The functioning racist

Just like a functioning-alcoholic can go through life without causing too much trouble, seamlessly infiltrating society while a dark disease rages beneath the surface, a functioning-racist can live for many years problem free.

But it takes one incident for it to be all-fall-down.

South Africa is a pretty amazing place, and Cape Town in particular outdoes itself on many levels. From the trout swimming crystal rivers in the Du Toitskloof Mountains to the penguins at Boulders Beach - we have a wealth of natural beauty right on our doorsteps.

Our people are a melting pot of cultures and colours and I love the medley in all the accents flying around in one city.

I can stand on the steps of a local mosque and see the ornate walls of a catholic church a few feet away. We are lucky to be surrounded by so much diversity and have countless lifestyle choices on offer within a few kilometres of any given location.

But lurking within this land of milk and fynbos-honey lies a dark seed.

A mere stone’s throw away from our glorious Table Mountain, a racist and his victim lock horns. The news has been rife with racially motivated attacks in the past few weeks, shining a spot light on the very real, very current state of our nation.

I am always disturbed and surprised when I see or hear about outright racism.

How could this happen? In this day and age; in this progressive city?

And who on earth are these people? Where are they hiding? It’s very easy to sit in my comfort zone and feel bewildered at such incidents, thinking ‘Oh wow, that person is obviously just really crazy and an isolated case’ and thank my lucky stars it’s not someone I know.

But hearing the recent conversations between those in my circles and peer groups has made me realize that racism still runs thick in all our veins.

Like an infection that still has no cure, it can lie dormant for many years till something happens – something brings it out. One incident – a theft, a murder, a Taxi cutting in front of you in the traffic – and woosh, it comes out like a herpes cold sore.

How often do you hear people talk about skin colour when a crime has been committed? Often. How many times do people, when explaining an anecdote say as a sideline – “He was black, of course” – as though to convey a secret message?

All the time.

That kind of thinking is a racist manifestation in an otherwise liberal being.

A sickness running so deep that it is hard to detect, but still very much there. A functioning racist.

In a global survey done last year it was established that as many as 1 in 10 South Africans are racists.

That means that amongst the 200 people I interact with in my daily life, 20 of them could be racists.

That’s a lot.

Suddenly, all the slurs and dehumanizing comments are looking a lot more concerning. The disease is still here and it is spreading, passed down to the children of the apartheid era, and to their children, and will be to their children by the guy who used the K word in a joke last week.

This is not ok.

However, if I were to go around and unfriend every person who has ever uttered one of these racist slurs, I would be left with very few people in my life.

It’s a sad reality and one that should always be addressed, but not one I feel needs to be handled with absolutions.

The fact is that no one is perfect, and none of us have the right to point fingers. In this day and age, in this progressive city – we can’t afford to cut the racists off at the jugular, but we certainly don’t need to smile at them as they revel in their disease.

And it is a disease – very often one they don’t even know they have. It’s a mind-set that has been imprinted in them for generations.

The truth is that a very intelligent, educated person can still harbour these ignorant perceptions, because just like knowledge is learned, so is racism.

This kind of ignorance is taught and learned, sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously, over the years and is stored away in them. Like a functioning alcoholic, they can keep their racism at bay to avoid destroying their entire lives, but their disease is still as harmful because it spreads like a slow-growing cancer or un-attended weed and eventually shows itself.

How many white people say, “look at that political party and the fighting in parliament. Blacks are aggressive and violent, and have been for centuries. Violence is all they understand.” I still hear it all the time and

I’m horrified that this belief is out there with normal, well educated people.

Man has been killing man for millennia – regardless of colour.

Whites who don’t believe that white people are violent should read their history or take a look at a country where the majorities are white.

How many horrifically violent acts have been committed based on religion/money/power? Skin colour has absolutely nothing to do with it, except for when we make it about it.

Our country is living a reality that was created by the oppressors of the past, and even though two wrongs don’t make a right, the underbelly of those learnt racist perceptions is as slithery and rotten as it ever was.

But what can we do? What can I do? How can I move out of my comfort zone and channel my bewildered shock into something that will help bring change to my people?

I’m no activist and I have yet to witness an attack first hand (thankfully) and so have not had an opportunity to intervene. I realize that I do have a very real part to play in the healing of the disease, as it is those around me who are spreading it.

And you have a responsibility too.

Perhaps it’s your friend, or your neighbour, or your brother who harbours racist opinions and beliefs. You can challenge the thinking behind their statements. We need to be the anti-biotics to the disease and re-infiltrate our nation.

What we can do is love them, love each other, and show our fellow citizens the right way. The next time someone says ‘they were black of course’ I dare you to say something simple to steer the conversation away from skin colour.

No need to get into a hot debate, but if you stand your ground, adamant that race is not the ‘reason why’, it might plant a seed that will eventually overgrow that inner racist and suffocate the weed.

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