Let’s Talk About Racism

WHEN one talks about racism in Namibia many real-life stories cloud the mind. As a Namibian who has witnessed many racist acts in Namibia I have come to the conclusion that the people promoting racism in Namibia are mostly blacks and this is encouraged by whites who are being put on a pedestal by them.

Scenario 1: A black man is standing in the queue five minutes to lunchtime. The black or white clerk closes his desk and tells her to wait an hour, feeling annoyed by the fact that the person is still standing in the queue expecting help when they know it is close to lunchtime. Scenario 2: The same black man is standing in the queue with a white man and it is five minutes to lunchtime. The black or white clerk quickly assists the black man and goes ahead to assist the white man and leaves for lunch feeling very satisfied to have done his job.This behaviour coming mostly from black people is considered normal in our society because due to mental colonisation we have been conditioned to be nice to white people and have the need to want to please them. Considering these facts some black people have decided to do away with racism whilst others feel the need to be rude to whites in order to show that they are equal to them or even more superior.Even after 20 years of independence, racism is extremely rife in Namibia and despite the fact that people are trying to curb it, I have a feeling it may never go away or may take centuries to go away. Swakopmund is one of the most racist towns in Namibia whereas if you walk into a salon for whites to enquire you are immediately referred to a salon for black people and I am sure many black women can testify to that. In the North a white man is admitted to the ICU probably because he there are too many black people in the wards and ICU seems to be the only cleanest place in the hospital and is fit for a white person. This conclusion came about despite the fact that this patient was able to walk around and even had the nerve to stand in front of ICU and smoke. A white person will come into a room and walk past all the dark-skinned people and look for the person with the lightest skin to inquire about whatever they want to know in Afrikaans. With all this going on, we black people frown when another black person speaks to us in their mother tongue thinking to ourselves ‘How dare they?’ or ‘Are they stupid, can’t they see that I do not look like I come from their tribe. How can they expect me to know that language when they do not even know me?’ When a white person speaks to us in Afrikaans, even if we cannot speak it we try to put our best Afrikaans words together to impress them.Some white-owned companies prefer to pay higher salaries to their white employees compared to their black counterparts, the salary arrangements are kept a secret between the whites and the black people are not allowed to hypothesise.Let’s get real and face reality, then we can do away with racism. We need to have the courage to stand up to it, the pride to be proud enough to say, ‘I am a human being and must to be treated like any other’ and the love to stand up for any victim regardless of their race. There is hope for this country to stand united, free and proud but with that kind of behaviour be it a free Namibia or a colonised Namibia one still can’t tell the difference! Any person with comments on this letter can contact me at my e-mail address.Christonette van der Westhuisenvchristonette@yahoo.com

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