So today was The Day of Reconciliation in South Africa and as long as you stayed off the comments sections of anyone posting anything about any of the marches it felt a little bit just like that.
This was my Facebook status at the beginning of the day:
Trying to get my head around the marches with good friends thinking they’re the best thing ever and other good friends thinking they’re the worst thing ever and even other good friends about to go and watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens with me in 100 minutes time…
Which side do you fall on and give us an idea of why? Also for anyone who may be reading this from any of the marches, are there more than just white people there? What’s the makeup of the crowd?
Star Wars was AMAZING and the right decision for me on this day at that moment. But i kept my eye on the marches and the comments and the feedback and here is some of it that i felt was extremely helpful or insightful.
Firstly this set of pictures which tells such an important story which i fear a lot of white people are still not getting. Try get it.
The disparity of treatment of black and white lives:
Then a comment from my friend Amy Benn who i think gets a lot of this stuff:
Rich, white South Africans (particularly those marching today), next week when South Africans live and die in poverty, when people live in their own rubbish because no truck comes to take it away, when a girl has to stay home from school because she can’t afford sanitary products, when children live in hunger, could we march then too?
(I appreciate that people are finally making a real stand against the corruption of this president but I am weary of their reasons).
We are so quick to protect the little we may lose instead of fighting for the little others have.
My good mate Bruce has some really good points to make in this piece titled Why I didn’t march or chant #ZumaMustFall – go and read it and then come back!
My mate Craig gave this speech at the march in Cape Town today [which due to bandwidth i sadly haven’t heard yet but knowing Craig and seeing the multiple shares and comments on it know that it is worth checking out].
If you would like to read the transcript of Craig’s speech, check this out.
This post from Disrupting Whitness: UCT on Facebook:
Dear white South Africans at the #ZumaMustFall protests
When you hold a banner that reads “Save our national parks from corruption” (while these national parks remain inaccessible to many black South Africans) what you’re giving voice to is how cruelly limited your perspective on the problems facing South Africans is. Where was your voice when poor black South African students spoke up against their exclusion? Where was your voice when black workers stood up against their oppression at South African universities? Where has your voice been on the service delivery crisis in Wolwerivier, the day-to-day violence that people living in Khayelitsha face? Regardless of your intention, what you are communicating is that the only problems that exist for you are those that affect your privileged material circumstances.
When, during “protest action”, you ask a policeman to take a photo of you and your family, posing with beaming smiles and thumbs up, what you’re revealing is how the police and the state, at a deep level, serve you. You’re revealing how, regardless of corruption and your talk of white victimisation, it’s completely natural for you to ask a policeman to take a family portrait for you at a protest, and for the policeman to happily comply.
When you find yourself at a protest with an overwhelming majority of white middle- and upper-middle class people you need to reflect deeply on who is missing from the space and the issues you’re speaking to. The problems facing South Africa go much further than one man or party’s corruption: they go as deep as the system in which you choose to see only as far as your ivory tower, and the conditional empathy that in the midst of massive human oppression allows your greatest concern to be one of land, an abstract idea of natural beauty.
Until you step outside of your comfort zone to understand the structural oppression facing black South Africans and the need for radical change there can be no true solidarity; events like #ZumaMustFall will remain empty rainbowisms.
Photo credit: @Wandile Kasibe
Whereas i was just like let’s subvert the whole day and make it into a regular traditional thing…
Another great read was this piece that my friend Megan shared the other day titled, #ZumaMustFall: A reconstellation of racist myths whites tell themselves.
And on her own blog she shares her raw, rough, real, honest, teary experience of events.
Whereas this article focusing on the EFF gaining victory by not even pitching up had some helpful thoughts to consider.
My end of day Facebook status looked a little like this:
It is sobering reading largely white opinions and response to the marches today and largely black opinions and response to the marches and I think I am hugely privileged in terms of the variety and diversity of people who make up my Facebook feed cos I have to imagine that there are many people out there who are only getting one side of the story and not even hearing or recognizing that there is another side.
When will we learn to listen, really listen to the other side and realise that our narrative might not be the only one or the correct one… And what to do when people I strongly respect appear on both sides of the opinion table…
Listen some more I guess. Wrestle.
