"Blacks can't be racist"!!!!!

“Racism” is a concept that is historically rooted in the oppression of blacks by whites (slavery, colonialism, apartheid, imperialism etc.). Find another conceptual equivalent to “racism”, says Andile, but please don’t rob the term of its core meaning by extending it to the racial discrimination of white people — it just isn’t “racism”.

One simple reason why blacks can’t be racist

This is a piece by Suntosh Pillay, a clinical psychologist who writes independently on social issues.
The writer comments on Andile Mngxitama's argument, subcribed to by all in the Black Consciousness Movement. I agree!! 

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/mandelarhodesscholars/2010/03/23/one-simple-reason-why-blacks-cant-be-racist/

A short little booklet caught my attention recently. On its red cover, the bold title “Blacks can’t be racist” appeared. Curious by such an absurd claim, I parted with R20.
Indeed, it was a 23-page explication on why black people cannot be racist. CANNOT. This argument, written in July 2009, was put forward by one Andile Mngxitama in his self-published pamphlet “New Frank Talk”. Beyond the emotional drama of his tone, inappropriate profanities, really bad editing and confusing referencing, it’s worth considering his defence, which is very different from the one others on this website have made.
It’s a simple point — “conceptual fidelity”.
Andile reckons the definition of “racism” must include the ability of one group to subjugate another, and since black people have never had the social, economic or political power to subjugate white people, they cannot be racist, by definition. He sees racism as “discrimination by a group against another for the purpose of subjugation or maintaining subjugation” (Biko, I write what I like).
Does this mean black people cannot be racially prejudiced against whites? No. Does this mean black people do not utter racial slurs? No. Does this mean black people do not commit nasty acts of atrocity against other race groups? No. Black people are fully capable of doing unsavoury things to other race groups, but Andile maintains that we must call it something else, just don’t call it racism.
“Racism” is a concept that is historically rooted in the oppression of blacks by whites (slavery, colonialism, apartheid, imperialism etc.). Find another conceptual equivalent to “racism”, says Andile, but please don’t rob the term of its core meaning by extending it to the racial discrimination of white people — it just isn’t “racism”.
Properly conceived, Andile argues that racism “locates white power and privilege on the historical reality organised upon white on black violence … to make the concept of racism elastic, as to include whites as victims, is to render it useless, and more importantly, to make it susceptible to appropriation by the very beneficiaries of racism”.
Andile was responding to that 2008 incident where the Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) stopped their white colleagues from attending a blacks-only meeting with Jacob Zuma. The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) ruled it unconstitutional and the FBJ was branded racist.
Andile wrote in the Mail & Guardian: “Let the historical record reflect that the FBJ was the first black organisation to be disbanded by law in post-apartheid South Africa.” He also noted the irony of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging being relaunched at the same time, without a scolding from the SAHRC.
Andile draws on radical Nigerian scholar Dr Chinweizu, who defends blacks-only groups by claiming “the right to racial privacy”. (Is this the same as Steve Biko’s notion of “black solidarity”?). It’s an interesting view. It does seem logical that in order to overcome a historically rooted oppression a group should therefore organise efforts on the basis of the very thing that marks them out for oppression — skin colour.
There is a small explosion of “whiteness” studies in South Africa following international trends of critically reflecting on the condition of being white and the privileges that accompany this lack of melanin. As Peggy McIntosh wrote in her essay “White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible Knapsack”: “I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets, which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I remain oblivious.”
White privilege continues unabated largely because the “myth of sameness”, “non-racialism” and “the rainbow nation” has obscured the continuation of racial hierarchies in post-apartheid SA to the point of normalising black suffering and masking ill-gotten white benefits.
Andile says this is why the FBJ incident was so shocking for white journalists — their invisibility was made visible. They were “raced”. And whites can’t bear being raced, because being a privileged white has become such a normative state of (racial) being in SA and the world. Professor Melissa Steyn from UCT has done extensive work in this arena. As the title of her key work sympathetically, critically, and reflexively notes “Whiteness just isn’t what it used to be”.
But blackness also isn’t what it used to be. Though Andile elaborates at length the reasons why black subjugation is still a blatant psychological and material reality in SA, he fails to acknowledge that white privilege has considerably decreased in the political arena. Blacks now have the political power to subjugate.
The conspicuous consumption of wealth and tenders and big bonuses has placed an elite group of black bigwigs at the centre of social, economic and political power. And yes, they do not by any means represent the hungry, powerless, dirt-poor black people who have all but lost faith in the government’s promises. But they are black. And they are powerful. And they can subjugate. And if we use Julius Malema as the exemplar of this new black elite and use his public utterings as further exemplars of the potential for black racism, then some holes start forming in Andile’s thesis.
At the very least, “conceptual fidelity” and “the right to racial privacy” may refine the question of “black racism” to a more clearly defined problematic.

