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Divided And Conquered


All my life I’ve been a magnet to great human beings. I have the ability to gather the right energies and personalities into my life. I have been able to overly exert myself as well at times. However when a high school friend and I reunited over a year ago her husband was so welcoming. From that day onwards I caught a glimpse of the type of white person South Africa needs right now. 

Music is universal but the genres not so much. The genres are like the border gates limiting our expansion into one another. I didn’t use music as a metaphor for nothing. Let me tell you what happened to me. 

Come December 31st 2017 and we are knee deep in the fatigue of ushering in New Year ’s Eve. A few drinks down the line and the difference in musical tastes showcased an exchange of words from a guy that had been “alright” with black people being at his friend’s party. He was annoyed that we had requested songs that were hits in a genre that was unfamiliar to him. As we ushered in the New Year our host had to pull his rather rude friend to the side as he had commented on the dancing; that he felt like he wasn’t in Ballito but in the middle of a township. 

The next day as I sat in the comfort of my home, I realised that we have taken a back seat in making sure that young white South Africans were schooled on who lives with them in this country. Every day or close to everyday there is a black person in their homes helping them clean their homes or gardens. If they don’t have help at home they will have black help in the office, at the garage, at the shops etc. For the first time I realised what people mean when they say white people got away with a slap on the wrist when it came to transformation. They didn’t have to fight, they didn’t have their monies and wealth taken, they weren’t ever at the back, they were always at the front. As a matter of fact they are still at the front of everything. How then do we get them to sit up and take notice. We do that by doing exactly what our parents failed to do.

Tell them. Reinforce that the time is now for us to be equals. The time is now that we are going to say you are white and your privilege card has been deactivated. We live in the same areas, we park where we want, we speak our native language and by this we are not intimidating you or threatening your existence (if we are, then slowly remove yourself from the area and evacuate). I know that violence is associated with black people. However if I just bring it back for a second we need to remind ourselves that for a people who have had most of their existence against the wall it’s no surprise that we have our defence reflexes on standby. 


My good friend reminded me that black people have always been dedicated to teaching white people about ourselves. My closing statement is a question. How many white South Africans are really ready to listen and learn about our black people of our country. South Africa has a few black tribes if you didn’t know. Take the time to learn about them, before you can start blurting out “argh these bloody blacks”.
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