[For a whole range of other thoughts, articles and conversations around South Africa, click here]
I was at the march yesterday in Cape Town. It was really great to see so many white people turn out for a march, especially on a holiday when they could be at the beach or sipping cocktails, lunch or braaing. It showed a lot of dedication to help improve this country. There were some black people there, but its understandable that many did not attend as it was not a work day.
I noticed that many people are saying that they wouldn’t march because we did not march for feesmustfall campaign. Now this is interesting because when I was at varsity, I paid for my own fees. Secondly, fees are already heavily subsidized by the government (our tax money) so I am not really sure why people are complaining. Then why should we take off work to come and march for something that only affects privileged students at UCT (university of privilege whether you’re white or black). So we did not take off work for a whole week and come and sit on the road so that your fees would fall (and of course be paid for by us at the end of the day). I think that is a bit selfish of the students to expect us to come and protest to have their fees fall and then to also at the end of the day pay for these fees through taxation.
Now maybe if our ZANC government did not blow all the money on airplanes, arms deals, corruption sushi parties, Mercs, BMW, Ferraris and big mansions, nkandla, billion rand jet and holidays and 5 wives and 22 kids for a president, then maybe… just maybe (well obviously) we’d have plenty of billions, probably about 100 billion or much much more which could provide service delivery, free education and much much more! So because we are not narrow minded, we march against this corruption, against the cause of modern inequality. Many refused to march but will only go and march for toilets or free this for free that which will never solved the big problem which is government being corrupt. Its not about, “you didn’t come to my march, so I’m not going to yours”, its about going to the march which is the most effective overall. We can’t all be taking off work and sitting around all day.
Lastly people claim that the police took photos of the marches, while at other marches, there was teargas and rubber bullets. I saw no white people throwing stones. This is a frequent thing at many black marches. The common denominator is that most of the police are black. So they are only reacting to the crowd. If the crowd is friendly then the police wont react like they do. At Marikana, it was mostly black police. So be nice to the police, don’t throw stone and perhaps you will see better results for the small marches about toilets, statues and freebies. I even saw many white people giving cooldrinks to the officers yesterday. When have you seen this at other marches?
So all in all, its good that we are all marching. Its time we had bigger ones against government corruption. No point marching for toilets when there is no money to pay for them. March against government and there will be billions available to do it all!
Yesterday was the rainbow nation back in form. Also, in Johannesburg area, there were thousands of black people marching!
One more thing. Anyone marching who votes for ZANC… now that is a joke right there. Why vote ZANC and then complain?
Wow, just reading your thoughts reaffirms a sad reality that some people will just never get it. Your comment is filled with various assumptions that you seriously need to check.
Agathe, your comment is seriously without substance. If you make claims, please do engage and backup. Or should we be totally 100 percent of the same opinion as you? Lets hear your argument if you have one…
More division, another ” Dear White vs Dear Black people” letter. Can we please stop with the back and forth? This is causing more division. In the joint picture, the police is using force during the recent student uprise vs the police officer peacefully assisting the crowd during the anti-corruption campaign. The difference between the events was not race , it was behavior! Certain students and their supporters caused massive damage to the Western Cape University and the exams was postponed. I wish the author did some research before publishing the article and creating a false perception.
On another note, I look forward to further reconciliation, forgiveness and hope we can promote peace and grace each day of our lives. Time we shift focus and yes lets walk, even if it is just for a day in each others shoes.
I totally agree. It is as though some people just want to perpetuate this race thing, to say, “Poor me”, “Poor students who want everything for free – others must pay”.
The reason we were not at the student fee protests:
1. We are at work, earning money which is taxed. These taxes go towards free housing, food, electricity, DSTV, service delivery and subsidizing education.
2. We paid our own student fees. I worked at the bar for 5 long years! I paid my own fees. Now these people want it for free – a total joke.
3. You vote ANC, then complain??? Really??? lol
[…] we’ve been having conversation about the #UniteAgainstCorruption marches or #ZumaMuseFall as they have more commonly been known, and as we’ve looked at the question of, “Can we […]