It is not enough to be an ‘ally’ — you must be a bridge to justice

It troubles me that we are living in an age of accepted misinformation and disinformation in which instant gratification that entertains is prized above enduring struggle and discomfort for what is right and just and equitable.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the resistance to diversity, equity and inclusion. Some of the responses I received made me question whether we all live in actual reality or in a constructed pseudo-reality that is entirely based on what is most comfortable – in this instance, a reality that absolves the beneficiaries of unearned privilege and wealth built on their forefathers’ repression and oppression of members of a society.

I have a growing sense of unease and seething anger that a black person (a direct intergenerational victim of the oppression) who dares to call this out is shot down with the same tired, old race-shaming rants. “Chip on the shoulder, move on, pulling the race card, being race obsessed” – we all know the usual suspects.

However, when a white person calls out the same issues they are afforded a seriousness and consideration that is missing from the engagement with black people doing it.

This makes me not only resentful, but also has me questioning whether progressive white people doing the calling out see the shouting down of black people. If they do witness it, what is their responsibility as “allies”? How do they choose to “wield their influence for good”, for lack of a less clumsy phrase.

Arriving in Cape Town for work this week (a place that is overwhelming in how it does not reflect the South African populace), I couldn’t help but think of all the people who have had an important and empowering role in shaping my education, socio­political outlook and subsequent career trajectory.

All of them happened to be unassuming but critical white people. They include the teacher who picked up my talent for writing when I was in Standard 3 and, later, my sociology lecturer at the University of Cape Town who recognised my deeply political sense of social justice. There was also my first supervisor in my first job who helped nurture my career aspirations and now my friend and mentor who challenges me to the best and unrelenting version of a thinking active citizen.

Of course these people did not find me wholly raw. I come from a politically astute family with a strong cultural identity. But they certainly played a role in “clearing the path” towards an ease of engagement with the transitory world in which I find myself.

I write this not to be a praise singer, but to hopefully contribute towards a debate about the complexity of the relationships we navigate as we find our sense of personhood and belonging in this sometimes ugly but always beautiful country of ours.

I write this to say these examples are an indicator of how diversity, equity and inclusion is so necessary because it germinates seeds of unity and investment in the sustainability of our humanness that does not need to be rubber stamped by one race over another.

The honest recognition of past injustices and the willingness to be a bridge towards justice is a character revelation worthy of aspiration. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.