FLORA VEIT-WILD's reflections on relationship with Dambudzo Marechera!

"He unlocked many doors for me and let me peek into the marvellous world beyond. He gave me intimations of hell but also the strength to resist. He, who said he had never met an 'African' but only human beings, made me into an 'Africanist'." Flora Veit-Wild
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-03-02-through-closed-doors-with-an--african-prankster

I have often been asked why I did not write a proper Dambudzo Marechera biography.

My answer was that I did not want to collapse his multi-faceted personality into one authoritative narrative but rather let the diverse voices speak for themselves. But this is not the whole truth. I could not write his life story because my own life was so intricately entangled with his. While I have generally come to be known as 'The Marechera Authority', there have always been two narrative strands behind this persona -- the public and the private. While the public one has stood out as strong and clear, my private life has been interlaced with love and passion, loss and pain, with illness and the threat of death. Yet, what I have gained is so much more than what I have endured that I am filled with gratitude and, I might add, with laughter.

My personal involvement with Dambudzo Marechera has affected my professional life in a way I would never have expected. The many ironic twists, the tricks that Dambudzo played on me even posthumously, make our story an immensely rich and funny one, one that I now, more than twenty-five years after I came to know him, want to tell.

I first met Dambudzo Marechera in Charles Mungoshi's office.....................................................

FREEDOM.................!!!!!

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion”. ALBERT CAMUS

THE UGLY FACE OF CHILD LABOUR IN AFRICA: THE CASE OF ZIMBABWE

In a socio-economic environment dominated by poverty and scarcity, the African child is confronted with a more pronounced risk of becoming a child labourer than a child from any other region. According to the International Labour Organization 95% of child labour occurs in developing countries, Africa being the hardest hit. An estimated 250 million children between the ages of 5 and14 years are in economic activity in developing countries alone, 120 million of them working full-time. As of 2012 UNICEF estimates that over 200 000 children work in the cocoa farms of Ivory Coast alone. This is the magnitude of the problem for most countries. Due to its predominance and perpetuation despite the apparent fatal implications it bears on the development of a child, it is relevant and crucial that we explore the international and continental legal frameworks that prohibits child labour and legal provisions governing child labour in Zimbabwe, and suggest a way forward.

According to the International Labour Organization child labour is any form of economic exploitation of a child for purposes of economic gain. This can take the form of a minor entering an employment contract or the allocation of a domestic task that is not in tangent with a child’s capacity and ability both in intellect and physically. Child labour includes all work that interferes with a child’s education and thereby future possibilities in the labour market. Zimbabwe adopted child labour to mean work done by children full-time without attending school. Obviously the definition leaves a lot to be desired as it completely turns a blind eye on all the other faces of child labour. Article 32 (1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for State Parties to “recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” The same article proceeds to direct state Parties to “take legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to ensure implementation of the present article.”  Article 15 of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child adds on the call on state parties to take legislative measures to protect children from child labour.

In Zimbabwe’s laws Section 11 of the Labour Act and Section 10 of the Children’s Act regulate the employment of children and provide that children under the age of 15 cannot be employed. This is also in line with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Section 138 on the minimum age of admission for employment. All these provisions align themselves desirably with Goal 1 of the Millennium Development Goals that points to the achievement of unimpeded universal primary education.

Given the above legal frameworks and statutes that presents child labour as an evil that must be repelled, it is astounding to note the high levels of child labour being perpetrated in Africa and here in Zimbabwe. The socio-economic meltdown that wrecked havoc in the country in the past decade left many children exposed particularly OVCs with no one to turn to for provision. This, coupled with the scourge of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that have ushered in a generation of child headed households, has been taken advantage of by unethical employers and other child abusers who have resorted to using children as cheap labour for maximum profiteering. Children as young as five years are working for their own meals and for their families’. Although rural areas, farm and mine communities are taking the lead in this trend, urban areas are not an exception especially among the low-income urbanities in high-density suburbs and informal settlements. It is a battle of life and survival.

