Group launches public platform to address ‘racism and white privilege’
The group explained that the idea behind their protest was to bring about meaningful change through honest debate.
A GROUP of local residents staged their first public forum meeting last week in an effort to stir debate against apathy in civil society and to explain concepts like ‘white privilege’ and ‘black pain’. Izwe Lethu, as the group is known were responsible for the peaceful protest on Umhlanga Rocks Drive on Youth Day last month with the hashtag, #40YearsLater, and various messages highlighting the plight of the masses.
Last week the group’s first public forum saw more than 100 people turn up to discuss topics affecting South Africans today. Madala Ngubane and Mike van Niekerk, who began the movement, explained that the idea behind their protest was to bring about meaningful change through honest debate.
“We started out as a group from different churches with similar ideas. Our inspiration came from questioning why these problems existed. We found that we weren’t getting the answer to the problems facing South Africa in church so we took it from the pews to civil society and began Izwe Lethu.
“We wanted to speak about this concept of the ‘rainbow nation’. We tend to shut down any talk of the imbalances of the past by saying to ‘get over it’, but all that is doing is avoiding the issue. The truth is, we are not talking enough. Our universities and schools are burning and people aren’t willing to look past the destruction to see the desperation of people. We need honest debate about the land issue. Starting this forum was about creating a safe dialogue space. There are also people who are awkward about these topics and this is about airing out your thoughts without fear of ostracisation,” he said.
Madala said a major part of the group was explaining what white privilege is.
“Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the race group they belong to. Every time white privilege is mentioned there is an inevitable backlash. Pointing out that white privilege exists isn’t the same as accusing every white person of being a racist. We hope more people will join our conversation so we can discuss this openly and honestly.”
If you are interested in the group’s next monthly meeting, email nondabamadz@gmail.com.
