“You have to keep the context and nuances in mind but yes, Professor Thuli Madonsela is right, we are all racists,” says sociologist Dr Liela Groenewald.
Groenewald was reacting to a comment made by Madonsela during a panel discussion at the Suidoosterfees arts festival in Cape Town on Tuesday.
“We are all racists because racism is in our DNA,” Madonsela said at the Jakes Gerwel conversation series.
Madonsela, a former public protector who currently occupies the chair of social justice at the law faculty at Stellenbosch University, said racism is part of human nature.
According to Groenewald, you have to take the context of South Africa’s history into account if you really want to understand what Madonsela meant by her statement.
Madonsela sends a very strong message at a time when people are abusing the label of racism to get away with particular crimes. She is saying, let’s stand together and examine ourselves before blaming other people, says Groenewald.
According to Groenewald, we don’t have innate abilities or inclinations based on our skin colour, hair colour, religion or anything else. The progressive thing to do is to believe that humans are inclined to be kind to each other and accept one another.
“But in South African society, it would be difficult to raise someone without some of the many negative racial attitudes that are prevalent. Within this context, Madonsela’s statement wants to help us look inside ourselves to the benefit of greater society,” Groenewald told journalist Izak du Plessis during an interview this week.
