i read the piece--well, half, and stopped. didn't really want to finish
the whites' carping.
here's the difference between here and there. those are the voices of a
white minority who enjoyed the privileges of power. the fellow, smit,
who was angry about the bombing "and all that crap." we'd have sent
money to the anc militant wing to carry out attacks, and maybe would
have hoped the targets would not be innocent civilians, but support the
militants' campaign of resistance. without "all that crap," the
afrikaaner rule could conceivably had gone on forever, and they'd still
be talking about how nice their servants are. they probably still do.
the problem is that by focusing purely on race, in s africa, is to
obscure the workings of a capitalist system that still obtains, and
whose inequalities remain basic to defining the conditions of life for all.
we need another vocabulary to define an ideal society besides "rainbow,"
a term that accommodates enormous discrepancies in wealth while
imagining that all the problems in society have been solved. that was
the important message to take from martin luther king whose last years
were devoted to combating economic injustice, who saw that the civil
rights movement had to move on from desegregation to addressing wages
for garbage workers if the movement was to be meaningful.
ken
On 12/8/13 7:01 AM, Ikhide wrote:
> And the rainbow nation? "There's still a division between the races in this country. You go to any function and see the people are split. I have some black friends, but 99% of my friends are white because we share the same culture."
>
> Might as well be describing America!
>
> http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/07/afrikaners-nelson-mandela-south-africa
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu
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the whites' carping.
here's the difference between here and there. those are the voices of a
white minority who enjoyed the privileges of power. the fellow, smit,
who was angry about the bombing "and all that crap." we'd have sent
money to the anc militant wing to carry out attacks, and maybe would
have hoped the targets would not be innocent civilians, but support the
militants' campaign of resistance. without "all that crap," the
afrikaaner rule could conceivably had gone on forever, and they'd still
be talking about how nice their servants are. they probably still do.
the problem is that by focusing purely on race, in s africa, is to
obscure the workings of a capitalist system that still obtains, and
whose inequalities remain basic to defining the conditions of life for all.
we need another vocabulary to define an ideal society besides "rainbow,"
a term that accommodates enormous discrepancies in wealth while
imagining that all the problems in society have been solved. that was
the important message to take from martin luther king whose last years
were devoted to combating economic injustice, who saw that the civil
rights movement had to move on from desegregation to addressing wages
for garbage workers if the movement was to be meaningful.
ken
On 12/8/13 7:01 AM, Ikhide wrote:
> And the rainbow nation? "There's still a division between the races in this country. You go to any function and see the people are split. I have some black friends, but 99% of my friends are white because we share the same culture."
>
> Might as well be describing America!
>
> http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/07/afrikaners-nelson-mandela-south-africa
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
--
kenneth w. harrow
faculty excellence advocate
professor of english
michigan state university
department of english
619 red cedar road
room C-614 wells hall
east lansing, mi 48824
ph. 517 803 8839
harrow@msu.edu
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
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