Why WHITES talking to WHITES about RACISM.
- Racism continues to be used as a ‘political football’ by politicians who are not delivering on the real problems of inequality, unemployment and poverty.
- We don’t appear to be making much progress. Commentators are saying that we are sinking every day, we are shouting, not talking, insulting each other – not seeking solutions.
- According to Ferial Haffajee and Eusebius McKaiser whites need to deal with their own racial issues and stop asking Black and Coloured folks to help them solve their problems. Similarly, according to F.W. de Klerk, Max du Preez & Mamphela Ramphele whites need to help each other to understand the past.
- Feedback from White Pastors, who assisted me in developing the content of this initiative was that 90% of Whites are in denial and/or are totally oblivious of the past.
- We have reached a dangerous emotional impasse between Blacks and Whites. Who is going to move first? [ Heartlines Workshop: Carmel Guest Farm 31/01/2017. Daan Botha: “What do you expect of me?” Mvusi Gwam: “I don’t want your money. I want you to assist me and future generations to get out of our spiral of unemployment and poverty”. Whites should move first in a spirit of responding to Mvusi Gwam’s invitation. Out of a sense of duty and privilege and not out of an attitude of paternalism and charity].
- All of us played a role of either perpetrator, victim, bystander, resister and/or beneficiary in the past, and have to decide what role we are going to play in the future.
- It is important that we accept that in order to shape the future we must understand the past.
- We, each have to examine our own journey. It is not about whether we are racists or not, but to what degree we are racists. We need to deal with the question of whether our past has made racism part of our “DNA”.
- We need to decide what we can do about racism from tomorrow morning, on an individual, institutional and social level.
- Finally, how we can move forward and build social cohesion? How can we move the tipping point away from anger and hatred to goodwill, healing and reconciliation?
TMJ(10/06/2017)