Racists need to get a life

One of South Africa’s most pressing challenges is something that is hovering below the radar.

It is not in our faces like corruption, crime, collapsing infrastructure or political stupidity.

Yet its consequences are no less damaging.

Latent racism is still lurking in our midst, rearing its ugly head from time to time from the underground bunkers it escaped to post the 1994 democratic era.

Only the most naïve would have thought that once the Madiba magic took hold, South Africans of all colours, persuasions and cultures would instantly see the light and happily dance in the park together, surrounded by butterflies and roses.

Our history of conflict, prejudice, hatred and distrust has simply been too long.

But 20 years down the line, our ‘miracle’ of reconciliation and relative peace nevertheless continue to astound the world – and ourselves for that matter – despite the many bumps in the road.

What we have to remind ourselves is that it is still a work in progress.

While we must still negotiate our way through the minefield of lingering racist attitudes, there can be no tolerance for the kind of raw bigotry in public places which occurred at a well-known bar in Richards Bay last weekend.

The true facts will still emerge as a case has been opened with the police, but what transpired was that three black patrons were allegedly confronted by men who blocked the entrance and told them to go away since ‘this is not a place for blacks’.

When this blatant racist act was questioned, the black patrons were apparently assaulted and ‘wrestled’ from the premises.

What makes the incident worse, is the fact that the patrons were women.

Imagine the outrage if a group of black men physically attacked three white women wishing to have a drink in a public establishment?

Let’s also not be naïve to think that forced integration works. Because of imbedded cultural customs, sport or other interests and even humour, blacks or whites, Indians or Coloureds tend to huddle together. It is simply a matter of comfort zones and ease of familiar social inter-action.

It has nothing to do with race exclusion – and generally, there is much bonhomie when cross-cultural shindigs occur.

While the pockets of lunatic fringe fundamentalists on both sides of the colour bar are free to gather at private locations to find bliss in their hatred of others, our Constitution does not allow them to claim ownership of any public facility and dictate entrance criteria.

That is the next question to be answered – does the owner of the Bay bar sanction racist behaviour?