Race and Sports in South Africa: "It's kind of a little bit of a racist thing, I guess."
South Africa is an incredibly sports-crazy society. Yet, like every other aspect of life here, the effects of apartheid and its history of forced racial separation are not far from the surface. The three biggest sports here are cricket, rugby, and soccer. Historically, cricket and rugby have been sports that have been mostly played by (and enjoyed by) whites, while soccer has been seen as a more "black African" sport. One friend (white) who we met shared this common colloquialism: "Rugby is a hooligan-sport played by gentlemen; while soccer is a gentlemen-sport played by hooligans." Another friend (also white) shared that while South Africans are incredibly devoted to their national rugby and cricket teams (the "Springboks" and the "Proteas" respectively) they follow European (mostly British) soccer and kind of look down on their own soccer team. In fact, he shared that recently "the European cup champion Manchester United was touring South Africa, playing local teams, and you would have thought that Manchester was the home team!" Then he paused and said, "It's kind of a little bit of a racist thing, I guess."
Back to this Morning: The Pleasures of South African Talk Radio
So, when I saw the headline in the paper this morning, "Racist Attack Sours Rugby Win" (by the way, South Africa had just trounced Australia 53-8, after having lost embarrasingly the previous weekend), I showed Alex the article and the quote by the black woman who was verbally and physically assaulted at the stadium by three big drunk white guys, who, according to the article, shoved her and said: "'You bloody k****r, what are you doing here? Your people have taken over the country and now you want to take over the only white sport left'."
So, Alex and I had our own little conversation about this on the way to school, trying to understand how much racism is or isn't prevalent in sports here. Little did I know that this article would become THE TOPIC on talk radio (Cape Talk AM 567) for the rest of today...And so, when I was coming home on my afternoon commute, I tuned in again. By this time, the South African Rugby Union had gone on record and posted a 10,000Rand reward for anyone who could provide information to identify the 3 "big white drunken abusers." Yet, by the afternoon commute time, nobody had stepped forward to point the finger. So, this led to the typical calls, from the typical white-denialists, who made such comments as: "If this really happened, don't you think someone would have stepped in to stop it?" Or, "So, of the 56,000 people in the stadium, not one person has called in with information to identify these guys?" Or, "Isn't this her word against theirs?"
To be fair, there were also a number of calls from white guys who provided some insights into why people might have hesitated from jumping in to confront three huge drunk white rugby fans. And the host did a fair job in trying to confront the white denialists. However, there were really no calls that brought any insights into the larger social dynamics, especially around the tendency of folks in power to deny the claims of those in the margins. Somehow, the conversation stayed very much at the individual level. Those guys did it, or didn't. Other guys saw it, or didn't. And none of those other guys, who might've seen it, did anything then, or now about it. There was really no insights into that comfy place that those of us in power like to sit: denial. Afterall, we were just there to enjoy a nice gentlemanly game of rugby!
Amidst the denials, some callers reminded the listeners that the best player on the field that day for South Africa was a black African guy named Jongi Nokwe, who scored four "tries" (the rugby version of a touch down) in the victory. And yet, other callers reminded the listeners that every time Jongi Nokwe scored a try, there was a corner of the stand that started a chant "K, K, K, K," --short for the South African word "kefir," which is the local equivalent of the "n" word. Here's a picture of the new South African rugby hero:
And then...Favorite BBQ Recipes (amidst words of wisdom) from Archbishop Tutu
And then, without missing a beat, the radio host segwayed to the next segment, featuring a call-in from Nobel Peace Prize winner, and former head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that tried to mediate the healing and reconcilliation in the immediate years after the end of apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The topic was "braai" (South African term for "BBQ"). It seems that September 24 has been officially designated, "National Braai for Heritage Day." That's right. According to the website http://www.braai4heritage.co.za/, "braaing is a deep-rooted tradition in South Africa that cuts across all demographic groups. This initiative has the potential to become a contemporary means of celebrating South African-ness, especially considering that braaing is a positive feature in most South Africans' lives - being the fun-loving, social and hospitable nation that we are."
And so yes, amidst this very tense conversation about race and oppression and rugby, the archbishop calls in and shares his love for braai, including his favorite recipes. And without missing a beat, he reminded everybody that when he was a boy, there was only one small section of the stadium (yes, the same stadium where the rugby match took place) where blacks could even be! And that now, 56,000 people (granted, mostly whites), were going out of their gords, celebrating the great feats of the "great black hope" Jongi Nokwe. OK, most were celebrating...
So, almost in the same breath, Archbishop Tutu (aka "His Braai-meister-ness") was able to hold in his heart the tensions that are so apparent in South African society, witch indredible generosity of spirit, fun, and humanness. He celebrated the great progress that has been made in the past 14 years. He wanted badly to look beyond the "few bad apples" in the crowd at the rugby match, and ultimately celebrate our common humanness: gathering round the BBQ over huge slabs of meat! Woe to the vegetarians amongst us...
So, while there might be a common heritage (braai), it seems like South African society is hoping that the legacy of race and apartheid will just quietly fade away. Unfortunately, it feels like there's a real need to find a common language to talk about this legacy while also gathering 'round the braai... There are some amazing people doing that. More on that in the weeks to come.
So, don't forget to braai on 24 September! We'll surely be gathered round the spit at our new braai-pit here at the house.
Blog (and braai) ya later.
Seth./.