A heartbreaking example of child labour in action can be seen in farms. Due to the absence of proper machinery in farms children are being employed to substitute the machinery and do work such as harvesting manually. What becomes worrying, more important than the meagre returns they receive for such services, is that these children are not attending school. Those who attend school sometimes skip school to attend work. Whilst some of those employing the children attempt to unreasonably justify their actions by saying they are giving the children a living, it must be stressed that should they be genuinely concerned with the children’s wellbeing, they must simply help them without exploiting them. The reality on the ground informs us that almost all the unthinkable works classified in the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1990) have all been experienced by our children.

     Child labour in action: This picture was taken at one of Zimbabwe’s illegal gold panning sites and  shows a mother panning for gold with her children. These children are at risk given that they have no protective wear, coupled with all other risks associated with illegal panning.

Unfortunately, the consequences of child labour to the defenseless and helpless child are more than physical. In addition to injuries, poor health, and chronic illnesses, those still in school face the challenge of dropping out of school completely. Normally child labourers develop high level of stress culminating into anti-social behaviour. Low self-esteem and confidence affect their chances of success and subsequently in adult life. It is a complex matrix of psychological disturbances leading to the many problems of moral decadence and crime reaching its peak in their adult lives.

A debate that has risen with parents is whether or not giving children house chores is child labour. Child labour and children’s responsibility to do household chores must not be confused or mistaken for each other. Children have a responsibility to help their parents and guardians do household works, as long as the work allocated to the child is proportional to the child’s age, capacity and ability. Paragraph 7 of the Preamble of the UNCRC states that “the child should be fully prepared to live an individual life in society”. This means it is paramount that children also do some work at home so that they get an appreciation of the world outside childhood and parental care. This kind of work is what is acceptable, as a way to prepare children to face the challenges of the contemporary world. Section 11 of the Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) allows children from 13 years to work only if it is serving the purpose of educating the child, for example, during industrial attachment or apprenticeship.

Employment is normally through a contract. On contracts, Section 15 of the General Laws Amendment Act states that a minor has no legal capacity to enter a contract and where one is entered with such a minor it has no effect against him. For children above 7 years parental consent is a prerequisite for the contract. This implies that a child will enter an employment contract only if the parents’ or legal guardians’ assent to it. Parents therefore have an obligation to protect children from being economically exploited through child labour by not allowing their children to enter into employment contracts.

It is seen therefore that parents and guardians have a major role to play in combating child labour. Zimbabwe, however, needs to go a step further in protecting children from child labour through creating a section on children’s rights in the constitution so that the right to protection is enshrined in that section and oblige all concerned parties to protect children. At the knowledge that Zimbabwe signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and welfare of the Child, the former being one of the seven core treaties forming the international human rights framework, one is tempted to conclude that all is well. As perfectly knit and crucial as these conventions may be, they are still to become binding law in Zimbabwe, subject to a lengthy process of domestication as laid out in section 111B of the Constitution. The prevailing currency in Zimbabwe is that an international convention or treaty can only become binding law in the country upon domestication into local laws. Thus as it stands, all the provisions of these conventions can only be referred to as international desired standards in child protection, yet they cannot be used to enforce their application. Our position is sadly a sharp contrast to the more advanced jurisdiction of South Africa, wherein children’s rights are elaborately and comprehensively provided for in section 28 of the nation’s constitution. Child labour can thus be checked from its initial stages of manifestation and legal recourse can be taken as it is justiceable. This is the position Zimbabwe needs to take.

Finally, child labour is indeed a crime against humanity. It is not an insurmountable problem though as the evil can be completely eliminated by the right policy position, programming, legal position and institutional capacity. In as much as we seek to regulate the employment of children, it is crucial that we recognize child labour in all its forms as a deterrent to child development that must be completely eliminated. As such the regulations should go more in the direction of its complete elimination rather than merely attempting to regulate it. The problem starts with poor social services, with the failure of the relevant governments departments to provide the very basic survival needs to disadvantaged children. That is where the work must begin; restructuring, re-programming, and backing these with sound policy.

In Broken Images

This is my favourite poem right now, an allusion to the arrogant and to the blind followers in illusion, wrapped in the mystery of their ignorance. This poem speaks volumes:

He is quick, thinking in clear images;

I am slow, thinking in broken images.

He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;

I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images.

Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;

Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.

Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact;

Questioning their relevance, I question their fact.

When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
when the fact fails me, I approve my senses.

