On Wednesday night, while I celebrated the return of a friend to Cape Town from the wondrous and exciting world that I presume Joburg to be, I received my first alert on my “phone” (or rather, alleged phone. It’s a Blackberry with the battery life of about 20 minutes & the functionality of a digital calculator) that somebody had read my blog.
“That’s nice,” I thought.
My two companions, a pair of charming fellows with backgrounds in history, launched into a lengthy debate (and subsequent lecture for my ignorant ears) about… I want to say the Ancient Rome? Or Ancient Greek politics? The Ottoman Empire? I don’t know, I wasn’t listening as I didn’t quite share their opinion that historical timelines are wildly interesting to everybody. (After h school career of Great Trek stories, I’m just now catching up on the Second World War and it’s heavy going).
But I was really preoccupied. My phone started buzzing like mad, and then, promptly (because it was created for the sole purpose of infuriating people with fingers tiny enough to use it), died. Leaving me with only the anxiety that something was happening and I wasn’t there to see what it was. The only solution to this was to drink more and listen to the historians rant.
To say I’m surprised that the post I wrote got around so quickly is an understatement. But it’s weird, because I had this feeling that the frustration and anger that I felt had been bubbling under the surface for a lot of people – particularly people my age & younger – so a part of me understands it. I’m just a little freaked out that this blog got so quickly taken up, and am left a little panicked, just like when someone comes to visit you and you don’t know if you cleaned the bathroom properly or cleaned out the mugs of moulding tea from under the coffee table yet. Are the rest of the posts on here a bit rubbish? Did I properly check for type-o’s? My mother is going to notice that I swear a lot. Shit.
But forget that, here’s some nice wisdom shared by a friend after reading the horrorshow that is the HVA page right now:
Back to the wave the article has been riding these past 2 days. It seems like we’re not allowed to talk about issues that relate to our racist past, and there’s nowhere for this frustration to go. Which is why I think the article blew up now. It’s on everybody’s minds (well, clearly not everybody, but most of us). And we’re more than a little pissed off. In our parents’ generation, they had hell to contend with. But issues of inequality and race could be discussed for what they were. And they fought, suffered, emerged beaten and victorious. Now they have to deal with having their kids be told to shut up and not acknowledge the epic cruelty they had to endure to set us free. That still affects us now. It would be stupid (truly stupid) to believe that, just a couple of decades later, that their victory eradicated racism forever. It would have been rather nice, after apartheid ended, to be issued with a magic fairy love bomb that threw rainbows everywhere and made us truly forget what a massive pile of shit we’re still sitting in. The kind of bomb that ensures that everyone is now equal – you know, has the same access to basic necessities, education, job opportunities, safe living spaces.
It would be nice if those who are clueless read a book or two. Or better, started engaging with people of different backgrounds. But we can’t all be Pam, with her harem of educated black friends.
Today, the racism has snuck up on us. But “sshhh”, we can’t talk about it! Because it’s not there! Wink wink. Oh, fancy tricksters, you got us there. We’re truly screwed. I think, what is most terrifying, is that the people who perpetuate the problem believe – truly believe – that they are progressive and part of the solution, not the problem. “You don’t know what it was LIKE during apartheid”, one cried. The levels of defensiveness and blind refusal to listen to a growing voice coming from their own ‘community’ has been disturbing. Recently, they tried to explain the growing online protests away by claiming that most of the people protesting on the page are not actually from Harfield, but are activists from outside. First, this is untrue. Most of us are from the area.
In the days which have followed, so many people have told us to ‘get over’ the past. I didn’t quite understand. Are they ‘getting over’ the past when they use old racial classifications to highlight who is walking down their street? Are they ‘getting over’ the past when they refer to a ‘black perpetrator’, but the likes of Tim Osrin simply gets labelled ‘a man’ in their conversations. True, they’re not very fond of this man because he crossed the line & beat up a random woman on the street, but he’s just “a man” all the same. Not “a dodgy white man”. Of course, there were some who defended him because, you know, he can’t help his frustration with all the prostitutes working in the area. Shit. You morons. Actually, nobody’s been following up on the page about Osrin. Scarily quiet. But sure as hell there are follow-ups on the man who verbally attacked people at their gate while asking for food. This man – while not a very nice fellow (he even spat at somebody once) – also happened to be black. And a resident conducted a citizen’s arrest on him. Much wow. Mega excitement. Applause all around. Same with the couple who walk around asking for food & clothing. It’s true, they’re not very nice people either, as I found out. But there was a crudload of follow-up on them. Because the couple & the spitting man are a direct threat to the residents. Osrin – he only attacks black people. So most of the residents are safe.
And now, for some comic relief, courtesy of a clever HVA member with a good sense of humour:
Damnit, this post was going to be a positive one. There’s been some great movement on the Claremont Histories site, and there will be more interviews this afternoon. To those ‘Harfielders’ who are worried that movements like Claremont Histories aim to kick them out of their own neighbourhoods, reclaim their homes and brand them all as racists, this is not the intention. Relax. You’re safe.
