Are you a racist?

I'm a bit of a bleeding heart liberal, a crusader just begging for a cause.

Give me a family movie with an animal who saves the day and I'm guaranteed to shed (many) tears. Medical TV dramas are a no-go area for me because I tend to suffer sympathy pains. And the atrocities of our country's past leave me ashamed to be something which I can do nothing about: White.

Sometimes, however, we need to step back from our emotional impulses, take a deep breath, and approach matters cautiously and with an open, but steady, mind.

It is with this in mind that I have watched heated debates take place all around me on the highly emotive topic of racism. It's a subject that I feel particularly strongly about and which has led me to curtly evict people from my homestead for what I believe are ignorant and offensive views.

Nevertheless, my position on the white versus black (and vice versa) argument leaves me square in the centre of a no-holds-barred, pistols-at-dawn, shootout.

Take for instance, David Bullard's last column for the Sunday Times: was this racist? I can't reply, for I feel the answer lies in whether he truly intended to demean SA's indigenous population. Was it insulting, stupid and injudicious? Absolutely.

We are vocally at cross-purposes with all others that don't resemble ourselves.

Kimberly Guest, senior journalist, ITWeb

Another piece which stoked the ire of the racially sensitive was ITWeb's article ICT industry is racist, says govt. At my last count, this article had engendered around 50 responses, which must surely be up there in the record books for our tech-focused Web site.

Personally, I have a problem with the article. Relying on Employment Equity Commission chairman Jimmy Manyi to provide balanced, unemotional insight into racially-based subjects is a little like expecting an infant to present a dissertation on Newton's laws of motion.

Of course, Manyi has every right to hold such beliefs (to which I occasionally, but secretly subscribe). All the same, his "public" role is to promote a common effort to overcome equity imbalances, not spark off a racially-based civil war, which he seems to favour.

What we can't avoid is the fact that Manyi's sensationalist comments tend to reflect the feelings of many South Africans.

A quick scan through the comments posted in response to the ITWeb article reveals a host of the usual accusations and name-calling.

The whites who are battling to find employment scream: "BEE is reverse racism." The black onlookers respond: "Rightly so, have a taste of your own medicine." The Whites retort: "No wonder this country is going to shit, I'm leaving" and the blacks reply: "Good riddance, we don't want you here anyway."

And this cycle continues for months as each side tries to come out with the last (insulting) word.

You have to wonder though: are these 'debates' really leading to reconciliation? Or are they driving us further apart? Would Chris Hani approve of the verbal abuse? And if Nelson Mandela could so humanly step above his past and forgive his oppressors in order to facilitate peace, why can we not follow his example?

Debate in any environment is good; it helps us to clarify our positions and learn more about the feelings and philosophies of others. Additionally, it prevents us from becoming stagnant.

However, the key to an intelligent debate is that the parties actively listen to what is being said by the other side. Otherwise, you may as well just install a piece of soundproof glass between the factions and invite all present to hurl abuse at high volumes.

To me, this is what racist "debates" have become in SA. We are vocally at cross-purposes with all others that don't resemble ourselves. We are quick to make assumptions that often couldn't be further from the truth and refuse to listen when that person says: "Actually, I don't fit into that stereotype."

Do we still have racists in SA? Undoubtedly. Are all Whites racist? No, definitely not. Do all Blacks believe this country would be better off if the whities left? Of course not.

Personally, I'm a White person with deep Black sympathies.

I was privileged enough to be dragged up (my fault, not theirs) by European immigrant parents and educated in multiracial private schools. This meant my first exposure to Apartheid came in my first year of university.

The reality of our country's past is still as abhorrent now as it was then to my sensitive, idealistic mind. I do believe we must do more to find harmony and unity in our community. Words may not break bones, but the scars they leave damage everyone.

As Jack Nicholson said in Mars Attacks!: "Why can't we all [find a way to ] just get along?"