System could collapse like a house of race cards

HAS anyone seen my race card? I have been looking for it everywhere, but just can’t find it. My biggest fear is that Julius Malema or Jimmy Manyi may have stolen it. They seem to have way too many race cards.

If yours has gone missing too, fellow race card-less darkie, perhaps we could organise a violent protest and toyi-toyi until these cats return our cards? If I do not get mine back soon, I will have to rely solely on competence to achieve my career goals. Heaven forbid! I was hoping to play my card to ensure promotion or to scare a white boss into resigning before I can get my friends in very high places to kick him out. Now I have to rethink my strategy. I am really annoyed that the race card system’s effectiveness is being undermined by Malema et al.

As my mom would have said, the abuse of the system puts jam in the mouths of critics of race-based policies. Just as a heartless conservative might selectively cite anecdotal examples of welfare abuse as proof that welfare breeds dependency, so too can opponents of race-based policies now use Malema et al’s abuse of the race card as a false basis to assert that we should move beyond race.

We should not move “beyond race”. We should rather move beyond fetishising nonracialism. Even though race is a social construct that has been moulded on a political template over the course of an accidental history of racism, it continues to be a determinant of one’s chances of successful living long after apartheid’s official death. It is therefore critical that we look out for non- violent forms of racism in both the corporate and public sectors. We will not deal these lingering racisms a death blow by remaining enthralled by nonracialism.

I wonder if proponents of nonracialism ever asked themselves: “Why is nonracialism important?” If they did, they would puzzle away for a while. Just because race is a dodgy biological notion does not mean we do not use the socially constructed version of the category in our daily interactions. Racialism is alive and well. Racism is also alive and well. The race card can be an effective tool for spotting and rooting out racism.

But when exactly can the race card be used legitimately? Well, when you have been a genuine victim of racism or when you have witnessed a racist act and want to expose the perpetrator.

Racism is the possession or display of ill-will towards another on the basis of their phenotypical features. There is no evidence that Eishkom’s Jacob Maroga received ill-treatment by Eishkom’s board on the basis of his gorgeous complexion. He received no ill- treatment, let alone racism. The same goes for Transnet’s Siyabonga Gama. These are case studies in the abuse of the race card for personal and political gain.

There are also rules and responsibilities that flow from the right to use the race card. One rule is that the race-card game — sorry Malema et al — is open to all South Africans. Just like sporting codes have now been deracialised, so too the game of race-card playing is open to folks from all communities, black or white, poor or rich.

There is a moral obligation to play the race card in circumstances where doing so is the only available form of expressing and fighting for one’s dignity. Bobby Godsell could have shown his own race card in the direction of the Black Management Forum and the ANC Youth League.

Unfortunately, like soccer, the race card game is not one that South African whites are good at. In fact, most do not realise they have race card rights also. The explanation has to do with guilt. Many white South Africans feel bound by the history of an immoral past to which their skin colour is connected. Assert your right to also play the race-card game, I say. If racists can come in all colours, why should race-card players come in one shade only?

A second rule is that you should not abuse the system. Take this analogy. A rule book with the title “ministerial handbook” allows you to buy luxury vehicles. Does this mean you are compelled to buy these cars? Nope.

The careful exercise of discretion by a public official is a mark of political virtue. Similarly, just because you have the race card in your back pocket (and ones you stole from unsuspecting others, who were grinding away more honestly than you ever do) does not mean you have to play it every other day.

Those who play the race-card game excessively look more tragic than someone wearing a Bafana Bafana shirt. Furthermore, the race-card system will collapse if these abuses continue unabated. This will make it difficult for genuine victims of racism (both black and white) to expose real racial discrimination for fear of being seen to “play the race card”.

So, Malema et al, please leave at least some of your race cards at home when you leave for press conferences in the morning. Please? This will help, not hinder, the fight against racism. Seriously, boss.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=87002