Recently, the media reported incidents of racist acts and racial slurs, followed by the usual flurry of surprise, shock and condemnation. For me and many black women, there was no surprise. We said, “Here is yet another exhibit of what we endure and what happens in the absence of ongoing broad-scale anti-racism and anti-sexism being mainstreamed.”
Despite South Africa’s extensive anti-discriminatory laws and diversity-promoting policies, sexism and racism remain deeply embedded in our society. Did we naively think that patriarchy and its sidekicks, racism and sexism, would suddenly be scared into retirement by the profundity of South Africa’s anti-discriminatory laws?
For South African women of colour, we frequently collide with unconscious or intentional racism and sexism - whether shopping, relaxing at the beach, working in our chosen professions, or even…
