of palely stick out. Also people are not rushing to move into "previously non-white" areas so their area is very homogenous. Whereas where we live in Joburg is a "previously white" area. And it is quite heterogeneous.
But my impression is still of more racism in durban. People seem to have fairly fixed and negative ideas about the different groups.
I wonder why?
Is Joburg more cosmopolitan and so we are more confronted with different people which makes us more tolerant? I am not sure that is true because when I was doing exams at the University of Kwazulu Natal I was really impressed at the diversity of the student group.

I am not sure if my thoughts are fair... I am probably making generalizations which I always warn against, don't I?

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Kathy, I found your post to be very interesting and I am surprised that you brought up this issue. I didn't realize "white" people in SA would be offended by racist comments geared towards another race. I know SA has come along way since I left and am pleasantly surprised by the country's efforts to change. People were so segregated while I was in SA, I don't know how things are now but I believe that it is difficult to change the views of a country that is still so new to diversity and to have the ability to accept different groups. It was so hard for me to go to an "all white" school ( back then) and fit in. I was different compared to everyone else and students as well as teachers found it hard to accept different. I will never forget how I was poorly treated by some. It also seems that "white" people are threatened by other races. This may be because they do not know much about these other groups and seek comfort by putting these groups down. I do not know. But I do know that when I came to the USA things were very different for me. It was a big adjustment for me. I felt like I could do anything and this land of opportunity was also open to me. I have come a long way since leaving South Africa and will never forget how things were for me back then in SA. However, I am thankful I experienced it, as it has made me an incredible strong person today and because of this I will always remain a South African. My mind still remembers it all and it is hard to get a mind to forget. I believe that this is also true for the old SA mentality. People grew up in apartheid and they will find that hard to forget. It will take some time and hopefully South Africa will have more people like you to help guide it in the right direction.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Disha.

    Thanks for your comment. It was really good to hear your perspective on school... I think you touched on some important points that I raised and others did on my whiteliness post. School, and def our school, was very white and being white it was easy for me to fit in- it was my culture, spoke my language and you're right about the teachers they were (very) white too.
    And as a result school was easy cos I fitted in ok...
    I am sorry that school was so hard for you and I hope I was never involved in making you feel more "out". I am sorry also if I ever knowingly or unknowingly was involved in any racism towards you. I am aware that the privilege of being white has meant that I have often been unaware of how hard and white friendly but non- white unfriendly our SA society is.
    I am glad that you have had such a positive experience in the states. I hope that this positive experience will negate the negativity you felt here.
    In SA we are far away from being a non racist, reconciled society but there is lots of positive stuff happening. The purpose of my blog is I hope to make people start talking about race and hopefully this will bring reconciliation and heal some hurts...

    I'd love to hear more about the states... Are there not race issues there?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Kathy,

    There are racist issues still in the states but obviously it is not as bad as it is/was in SA. However this is also because the US has come along way and has had time to adjust to diversity. Many laws over here make racial discrimination unacceptable and people here also seem more open minded. People are more accepting of different and are actually very intrigued by it. We have many foreigners from all over the world here and maybe that has something to do with why people are more tolerant. Of course the US still has small bigot groups like the KKK but they are a minority and almost non existent, none the less they also have to abide by the laws this country enforces. However I do feel that people here are slightly more intolerant towards religion than of race, especially after 9/11. But that also seems to be changing. People here seem to want to learn about what they are not familiar with and in that way accepting it. For example Yoga, originally from India, was never big anywhere until it hit the US, and the same goes for sushi. People here are more willing to try new and different things and like being out of their comfort zone. Going back to the topic of school, I remember when I moved from SA to start university in a small town called Crookston in Minnesota. This town obviously was very different from the multi-racial New York and I did not know what to expect as it was a majority white little town. I was still in the SA mind frame so I was ready for anything. But when I got there people were incredibly friendly and wanted to learn more about me. They were constantly asking all sorts of questions about my descent, where I was from and what I believed in. They wanted to learn, they were intrigued, I was different from the rest and they didn't alienate me because of it, they embraced it. This was an adjustment for me and was not used to now being the "popular" one. Also I was never an "A" student when I was in SA but all of a sudden I was always top in my class. Weird! This always makes me wonder...did racism in SA also affect my school grades? To think about it teachers were extremely biased back then. Lots to think about!! Anyways, you've got a good topic going here Kathy!! A very interesting blog I must say :)

    ReplyDelete