Why I dislike (some) Coloured academics!!

“Coloured denialism”, for the uninitiated, is the (in my opinion,
FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED) view that the Coloured identity is an artificial identity,
not real and not valid. Coloured denialists are conspicuous by their holey logic
and their inaccurate assessment of Coloured society. Whenever a Coloured
denialist speaks, I almost always find myself wiping a phlegmy gob from my face
because that’s what they do whenever they speak…they spit on the faces of the
4.2 million Coloured people in South Africa that CHOOSE to identify as Coloured
and who tick the block that says “Coloured” at every census.

The
origins of Coloured denialism are dealt with rather extensively in that seminal
book “Not Black Enough, Not White Enough!” by Mohamed Adhikari. Here
its origins as a tool in the anti-apartheid arsenal to unite all oppressed
people against the common, apartheid oppressors are laid bare and one can
appreciate how Coloured denialism could’ve gained currency and come to be the
preponderant ideology of the time. Today though, the socio-political landscape
is vastly different and yet this outdated ideology seems to still have currency
with some anachronistic pseudo-intellectuals.

When
people ask me about the origins of Coloured identity, I normally point them in
the direction of Mohamed Adhikari’s book as in my opinion, it constitutes
probably the most thorough account of the evolution of Coloured identity from
slavery through to 1994. After the 1994 elections and after the Western Cape
voted unanimously in favour of the NP, Coloured academics were livid and at a
loss for words as to explain this voting anomoly which kept the party
responsible for apartheid in power. For me, the fact that nobody really saw this
coming was indicative of the fact that the academics really did not have their
finger on the pulse and their ivory tower conjecture was completely out of
kilter with the reality on the ground.

But
what is the real problem with Coloured denialism and why does it rile me so
much? For starters, Coloured identity is a very real identity to the people who
CHOOSE to embrace it as their own. Anybody who says otherwise is a lethargic
dismissive who has been chewing for too long on the rehashed, recycled
intellectual cud. You don’t have to look very far to see why Coloured people
would prefer to remain as just that…”Coloured people”. South Africa’s sordid
racial past has always meant that resources were allocated and aportioned
according to very clearly defined social groupings. Not having a clearly defined
identity meant not being able to access resources…even in post-apartheid South
Africa, this is still very much the case. In fact, I’ll wager that identity
politics is more alive in South Africa today than ever before meaning that the
case for sectarian, segmented identity politics is just as valid today as it
ever was. I, Charles Ash, did not create this situation, I’m nearly trying to
make sense of it all through a rickety, storm weathered vehicle called
Bruinou.com…and in so doing, create mechanisms so that future generations do
not have to endure the extremities of social uncertainty as currently faced by
Coloured South Africa.

Coloured denialists would have you believe that there are only 2
groupings in South Africa, Black and White. These 2 groupings are somehow immune
to their non-racial puffery as they do not see any fault in: on the one hand,
beating people up with the non-racial stick, yet on the other, claiming that
Blackness and Whiteness are the only 2 real racial realities. WTF??? Forget the
more than 300 years of institutionalised segregation which existed at the Cape
and which categorically separated Black from White and Coloured from both.
Forget the fact that apartheid and its social engineering further entrenched the
“realness” of the Coloured identity by entrenching this identity in all facets
of the system, we are told that we need to click our fingers and snap out of
this racial psychosis which we, the Coloured folk, are in and either be
Black…or be quiet!

Dr
Zmitri Erasmus, a Coloured academic that has contributed enormously to
untangling the Coloured identity debacle, stated something which has become
something of my mantra for everyday life, “Politically Black, Socially
Coloured!”. By understanding and digesting this simple phrase, we can see that
it is possible and actually quite easy to have a socially libertarian view and
still retain one’s Coloured identity. To be “Politicaly Black” is to me, joining
ranks with your fellow countrymen to find political solutions which pose a
common threat to all of our communities. Issues such as poverty, crime,
corruption, education, healthcare, HIV and government incompetence need to be
addressed in the political sphere and as these issues affect “Black” South
Africa most intensely, then we need to jointly find solutions within this
“Black” context. “Socially Coloured” is the term which allows us to include
ourselves in this country’s social spectrum under the auspices of another
cliched phrase, “United in diversity”. We need to assert our Coloured identity
as in my opinion this is the only way that we can make an impact on the many
ills plaguing our communities. To think that non-racialism and pro-Blackness
will make even the slightest impact on our (the Coloured community’s) socially
unique afflictions of gangsterism, drug addiction, apathy and our excessively
disporportionate rates of incarceration and foetal alcohol syndrome is
particularly naïve. To this end I propose a new mantra, one which I most
certainly and unashamedly live by, “Coloured…UNTIL FURTHER
NOTICE!”.

That
Coloured denialists hold so much sway over the media and their views on Coloured
identity are afforded so much exposure, means that this acute minority of people
are to a large extent responsible for our current social quagmire. I for one,
hold them responsible for the continued referral to Coloured identity as a
problem identity and to the resultant, incessant, unnecessary question marks
which surround Coloured identity and which we cannot seem to shake-off. Their
denialism has hamstrung our progress and continues to keep us in social
limbo.

Ideals such as non-racialism and the outright, public denial of one’s
very own social group may earn one brownie points in the landscaped gardens of
academic la-la-land, but in the real world, where identity has material
consequences, perhaps it is a bit too futuristic to pursue this course of
action. Why should we be the pioneering social group that willingly foregoes our
social identity as an act of social largesse when we are the one group that is
in many ways, the most dysfunctional and in need of group unity to pull
ourselves out of our protracted social stalemate?

What
the Coloured community needs now more than anything is not pity, but solidarity
from every South African who actually believes in the constitutional rights of
equality. What we need is not handouts of fish; we need a fishing rod and to be
taught to fish for ourselves. That fishing rod, in my opinion, takes the form of
a SABC funded radio station as it is the one tool with which we can get some
much needed change and hope to sweep through our streets and homes. This country
will continue to run at 91.1% optimum performance until such time as we, the
8.9% are included in the media space and afforded the same media rights and
priveleges as is so graciously bestowed on every other group. Until such time,
talk of integration, “united in diversity” and “equality” will ring very hollow
with me and my ilk until the crescendo of public discontent spills onto the
streets in open revolt, where THE PEOPLE WILL TAKE ACTION!!

Coloured academics as with academics of any other group have been given a
torch with which to light a path and lead others to a better place. That torch
was not meant to be used to turn against your people and add to the already
raging fire that consumes the very community from whence you came.

Charles “Coloured…UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!” Ash

charles@Bruinou.com

©2008

www.Bruinou.com