Brett Murray painted a picture, well plagiarized a picture in a way that some found amusing, and others well not so amusing. It even stirred enough emotion up in the country for the dreaded "R" word to start getting thrown around. Besides the fact that the picture is meant to judge our corrupt government via it's figurehead Jacob Zuma, it has dredged up the unspoken behemoth of racism on a national level. Facebook feeds going crazy level. Citizens debating avidly level. I find it quite awesome to be honest, people really engaging with each other, but it has to be brought back down to ground, and buried. What needs to be buried is the "R" word. And I turn to Morgan Freeman to explain why.
It's time to move forward, we are the new generation and we have the power to change things. I believe censorship is necessary in this case. There are some things we should not be free to express, and this is one of those things - it hinders our humanity.
So, I am saying good bye to that word, and all the other words of difference. So that we can judge people on their virtues and vices and not their colour of skin.
Peace
I think this beautifully highlights the idealism of my argument, because if the structure remains then the term will remain. But is this really true, will it not just become a class issue?
ReplyDelete"TO EVERYONE WHO LIKES THAT STUPID NEWS24 ARTICLE WHO IS NOW PROUDLY CALLING THEMSELVES RACIST, LIKE ITS SOME EMPOWERED STATEMENT: first of all, you cunts, you should all be ashamed. secondly, and most importantly: Racism is not about how we "See" it. It's about how it is. It is a fact, both historically and presently. ALbeit in different ways and forms to what some people may see or believe it to be so. Lets take sexism as an example. You'd be hard pressed to find men who genuinely hate women. who really believe women are lesser members of society. however, economically, socially, in the media, sexist stereotype is still rife. men get paid more. there are sexist perceptions around women's professional roles and capabilities. it is ok to make a silly joke about how sexy someone looks. beyond that, the media presents a pretty sexist understanding of what it means to be a woman. and what equals empowering. to the extent that even WOMEN not only buy into this version of what is expected of them, but also perpetuate it. think of paris hilton. or read a book called Female Chauvinist Pigs. Further, a history of sexism means that certain structures exist in society that favour men. These can be ideological or more concrete. Racism functions in the same way. On a personal level, white people feel over it. why shouldnt they? we have 2 decades of castle adverts showing us how we can all braai together. we have the rainbow nation image of us all just forgiving and forgetting. And no one likes to think of themselves as a terreblance. well here's the thing. racism is not a matter of black man vs white man. it is not a personal matter. like other forms of inequalityand oppression, these things evolve, become more subtle. they become insitutionalised and contextual. the majority of this country remain oppressed, economically, socially, educationally etc. and a monority of this country continue to prosper. not because the people involved are racist. but because the strctures that allow that poverty, and the prosperity, to happen still exist. to pretend they dont is hurtful and insulting. to say that black people dont have a right to be angry about the decades of robbery and oppression is insulting. to fob off racism as "black people who cant accept that white people have something critical to say" is insulting. and racist. we live in a racist society, in which there are racist structures. so everyone get over the white guilt already and start engaging with this reality, about these issues in a critical and constructive way, rather than taking everything so personally (who? racist? me? wut racism!). its not about you.
divorced from any nuanced or academic understanding of what racism is, just HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU SUDDENLY BRAND YOURSELF A RACIST, in a PROUD WAY, given what racism means to the majority of this country? you cant just piss all over history by reclaiming other peoples histories and lives. These are not your words, your experiences, to own and twist and make statements about. you fucking losers." - Danni Diana.
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=300880&sn=Detail&pid=71616
ReplyDeletethis article also does some important work. But I feel the UK has gone too far in their laws of tolerance. And has pushed itself into an Orwellian state. I don't think it's a necessity. If it is decided by the people and not the state perhaps things would be different.