Momberg may have dug herself a deeper hole

Convicted racist Vicki Momberg raised eyebrows – and many questions – when she appeared in court with her hair done in cornrows yesterday.

Momberg was in court to launch proceedings for an appeal against her conviction on four counts of crimen injuria and a three-year jail sentence – of which one was suspended for three years – for her racist rant at black police officers.

Proceedings were postponed to next week in order for her legal team to finish preparing her paperwork.

For Caucasians, wearing cornrows is considered cultural appropriation and for someone who was sent to jail over a racist rant towards police officers who were trying to help her, it probably wasn’t a great idea, said attorney Tracey Lomax.

“I would never represent such a client, but if I were called upon to do so I would absolutely not let her go into court with cornrows,” Lomax said.

“It’s cultural appropriation for a start, which is an aspect of racism which is seldom acknowledged.

“Momberg chose to wear a hairstyle which is culturally significant to the people she insulted.”

It’s unknown if Momberg was instructed to wear cornrows or if it was a personal choice, but Lomax compared Momberg’s hairstyle to a Nazi appearing in court wearing the Star of David.

“It comes across as mocking. When it comes to sentencing, one of the aspects courts look at is whether the sentence was severe enough to cause a sense of shock in the eyes of the public.

“Obviously, Momberg is not on trial in court for wearing cornrows but it possibly reflects her attitude about what she has done,” Lomax said.

“The problem with Momberg is not what she said at the time. It is the fact she is doubling down on her racism.

“She hasn’t learnt what she did was wrong and this is just further evidence of her inability to self-reflect and consider the feelings of other people.”

Communication strategist Sarah Britten said cornrows were attracting headline-making attention because they were a signifier of black identity.

“The context just makes it bizarre. People are wondering if she got cornrows to elicit sympathy for her appeal. Or did get them as a result of sharing a jail cell with women who did her hair?

“Of course, the other famous white woman who had cornrows was Rachel Dolezal,” Britten said.

Dolezal spent years presenting as a black woman, until her white parents outed her.

“Cornrows are generally considered a bit of a no-no for a white person, much more so for someone convicted of crimen injuria and sent to jail for a very, very, racist outburst. It’s just bizarre,” said Britten.

Momberg’s newest fan, Pro-Afrikaans Action Group founder Dan Roodt, who made a surprise appearance at the Randburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday, called it a “smart move”.

“Smart move by #VickiMomberg. She has adopted ‘corn rows’, a black hairstyle. So maybe the Indian magistrate will be more lenient next time,” he posted on Twitter.

“I could just see that there was such a witch-hunt and the sentencing is so extreme, this is what I would call a verbal transgression and this court has sentenced her to what armed robbers, people committing murder with some extenuating circumstances, would get, so I was very curious to see for myself what was going on and because I don’t really trust what I read in the media,” Roodt said.

However, many millions of black Africans would disagree with Roodt. The racial slur was no less than deeply offensive and had any less impact than a kick to the groin.

– amandaw@citizen.co.za

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