When you are well spoken, they say you are “vocal.”
When you love books, they say you are a “snob.”
When a woman is independent, strong and career driven, they say she is “bitter, self-centered and selfish.”
When you are ambitious, drive, with big dreams, they say you are “different,” and there is “something wrong with you.”
When you tweet, “Racism must fall,” a chill runs down your spine because you’re scared of what your boss, colleagues and peers might say.
When you stand up against inequality, march for civil rights, and hashtag “FeesMustFall, you get labelled as “radical” or as “clever blacks.”
Really?
Is this the best we can do?
Where is the progressive intelligence in the black community? The ability to differentiate between causes that will emancipate our generation and free us, and those which only serve to progress the domination of White Monopoly Capitalists. Where is it?
Is it indeed “what it is” or that your poor intelligence can’t handle what a black man can say or do?
I’m speaking to you, white man. I’m speaking to you, black man.
Hate is a phenomenon. It is engraved in our minds and runs deeper than one could ever imagine. It has been doing so since Jan van Riebeeck and his comrades declared war on every living black soul. To this day, we can still see its by-products. To this day, a black man can’t stomach another man’s success, dreams and spoken word. The struggle never ends.
As I write this, a UJ student was murdered on campus for asking questions. A bunch of guards took it upon themselves to end the life of a soul who merely questioned their authority. I guess blood started racing in their heads, because they “can’t deal” – and so they fired the shots that ended an innocent life. This can’t be explained as an accident. It shouldn’t be.
Rest in peace, Kelvin Baloyi. Heaven holds the dearly departed.
Now allow me to unpack this.
When I lived on campus (UJ APK) – Oppierif to be precise – the level of security was more or less the same and no issues were had. By that I mean that they weren’t trigger-happy, glorified babysitters when asked a simple question. They could deal with the snobbish blacks.
We annoyed them, sure. All the time, in fact. Late night parties, girls fighting in our rooms, noise at 4am upon returning from Stones. Students were arrested and returned the next morning. Campus life went on.
But as time went on, riots emerged, fuelled by the Fees Must Fall movement. In retaliation to a noble cause, security was increased and thus began our demise. Long story short, navigating on campus now felt like you were under constant surveillance and police scrutiny. You entered those gates at your own risk. Step out of line and you’d be eaten alive. Gross exaggeration, I admit, but I did say that these were my emotions.
The show went on, life went on, and I let it go.
But not for long. I got to thinking again. Is it really what it is or is there just something against black excellence that I don’t seem to understand?
Questioning a security guard seems to be a crime, and when you do it with a “Model C” accent, my man! My man, you are poking the struggle that the security man underwent to become a security guard in the first place. And so the rage is unearthed, for you are everything they wished to be. You are a mirror standing before them, but reflecting a reality nothing like the one they had wished for themselves.
How dare you!
And so we find ourselves masking our English proficiencies in an attempt not to insult and aggravate the still raw wounds of those still tormented by our unfortunate past as Black South Africans.
And so the gist of it all: are they incapable of understanding life’s simplicities, or are they simply not ready to face a smart, black mind? “They” refers to more than just a security guard. “They” refers to black and white people alike. A joint inability to comprehend vocal and independent-thinking black intellectuals.
The Notorious B.I.G? Pac? Radicals according to the media. Hell, even Mandela. A revolutionary deemed terrorist, all for opposing the Apartheid regime. Martin Luther King Jr, Steve Biko, and Malcom X? What about them?
The inability to comprehend and admire black intellectual progression – a plague. Ravaging and destroying every bit of a rising black star. Ready? I think not. But they’re going to have to be.
Editing By Sihle Kea Moyake
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