He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.

He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.

by Robert Graves

Poverty and Child Development: The Dilemma of Children in Want”

In as much as children can successfully grow and develop into responsible and productive citizens able to fend for themselves and others regardless of where they come from, more often than not the economic status of their parents commands a greater say on where they go and how they will develop. In this regard, generally those children coming from well-off families have better chances to develop properly in areas of nutrition, health and education, subsequently having much more opportunities to choose what they want to be in their lives. The case is different unfortunately for the child who grows in want, deficiency and poverty.

A scene at a squatter camp.

With the scourge of poverty scorching through the continent, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, an alarmingly high number of children never get to enjoy a complete package of the rights they are entitled to. Due to poverty child mortality is very high as well as illiteracy. Malnutrition puts the lives of millions of children at the cliff-edge of mortality. For those who survive the scourge, life is never a pleasant experience. Whilst children born in poverty have the potential to develop into the kind of people they dream to be, the legacy of their parents’ poverty become a burden to them and a stumbling block to progress. At this stage the scene is not at all pleasing, but worse still it does not end there, but a multiplier effect is instituted bearing a string of burdens and challenges. When parents are unable to meet the needs of a child, neglect and other vices are certainly poised to affect the child, destroying security, protection and hope on the part of the child. For most children one alternative remains; to find ways to sustain themselves. The problem becomes even more pronounced given the ailing social security systems that are supposed to cater for the children’s development needs should they be sound and fully operational.

What ensures here is an ugly battle for survival and the children will do anything necessary and possible to survive, in the process turning a blind eye to the consequences of their ways, such as acquiring the HIV virus through prostitution. Many children opt for being in the streets engaging in begging and vending whilst some have made them their permanent homes, and the “homes” are not safe at all. In the streets children have become subjects of rape and sexual exploitation, bullying from their peers, harassment from local authorities, and are severely exposed to diseases and malnutrition arising from hunger, the unhealthy living environment and harsh weather conditions. Although never a justification of crime, criminal activity will certainly be done by most as an alternative for survival. Such is the dilemma of children who are prematurely ushered into the world of adulthood by the poverty at home, to stand on their own and seek survival.

With the desperate need for survival coming hard on the heels as a push factor, they unwillingly become more frequent offenders thereby running the risk of turning into hardcore-criminals, implying failed child-development.  Juvenile crime then becomes a mere indicator of loopholes in the way our children are raised, and because of the poverty of their parents that initiated this entire chain of events, they find themselves behind bars. Such is the sad reality on the ground. For this reason, a much higher number of juvenile offenders is seen in areas where poverty levels are high.

Even for many children in this vice who attempt survival strategies such as child labour, without necessarily heading for criminal activity, fate takes them there. In the process child labour interferes with the child’s education and thereby future possibilities in the labour market. Unfortunately, the consequences of child labour to the defenseless and helpless child are more than physical. In addition to injuries, poor health, and chronic illnesses, child labourers develop high level of stress culminating into anti-social behaviour. Low self-esteem and confidence affect their chances of success and subsequently in adult life. It is a complex matrix of psychological disturbances leading to the many problems of moral decadence and crime reaching its peak in their adult lives. This is how many children end up in crime and subsequently in prison.

It is never by choice that they find themselves as criminals at young age, but unfortunate fate passed down to them by the poverty of their parents and the resultant inability to cater for their proper development into what they ought to become. It is a battle for life and survival with a bitter ending-children behind bars. The reason: a search for survival!

The Brightest Young Minds Experience 2011

This story was published in the University of KwaZulu-Natal online newsletter UKZNOnline and on the University website.
http://enewsletter.ukzn.ac.za/Newsletter.aspx?id=45

From left: Mr Andrew Goronga, Ms Sophia Basckin, Ms Basheerah Mohamed, Mr Msawenkosi Jeffery Khumalo, Ms Xolelwa Zulu, Ms Frances Rachel Morrow, Mr Musa Kika, and Ms Aarefah Mathir.

Eight UKZN students are among South Africa’s 100 Brightest Young Minds selected by the Brightest Young Minds Organisation. The students attended the Brightest Young Minds Summit in Johannesburg from July 4-9. UKZN, the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University had the highest number of representatives.

