How do you explain present day racism in South Africa endorsed by the majority black government. Added to the racist policies in the countries are xenophobic policies towards outsiders that come to South Africa to work.
One would think if anyone understood the horrors of racism, it would a country where many of the people alive today lived under apartheid. Many of the victims of the "new" bigotry are white Afrikaners, Asians, "colored", and African immigrants from other tribes. Many of whom fought to end apartheid and sought to be equal partners in building a new South Africa.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/south-africa-apartheid-white-afrikaners-the-inheritors/670554/
I think the confusion is that racism is not really the issue, the issue is identity politics. Whether identity politics is expressed through skin color, religion, ethnicity, gender identification, etc., the competition within society for group advantage leads to bigotry (racism being a form of bigotry). If we don't address group identity, we are simply reshuffling the deck to create a new form of bigotry.
Look at the increasing number of hate crimes associated with political party. Another means of identity and another point of violence. In America what is the purpose of black history? Is it to teach African Americans about their separate identity or the history of the movement of Africans from the status of slaves to the status of a segregated minority, followed by the civil rights movement, and hopefully as MLK expressed in his dream... total integration. Teaching children about where America started and where we are today on that path could be very powerful. But using it teach children to identify not as Americans, but African Americans poses problems.
Wouldn't it be cool, if every child took a history course intended to show how their ancestors followed the path from immigrant to citizen to integrated American. If we want to end racism, we must focus on integration and discourage separatism.
Laws can serve to minimize systemic racism, but if we are serious about ending racism, the only solution is total integration. Every group losing its identity and embracing a common identity. Nothing wrong with celebrating the traditions of our ancestors but defining ourselves based on the past is a problem.
