So tired of racism

My current dilemma is concerning how to navigate the very present racial tension. This country is but a reflection of its people. And we, the people are the producers and products of our history. Or herstory. Really amn't bothered.  The racialism has been a part of this country's story for so long, it is hard to see any narrative that isn't touched by it.

I wish for such a narrative, though. I have been called a liberal (a swear word in some circles) many times before for stating my views. Also, I am firmly of the idea that we can look at the world without using the racial lens.
This is not to deny nor  devalue the fact that racists are still acting upon government policies and training their children to see race as a conflict zone. This blog has numbers of articles concerning race and the Black condition.

Check these, among others:

1. http://chaoticfront.blogspot.co.za/2016/03/dear-south-africa-open-letter.html
2. http://chaoticfront.blogspot.co.za/2016/02/the-response-to-ufs-vs-nmmu-violence.html
3. http://chaoticfront.blogspot.co.za/2015/10/foreign-nationals-attacked-in.html
4. http://chaoticfront.blogspot.co.za/2015/10/at-uct-things-are-getting-rough.html
5. http://chaoticfront.blogspot.co.za/2015/03/rantism-on-racism-south-africa-and.html 

So, that said, it's time I get to the meat of this article. We need to work on new ways of seeing and interacting. We cannot continue with hating people because it's just plain destructive and unsustainable. Sustaining racial hatred is like feeding a fire. Without fuel, it will die. Truly, it is difficult to love thine enemy. But why are we enemies in the first?

History is filled with stories of "us" versus "them." Read David Cannadine's The Undivided Past  for a great, accessible take on how history is more often about unity than division. It's just that we let the tyrants become storytellers.So we  end up teaching and being taught narratives involving clashes, conflicts and divisions. Always an "us" versus a "them."

What would happen if we took of those lenses and put o some fresh ones. A prescription always needs checking in order that the patient may see clearer. We are aware that thee are divisions. But we are more similar than we are different, people.  Yes, some criminals came and usurped the land we have lived in. Never should that be forgotten. But the true evil never limits its self to a race. True evil, the corruption of politicians stealing taxes, kidnapping of children, military despotism etc. is not limited to the White European. This Writer is as Black as the dark side of Luna. I speak my mother tongue fluently and I can read and write it. But that is not what my soul is. My soul is not kissed by the sun, nor does my soul care that you may sunburn easier. When we meet, I judge you by your humanity.

My criteria:

• How much respect do you have?

And that's pretty much it. I judge people by their respect. How much respect do they have for life, for the well-being of their inner and outer environment. Capitalism is wooing Black,White, Asian and Indian. Everyone living within that choice is practicing the willful exploitation of people. I chant fire upon that shit.

But right now, South Africans are in a serious hoo-hah about claiming our universities. Decolonize the curriculum and all that (necessary)  stuff. The problem is, things are being set on fire, there is graffiti (not very good, mind you) in the Steve Biko Building at Rhodes. At UCT it's just as mad. With the Fine Arts aesthetic  of Capetonians riding the coattails of revolution. Please, note, I am not devaluing the necessity  of these movements. Nor their extremes. Let it be. Kodwa...

We are too damn racially conscious. It's not even human race-consciousness. No. This is tribalism. Borders and divisions so primitive you would think that we'd be over it by now. We can build a Large Hadron Collider but we can't learn to deal with the nature of evil in our selves? Would we rather make simplistic explanations and judgements. Is it not obvious to you, that by enforcing the fight against racism, you push the division further? And that is how we end up with terms like |extreme Right" "Militant Left-Wing." We push and stretch and enforce our divisions. It is not unheard of in these university meetings, to have "Blacks Only Invited" meetings. And some how we're surprised when 'White' kids stomp on other South African kids, who happen to be darker? The heart of the matter lies in how we resist and revolt. Our language and poise. The respect with which we handle matters.  Because I was  pleasantly surprised to see Mr Mngxitama, the enemy of white Capital is friends with a dude named Aryan Kaganof!  Zieg huh? Of course, he's a very  intelligent guy, and having read his works, I happened to get some kind of picture of why they fight the same battles together. Read From A Place of Blackness. It's ironic, though, isn't it, because when Mr Mngxitama was here in Grahamstown, I asked him what does he think the future of White people is in this country. He would not answer me. But that's not new. He never answers my questions.

Maybe because we do not see the the some lens. He is concerned with fighting White evils. I'm just concerned with fighting evils. It's so difficult to have a non-racial discussion these days and it irks me.
We must not relent in the fight against wrong-doing. Bad policy is bad policy, anywhere you find it.  The Black and the White have serial killers, cannibals and lechers. This racial lens is truly a cloak to perception and is tantamount to being brainwashed. You are to be afraid of A because A is White. Side with B because B is Black. Consciousness has colours? No disrespect to Black Consciousness, but the deepest philosophies always transcend the species. You respect animals, rocks, and water with equal reverence. These Manichean divides dissolve, at the highest level of consciousness. And that is why a truly spiritual person respects other religions. Transcendence of the species barrier is paramount imperative. Because if we keep fighting Whites, we destroy  a lot of unity that can potentially happen. If we chase away Malawians, who will we run to if the Afrikaner was winning a war we both have been fueling? We speak hypothetically, of course.

And lastly, just to rave and wrap up, I'm sick of the hypocrisy. Of these kids with their fists in the air, wearing Biko t-shirts and then going out on the town with the White friends from White Capital. Then there's the torch-bearing "Black Power" kids who have yet to learn that they're part of an old, old game. Masturbating over the memory of  Steven Biko while licking a Fanonian poster. Equally worse are the Black Capitalists who say they are practicing Capitalism to take it back from the Whites. And still we have shacks next to airports.The enemy is not out there, people. The enemy is our attitude.