No one wants to be "That Guy"

Let’s talk about race. Now before you stop reading hear me out. I ask for your patience because frankly, I get it: people are tired of talking about race. In every facet of our lives one time or another we must all be exposed to a race discussion. It is the nature of our "rainbow nation". It is the nature of our modern world.

Truth is though; I am not that tired of talking about it. And let’s not forget, we are not talking about 40 odd years of the legalised discrimination of apartheid here. Nor are we talking about 450 years of colonial oppression. I am equally appalled and affected by a racial injustice half way around the world as I am in my own backyard. The race discussion is about the systematic oppression of the black man on a global scale for thousands of years. As far back as 650AD Arabs having been harvesting from the Swahili coast and as recent as 1950 the slave population in Saudi Arabia was approximated at 250 000(1/4 of its population) Even the Jews took a jab at the black man and they are the only people who could almost understand. The west in all its glory needs little mention. We know only to well of their contribution.

That’s how long black people have been talking about race. Are the white folk tired already? I think it’s time to strap in, this is going to be a long ride. I stumbled on an article by @702Aubrey (The race issue- to talk or not to talk, Daily Maverick, 08 Mar 2012) where he writes;

The discussion about racism always evokes interesting reactions. It seems to have the power to unmask us and reveal primal emotions that embarrass and confuse us because they cut through our veneers of rationality and decency, exposing naked, primitive survival instincts.

We have to expect that when talking about race and racism in this country people will be emotional. The scars of our past are deep. It doesn’t help that there are those out there who spread their divisive vitriol in their spaces of power. I was angry for a full day when I read about the lecturer at the University of Pretoria who said that “the act of raping children was a black phenomenon" (see @GillianSchutte, http://mg.co.za/article/2013-08-30-the-whiteness-default) . People like this occupy many positions of power and the perpetuate the divisions of our society

It’s even more troubling that there are those few whites who grin and say "My best friend is black" or "My adopted child is black" as they flaunt them around like accessories or pets, never actually realising that this is equally insulting. Just because you have a black friend does not immunise you from making racial slurs or jokes and the mandatory," Don’t be so sensitive!"

@702Aubrey goes on to say "The on-going “discussion” of race and racism in South Africa should be engaged in sincerely and with sensitivity towards a meaningful and uplifting dialogue. Jettison the knee-jerk reactions, the name-calling in favour of a quest for the truth."

Unfortunately we are still very far away from that kind of maturity, especially when the truth is so hard to swallow. For now let’s focus on just starting the right conversations freely, without fear of perceptions or judgments and name calling. To talk or not to talk about it? I say let's

White people, don’t roll your eyes at me when I play the race card. No one wants to be that guy. The guy who constantly asks, "Is it because I'm black?" With a hand this bad, it’s the best card black people have left to play.