The next post will probably talk about the Claremont Histories project and how eye-opening it’s been to unravel some of the history of the area – directly from the memories of the people who used to live here. Do you know, curiously, that despite the fear the current Harfield residents have of some kind of animosity toward them by the ex-residents, I’ve found nothing but forgiveness and respect? Walking down the streets where they used to live, ex-residents speak with grace & happily share their stories of the old days & the old communities. While many Harfielders remain defensive and suspicious. Not all – I want to be clear about that. Not all of those living in Harfield are wankers.
The HVA Facebook page is still lighting up with commentary. The article was shared there, and a little war is on. Some amazing people have been taking up the issue and trying to do so without anger or rudeness. Others, not so much. But it’s great that this can of worms has been opened. If only to feed the grass at the HVA Parks meet-ups. I’ve turned off my alerts so I can get some sleep. But it’s helluva distracting. The level of butthurt is immense. I’m really grateful that others are brave & energetic enough to take it on (including a human rights journalist who is being flamed by a rando with no other argument than ‘idiot’).
But then, there was this!
It’s even spawned a parody site, the Harfield Village Youth League! It’s a laugh, but not really – because this shit is serious. There’s a great amount of activity there. I know how silly it sounds to be fighting like this in a social media space, and to think we’re making a difference. But what we say here represents what we do in the real world. And we’re getting to them at their current epicentre. They may have to return to two-way radios for them to spew their ignorant comments.
I’ve been called out for taking things out of context in the last article, but after scanning it once more, I’m not sure where. With the ‘2 vagrants’ post, I posted the picture along with much of the commentary. With the ‘swings’ post, I mentioned the post & the commentary which followed. I’d love it if one of the HVA members commented here to help me understand? I mean this with respect – because I don’t understand how it was taken out of context. The commentary truly was racist. I will never take back that statement. The lack of people challenging that commentary by Pam was criminal. All of you who claim to be non-racist and want to fight for the right to continue prefixing an ethnic, social & economic identity to the people who walk through/around in and work in your neighbourhood: why didn’t you challenge her? Why do you never challenge other instances of racism (subtle or blatant) at all? Stop crying out about political correctness. The reality is, your regime has to step out. Your supporters are shrinking. Time to put your pride in your pocket and concede that you screwed up. Make a change, learn something new? We’re not radicals. You are not the ‘unchangeable product of your upbringing’ as one hopeless soul put it. Why should we change to fit your narrow views? Come on, we’re waiting here, nice and chilled, ready to take you in if you want to engage. We’ll listen, but we won’t tolerate tantrums. We want a better place. For ALL people. Not just ourselves. Not just our next door neighbours with the money to keep being our next door neighbours.
Oh, and Suburban Fear got involved. Got shared on the HVA page, and then re-shared on Suburban Fear. As Kiewit put it, it was superbly meta.
Finally, back to crime & safety. I read a book once, entitled “Where’s the Chicken?” by John Cartwright & Clifford Shearing. I also had the great fortune of seeing a rather less dignified & also wicked cool picture of Cartwright dancing once, which was a surprise. The picture below is of the book, not the esteemed Prof. Cartwright dancing.
It talks about crime & safety in South Africa, and ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking. About breaking down walls & barriers instead of raising them up to keep the ‘other’ out. My point is, that this hiding-away-in-your-fortress-of-solitude-&-hating-on-those-around-you method has not worked. All it does is create more paranoia. And more self-entitled beliefs about how far your ownership of the space around you goes. The book’s not too expensive. Go check it out. Or I can lend you my copy, but you must promise to bring it back. Nobody’s trying to take your home from you. You very likely already did that to the people who lived there before. Don’t get defensive, you may not have done it directly. Nobody’s blaming you. But you have to know how you are part of history, part of the problems of the present, part of the future. As do I! I’m not immune. I’m one of the privileged, right? I live in a nice neighbourhood and have a car that’s (almost!) paid off. Which doesn’t mean that I deserve these things any more than other people, despite how hard I work to have them. It just means I’m more fortunate.
Where’s my anger from my previous post? God, it’s certainly still there. I actually am tired of hand-holding, and trying to convince people to be a little nicer to one another. But perhaps if I can be polite here and explain slowly and carefully what we are talking about, then maybe some people will listen. I really do hope so. I’d prefer to be polite (if the above was considered polite. If not, oops, sorry.)
Otherwise, fuck it. My hand is out of cards. I’ll hold it out for them to take it, but if they won’t, I’ve got nothing left. No, I still have my fists. But I’d really rather not fight.
Links:
Also, read this article by Marianne Thamm. Read it!
http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2014-11-27-cape-town-racist-club-assault-the-tragedy-and-danger-of-an-ahistorical-upbringing/#.VHhd9IuUdRy