Racism In South Africa

Hello to my fellow history enthusiasts (and classmates in African Area Studies)!

This will be my first blog, so please go easy on me.  The only blogs I tried to have previously fizzled into nothing-ness (just like all diaries, journals, etc. that I had as a little girl).  I'm excited to try it out again though, especially since it's for a good grade. ;-)

So when I approached this first posting, I decided to go at it from a relatively simple angle: pick an article and comment about it.  The following link is to the article I have chosen for this week's posting.

Does race still matter in South Africa?

Good question.  And the article gave several answers:

1. Yes...but not in the way you would think.  Most people think reverse racism is a myth, but it appears to be going strong in South Africa.  Initially, after the ending of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, the goal was to achieve equality.  However, as we can go back in time and see in previous attempts at this, this goal is usually achieved but the efforts to achieve it continue long past the time that they should.  What this has meant for South Africa is that instead of giving all races equality, now all races are given preference over the previously dominant one: white.  This could be justified in many respects, but as my parents have always told me, "Two wrongs do not make a right" and no justice can be had if you turn the tables and punish those who may not have even had anything to do with the initial wrong done.  The next point the article made clarifies what should instead be done. 

2. No, in actuality it is education and the economy that matters. It's a sentiment that has been heard in the United States as in other countries: if you boost up the struggling class, giving them every opportunity to succeed, then they will.  Right?  Unfortunately, it does not seem to be implemented very well in South Africa.  The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting...you guessed it, richer!  This is quite often due to the lack of funds put into educations systems.  Here I will make my own inferences, even though the article doesn't explicitly state this: the rich students are typically white and their education systems will be funded to the fullest extent.  This means that the white South Africans will continue to get the best-paying jobs and overrun the job market.  The solution, it would seem, is to put the same amount of money into largely-black, poorer education systems.  Until this is done, the situation will not get any better.

I thought this article was very educational, because it helps me relate to one of the African countries we'll be studying.  We are experiencing similar problems here: racism and reverse racism, lack of funding for education systems, etc. 

Just something to think on!

TTFN

Meghan