The eight students are: Ms Areefah Mathir, a Masters student in Chemical Engineering; final-year Bachelor of Social Science student, Ms Basheerah Mohamed;  Mr Musa Kika, first-year LLB student and the only first-year student to attend the summit; Mr Msawenkosi Jeffery Khumalo, Masters student; Ms Frances Rachel Morrow, who is studying Politics and Economics; Ms Sophia Basckin, studying Philosophy and Linguistics, Mr Andrew Goronga, a final-year Electrical Engineering student and Ms Xolelwa Zulu, a PhD student.  Six of the students are based on the Howard College campus, while one is from Pietermaritzburg and one from the Westville campuses.

The Brightest Young Minds Summit is South Africa’s premier youth summit that brings together 100 of the brightest and most passionate young minds with the view to connecting them and channelling their hearts and minds into initiatives that have a positive societal impact. They are chosen from thousands of entries from university students and young people between the ages of 20-30 from all over the country. They are selected using the criteria of innovation, leadership, and academic accomplishments. Delegates get the rare opportunity to interact and network with some of the country’s top thinkers and leaders, whilst a platform is also created for them to showcase their talents. All the UKZN students are academic high achievers and have over the years exhibited leadership and innovation through personal initiatives and association with various organisations and groups.

The theme for this year’s 11^th edition of the summit was “A Climate for Change”, focusing on perhaps the major challenge that the next generation of leaders will be faced with, that of building a carbon-free economy that is environmentally sustainable. Among the many high profile organisations and companies that the delegates engaged with were T-Systems, BMW, Pam Golding, Vodacom, X-Trata, Sasol, Unilever, Dimension Data, and leaders including Dr Yaw Afrane-Okose of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Dr Richard Worthington of the World Wildlife Fund, Mr Stanford Masie of Novell South Africa and former CEO of Google Africa, and Dr Andrew Venter of the Wildlands Trust.  

Past alumni of the summit have included numerous Rhodes and Fulbright Scholars, entrepreneurs and the founders of successful social initiatives.

Budgeting for child welfare essential. By Musa Kika (Published in The Standard Newspaper, Harare, October 2010)

CHILD BUDGETING: FUNDAMENTAL FOR CHILD PROTECTION

The commitment of those in authority and the importance attached to child protection in any given country can be measured by the amount of resources channeled towards this sector. The same applies to all the other areas. Not only will the amount of resources allocated to child protection reflect the willpower, but they will ultimately determine the achievement desired. It will show that we are a nation in which children’s rights are taken as human rights, and where every child develops to their highest potential without any challenges that can be prevented.

The above position is recognized and recommended by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in Article 4 wherein state parties are enjoined to “undertake all appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present convention.......undertake such measures to the maximum extent of their available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international co-operation”. This provision recognizes that resource allocation is indispensable if child protection is to be achieved. In Zimbabwe the child rights area has not been considered a priority in budgeting. Whilst we truly appreciate the efforts made by the government to channel much of the nations budget allocation to education, areas such as health, OVC programming, shelter and birth registration remain painfully under-funded. The development of a child is multifaceted and requires that each aspect be concurrently addressed to achieve holistic growth, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

It is hopeful to note that there is growing realization by development practitioners that budget analysis and advocacy play key roles in advancing child rights[1]. As implied by the theme for the Day of the African Child this year, “Planning and budgeting for children our collective responsibility”, the process calls for our collective efforts in resource mobilization and lobbying for the relevant budgeting authorities to put children first. As we do this, we must not be shortsighted that such budgeting will only serve to provide the immediate needs of the children. It is about the distant future that we intend to prepare for the country’s future adults. One of the 10 imperatives adopted by the May 2000 “Say Yes for Children Campaign”, that culminated into the 2002 UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, is  “Fight poverty: Invest in children”.  This resolution stemmed from noting that “investment in children lays the foundation for a just society, a strong economy and a world free of poverty”, establishing the relationship that exists between the elimination of the challenges we face today and the proper upbringing of children, who are the custodians of the future.

The attainment of universal child protection hinges on the effective mobilization of resources, both for programming, implementation and evaluation so that we achieve a “Zimbabwe fit for children”.

A government budget is an expression of the aspirations of those in power. Through the budget, one can see whether children are a priority or not. Our call is that indeed they are a priority. Prioritizing children’s issues cannot be divorced from budgetary allocation. How our nation progresses is determined, among other things, on how much we value our future and invest in it. This investment is through channeling resources to the development of humanity. Children are the future of this nation and let us prioritize their needs.

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[1] B. L. Muchabaiwa, Child Budget Analysis and Advocacy,  NANGO 2007