Recent events in South Africa and Namibia have made it clear - again - that the spectre of strained race relations has not quite been exorcised. Given the history of those two countries, most find this state of affairs unsurprising. Despite the advent of democracy and terms like "Rainbow Nation" and "National Reconciliation", the white minority there has retained a lot of the privileges afforded them under the apartheid regime, causing considerable resentment from the black majority. Said resentment has certainly not been helped by recent pronouncements by people who can legitimately be described as white supremacists.
In light of the various responses to these incidents, the question of whether black people can be racist has once more arisen, and it doesn't look like a consensus will be arrived at this time either.
I suppose the answer hinges on one's understanding of the term. The broader definition of the word "racism" (prejudice based on race, or the expression thereof) makes things pretty straightforward. Anybody who harbours or expresses racial prejudice can be called a racist. Let's go home.
But wait.
While that definition stands, in practical terms it presupposes a context in which the things we call races all have equal standing, in which case races would amount to no more or less than bickering neighbours. We know this is not the case.
The history of race relations is one plagued by one-sided systemic oppression. Even without mentioning the ignominies of the slave trade, you have to be aware of the evils of the colonial era, with its exploitation of labour, extraction of resources, and its claiming of occupied land in the name of colonial powers. You have to be aware of the obstructionism, barely concealed behind such asinine slogans as "separate but equal", which seem to gloss over the fact that white people conveniently acquired for themselves the vastest, most fertile swaths of land, the richest mineral deposits, and kept access to the best education, while stetting the standards for the rest of the population.
Everything from the required "passes" to the ubiquitous use of derogatory epithets (kaffir, animals, monkeys) suggest another, more insidious nature to "racism", one that holds an element of power: the belief that one's race is objectively superior, thus granting individuals and institutions the mandate to oppress, restrict and subjugate the lesser ones.
Given all this, then, can black people be racist? As an egalitarian, I have long pondered this one. I believe all virtues and vices are potentially present in all human beings. More tangibly, we have, as black people, shown that we are capable of oppression along lines just as arbitrary as skin colour (see the history of Hutu-Tutsi relations for one example). So, being philosophically opposed to special pleading, I have to say yes, black people can and do display racist behaviour in accordance with the narrower definition of racism. Now let's go home.
Hang on!
Before this becomes a motive for false equivalences, I must stress that I do not believe that pushing back against racial oppression constitutes racism (or "reverse racism" [cue eye roll]), any more than I believe pushing back against an attacker constitutes aggression. The mounting resentment black people feel towards white people, as seen in South Africa and Namibia, is a reaction. That reaction can seem harsh, especially when you consider the fact that individual white people, who may be trying to do better, sometimes bear the brunt of our ire (comes with being the interface, guys; sorry). But you cannot claim it is unwarranted. Not when the vestiges of an unjust system are deliberately held in place. Not when we are consistently dehumanised. Not when "they" loudly wish we would conveniently stay out of sight, on our land. Not when even a formal acknowledgement of wrongdoing has not been issued.
There have been troubling, even vile statements by black people, most recently and most notably a call to give the white minorities the same treatment dished out to Jews during World War II. That is absolutely objectionable: reclaiming our humanity is not achieved by robbing others of theirs. It sucks that we, at this time, have to be the ones to keep this in mind. But keep it we must, because we know the unpleasantness - the sheer indignity - of being at the receiving end.
